My family and I had the privilege of taking a mission trip to Louisiana this month, and I’m happy to report that it went very well.
I’m not mentioning the name of the town in this blog post, because I want to make it very clear that I’m not trying to rank for this on Google, or exploit the situation in any way.
At the same time, it’s not a secret. You can see the name of the town in some of the pictures below, and you can also read an article here which goes into a little more detail about our church’s involvement with this town (they even used some of my pictures in the article!).
As I have done in the past, I’m sharing this with you because I consider the Eric’s Tips “community” to be a part of it. You all support me, which enables me to do stuff like this, and we also did an online fundraiser which helped pay for this project. We did raise enough to cover the entire mural project. Thank you very much for your support!
Here are a few highlights and pictures from the trip. We brought down a dance team from our church and put on a three day dance and art camp which was attended by over 100 children and youth from the community…
I led the art sessions, which were a lot of fun…
Here are some of the pictures created by the afternoon class…
We got to build a float for the 4th of July Parade. You can see here the “Dream Big” theme, which is a powerful message in a community that was labeled the poorest place in America…
We helped make history, as the parade itself was a first, and the float had members from both high schools (another first), which is a big step toward unity…
Here are some dance camp students getting stretched out before the parade…
The dancers all participated in the parade, including my wife who is now in her third trimester…
Of course we gave away a bunch of candy…
Here’s my little boy marching in the parade…
We had front row seats to a pretty spectacular fireworks accident. One backfired, and the whole barge lit up. Thank God the pyrotechnicians bailed into the lake, and no one was hurt…
We had a great time making friends with very hospitable people, and were invited to the best fish fry we’d ever experienced…
Here is the massive wall upon which we have the honor of painting a mural…
We had quite a few helping hands from our team…
We started with a base coat…
For those who replied to my email saying they doubted that I was “really” down there, here’s the proof… me on a 20 foot ladder in the blazing sun…
I designed the mural to look like a giant crossword puzzle. The words are: Hope, Worth, Change, Love, Vision, Unity, Respect, Impact, Believe, Forgive, Courage, and Serve… all integrated with the name of the city…
In between all the words will be scenes of the local culture. Basically, all the white space outside the boxes will be covered. It will take me a couple more trips to finish the mural, which is covered by the fundraiser we did, so I will post more pictures in the future.
Lastly, here’s a parting shot of the beautiful lake upon which this great town sits…
Thanks again for your help in making this happen, and I’ll be sure to post pictures of the finished mural when the time comes.
As always, you are welcome to leave your comments below.
Have a great day!
I am a member of a very missionary minded church and I have been on several mission trips. I always come away with much more than I take and leave.
God bless you for giving back and sharing.
Your family is such an inspiration. Getting your kids involved in charity works is the best thing you can do for them. I take my hatt off on you!
Hi Eric,
This is really awesome!
I’m a youth leader in my church and I understand your passion for the community.
God bless you and the family
That is awesome. You must of really enjoyed yourself.
wow amazing pics. I wish to join a mission like that
This is a good thing to do. In Australia it is hard to talk to our dark population . the kids look at you as if you are an alien . We still have a huge problem with alcohol and drugs in the out back .The government builds new homes ,most of which are wrecked in six to twelve months. The transition from nomadic tribesmen is happening but very slowly
Thank you for sharing this with us Eric.
Agape and Shalom to you and your family.
I had tears in my eyes when I saw these pictures. Great job Eric!
Diana
Hi Eric;
What you are doing is wonderful and you will be
blessed for it.
Outstanding job may God Bless you and your family with much success and joy in abundant so you can continue to share with other.
Peace & Blessing
bro. eric pictures are excellent
I enjoyed the pictures. God has sent a new fisher man and his family to those who need to know his love. Keep up the great work you are doing for others. God Bless
So blessed by your photos and your commitment to the Lord.
Seems your health has improved. we’d love an update.
Eric,
Thanks for sharing the photos. Awesome work and you obviously belong to a loving church. Keep up the great work!
