It's a Small World After All

This past week I joined eleven other individuals on a road trip to the Crescent City.  We were not motivated by the historic French Quarters, though we did visit that part of the city.  Our goal was not to get a glimpse of the famous Super Dome, though we traveled by it daily.  We were not enamored by the Garden District nor drawn to the fabulous cajun cooking.  Curiosity about how well the city has rebounded after Katrina would not have been enough to lead us that far south.  So, what motivated us to travel to New Orleans?

Simply . . . the world.  We went to New Orleans to find the world, and we did.  The world is coming to the U.S. in more ways that you can imagine.  Cruise and cargo ships routinely dock in New Orleans for hours at a time.  Most of the workers on those ships are from countries other than the United States.  Global Maritime Ministries seeks to share the love of Jesus with those workers.  That is why we went to New Orleans. 

In the course of two days I met people from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Bulgaria and a host of other nations.  These hard workers typically are away from their families for eight to ten months at a time.  Global Maritime Ministries offers a free ride to its center where they can call home, check with family members through the internet, enjoy some snacks, play pool and ping pong, or just hang our.  Bibles are available in most of their languages. 

We went to New Orleans to find the world.  We found genuine, hard-working individuals who just happened to be from other countries.  We found individuals for whom Christ died.  We found individuals who are looking for the same things that Americans are looking for.  We saw pictures of their children, listened to their stories, laughed at their jokes, and prayed for their needs.

It is indeed a small world.