What Downtown N.O. Needs: A Church Plant

An article in the paper today predicts 4000 new apartment and condo units in downtown New Orleans within five years. That's in addition to the 2000 already in existence. That means that in five years, the population of downtown could triple from it's current level to as many as 18,000 people - and no church. This makes downtown one of the most strategic church planting needs in the city. So start praying now for God to send a church planter to take the Gospel to downtown New Orleans.

Best Kept Secret in New Orleans

Last night I stopped by a Bible study in a Metairie neighborhood that meets in a garage. I became aware of it after meeting with a young man who is planning on planting a church in the metro area early in 2010. He has some connections with several of the students from he and his wife's ministry in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina.

The Bible study had been meeting faithfully since the storm and was comprised of students and young adults. There's nothing unusual about this except for the fact that this group has carried on their activities without specific leadership or the involvement of an existing church. They've met, studied The Word, led others to Christ, discipled new believers and even sent some of their own on mission trips. The cool thing about it is that no one told these students to do these things. They simply poured themselves into God's Word and obeyed it.

I was encouraged by this group of students and their faithfulness. They had great community and did life together at every turn. It is one of the most authentic body of believers I've run across in the metro area. They truly are the church, the body of Christ.