John O's Sermon

When I arrived in New Orleans at the beginning of this trip, I didn’t know what to expect. Last year, we spent at least an hour looking for a place to stay before finally settling down in a circus tent. This year, thankfully, we already had housing accommodations, and work arranged for us. Each day, we had an option of either working with kids in the 9th ward, or doing demo. And rebuilding. I decided to work with the kids attending a church-run camp you have probably already all heard about called Camp Ubuntu.

On the first day, I was basically shunned by all the kids in the camp, except for one girl whose name was P. She was a little 7 year old girl who I had played a game with when we took a field trip to the roller rink. For some reason I felt the need to come back the next day, so I did, and I was told to keep an eye on S. He was an energetic “almost 9 year old” kid – a kid revered by the rest of the Camp Ubuntu kids, who would sometimes lead the whole group into trouble. In following him around, we became friends to the point where he rallied the rest of the group together to chant “God Squad” during a laser-tag game between our God Squad group and a youth group from a church in Berkley. Throughout the trip, I became more attached to these two kids, and they to me. The final day of working with them was by far the hardest. It would have been hard enough just saying goodbye, but we had heard one day earlier that Camp Ubuntu was having to shut down due to some kind of administrative problem – we didn’t get the details.

When we arrived at the church where we were going to say goodbye, there were only two kids there. But more showed up within an hour to say goodbye and to get a free lunch. I was inside the church when I heard from one of the kids that P and S were outside. P was getting some lunch while S was sitting on a bench crying. After a bit of talking, I convinced S to come inside for a game of pool. We said our goodbyes and I prepared to leave about 45 minutes later. I was sitting in the van ready to go when I heard someone shouting the news that P's’ mom had AIDS. Apparently she had had it for some time. I got out of the van and saw S, and a few of the other kids standing on a street corner and looking down the street towards P's house. There in the middle of the street, I saw an ambulance and P's bone-thin mother waving a weak goodbye to her daughter who was standing on the front porch, looking stunned and scared. The kids told me that P's mother was not expected to live through the week. I hugged P, told her some words of comfort, and walked away. I didn’t make it across the street before breaking down in tears. It stunned me. Spending less than a week with these people and I already loved and cared for them so much. Brother Rodger of Tiaze wrote a letter stating “God is love.” The love I felt for these kids and their well-being was truly an act of God. So that is why I stand here now; to spread love, and in doing that, spread God. Because we are the God Squad.