This morning was far more pleasant than yesterday with time to sleep in and casual breakfast. Our day started with our district event at Mulate’s Restaurant (however you just pronounced it is fine, because we still don’t know how to…). Over 500 people from South Wisconsin attended! Lunch was buffet style with Cajun classics like jambalaya, fried shrimp and fish, but also some more kid friendly classics for those who don’t like southern flavor (which in my opinion is such a shame). And don’t forget about the bread pudding…another scoop of that would be great anytime.
After lunch we headed to the convention center for just a moment to look through the Gathering store that has many “ENDURE” branded items that participants love. The sports portion of the convention center was also open at this time, and a few of our kids enjoyed a game of Gaga ball.
Once everyone had enjoyed the air conditioning for a bit, we headed to the National WWII museum. What an incredible place that truly takes more time than we had to go through. Afterwards, we split up in groups to continue to explore the city of New Orleans. One group explored the French Market area, a famous part of New Orleans that is full of little shops and vendors as well as restaurants and other food shops.
For dinner, groups enjoyed a few places, but alligator was purchased by a handful of us! It’s pretty tasty. And let me not forget to share that when one restaurant couldn’t fit the amount of people in their space, one worker had another worker personally escort us down the street to their “sister” restaurant, and they got us in right away. The hospitality down here is unreal and absolutely amazing.
Tonight is when Gathering programming really began with the first mass event in Caesar’s Superdome. We got to sit on the floor close to the stage! We sang loud with the band, met our mass event hosts for the week, listened to a poem written by Tanner Olson, and learned important basic truths from the first mass event speaker, Deaconess Danelle Putnam Schumann.
We endure in Jesus.
We endure as the people of God.
We endure to the end.
We are eternally loved by Jesus.
Danelle shared wonderful stories about her life as a missionary in the Dominican Republic and how God has worked in and through the people there. It was a great reminder that God is not only working in our immediate vicinity, but as far east and as far west as you can go.
To close the night, we enjoyed music from a brass band and marching band – both staples in New Orleans culture.
Tomorrow begins full programming with sessions, Bible study, exhibitors and more. Until then, it’s time to get some rest!