How nice! Thank you for sharing. 🙂 Hit me in the “feelers”. 😀
Eric Great job I also have dream to help those in 3rd world country specially India. Missionaries at the fore front being killed and beheaded, also those are there have no finances to support to carry on mission.
Eric I opted in on 7/14/13 and something went wrong and I could not download all the material, also enrolled for trial coaching. I am wasting days not going through material.918-814-4369 is my cell.
Dare I say; Christ’s Love In Action!
Wonderfully Done!
Great Job and I wish you all continued success!!
Eric, you are one big happy family and I wish I could do the same.
Eric, this is Great. God will not stop blessing you, your family and generations to come. The seed you sow, will surely germinate and bearing fruits that will last.
Thanks for sharing
nice one thank you for sharing with us ,one family
Thanks for sharing these photos, they are beautiful.
[Great things happen when people join together]
Hi! Eric It is nice pic.Thank you to all sharing this with us.God Bless
Great job, Eric ! It is love for fellow human beings ! I also wish to heartily thank you so much the free lessons I get everyday from you, with so much knowledge about online business, free of charge !
I am 65 years old, a retired translator/editor. So far I have not yet set up my online business.
The word of God is true. God blesses those who blesses others. There are occasions when we give, without expecting anything back. This is such an example. But he who blesses others with the blessing of the Lord, will also be blessed, and not always in materialistic ways. My many others follow your example!
Hi Eric
i love this initiative,It’s very important to be part of the community Life
Stay Strong
Great work Eric and lovely pictures! How do you find time to do so much work for the community.
Eric watching what you are doing energize our family values and souls and invite us to be better persons tanks go with god.
Enjoyed the pictures and the blog.
You know god created us and if we all helped each
Other like you are doing and doing it out of the kindness
Of your heart not expecting them to Deserve it first. The world Would
Be a better place for all of us. There is a lot
Of people that do good people just don’t pay attention
Enough and take it as teachings to all, if you know what I mean.
Thank you for your Kindness, you will be rewarded!.
Hi Eric.
Beautiful pics and great job Its nice to see a guy with your success out there giving practical help to people getting personally involved.Training your kids that way is going to be your legacy and your greatest gift.BRAVO.
Wow! It must have been real fun being there. Be bless with abundance so that you can do more of such stuffs.
William
Great photos. They really caught the happy and excited feelings of everyone who was involved!
Great job Eric I look forward to doing meaningful work like this myself! God Bless!
My definition of kindness is ‘give people what they need, not what they deserve’. If we only ever got what we deserved that would be awful.
Eric,
I really think you are doing what lots of people need to do, help others on the planet who can’t help themselves Kia kaha from Auckland, New Zealand.
Francis
Good work and continue to inspire all to help others.
Hi Eric
Your enthusiasm and volunteering helping work inspires a lot of people! Your work is meaningful! Keep it up.. change is what the world needs.. God bless you and your beautiful family! 🙂
To all the positive comments I say AMEN!
Great Job Eric! I am still not sure where you were in Louisiana but it’s my home state where I was born and raised. I am thinking this is in southern Louisiana but not sure. I would love to do this for my people down there since I am transplanted in the North now..lol! I also like to do this in the Philippines but I am unable to at this point since I need to help myself. With your methods I hope to accomplish this in the futre. God Bless!
Great that internet life styles let you enjoy your life with your family and contribute to the societies.
To your success,
Bryan Hee
Follow me on twitter
Tweets by bryanhee
You have been doing great and wonderful things Eric, God Bless you. i hope to soon be able to do the same in my homeland Malaysia. Being of a minority community it would be great to help others see what our God has to offer.
Clinton
What a beautiful thing that you and your family did. It is wonderful to see people helping each other. We all need to do more for others instead of thinking about me, me.
This is so REMARKABLE! Many forget that we are our brother’s keeper. Jesus said we would always have the poor with us. But we should always lend a helping hand. God bless you and your beautiful family.