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!
Great stuff Eric, if i could i would do the same, but first have to help myself eventually i can help others just like you done here!
dan
They are nice pictures
Eric,
Great photos. Thanks for sharing. The wall looks awesome and the work you do for the Lord is important.
Keep up your faithful service and hard work.
God bless,
Frank
Loved the second last image.. It was pretty creative..
This is really awesome.
You and your family are wonderful!!!
I love the crossword wall — what a great message for all to see.
God Bless!!!
Take Care of You and Yours,
Janie
so nice to see, give back. if, you can change, one bad out come into something positive and good, you have had a great day, with gods blessings, gary mc
Eric; Appreciated seeing You/Your Family Involved in helping others. One can almost see the spirit “Y’all” brought down to those folks.
Great job Eric. I wish I could do the same.
Beautiful Eric, but Don’t you spoil those people too much ? What have they done to deserve this ?
– Their attitude / their achievements /their effort ?
Awesome pictures and venture, Eric.well done ….:)
Affordable Email Service
http://emailsender.org.uk
That’s an innovative alternative for a missions trip. It’s good to see what you were blessed to take part in!
This is wonderful! I would encourage everyone to read the article link provided. It would be great to see this kind of reporting on the national news instead of the divisive reporting we see now.
Eric, I like the way you integrate faith, service and business. It’s so important not to live life in several isolated boxes. God bless you, David.
Brother, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I am jealous. The last few years I’ve put myself in a box doing work for one big client and I’m stuck. I don’t know how to go from what has now become a glorified J-O-B to making money without having to be a prolific writer. I’ve missed many shots at doing out of state/country mission work because I just don’t have the financial freedom yet. I use to run in all the guru circles but walked away from them because of all the self-glorification, ego and lack of integrity. I’m inspired by your walk!
GOOD PICS GOOD LUCK
BILL
“Portanto amados irmãos sede firmes e constantes, sempre abundantes na obra do Senhor, sabendo que o vosso trabalho não é vão no Senhor”. Co 15.56
God bless you!
Eric,
I know you don’t know me because I’m new to your site and have been following your tips. The photos of your outreach efforts are heartwarming. There are many that speak about participating in community outreach efforts and endeavors, but when one sees those they respect, “Walk the Walk”, it is uplifting and demonstrates their true character. Thus, I commend you for your efforts.
Thanks for sharing,
G
That’s a beautiful lake.
You are truly blessed, Eric. I can tell what you are doing is truly from your heart.
Blessings!
Great photos! I admire your involvement in this kind of ministry. You are paying it forward. This is why I trust you and know you are sincere about helping others
Dick
I thought the sign you were painting said “Dream big OR fake Providence”… was wondering what message you were trying to get across 🙂
What wonderful work! You and your family are lovely and it is so refreshing to see that there are still successful business people who live their lives in a meaningful way rather than so many that have become consumed with greed and selfishness. Kudos and prayers for a healthy baby and mother in the near future! I enjoyed the pics, thanks for posting.
WOW the fish look really good, It really looked like everyone was having fun, great vacation
I am in UK. Absolutely amazesd at the extent of your involvement.Brilliant project – well presented and a heart wrencher for all who view it. Congratulations
I’d like to do something like that.
The smiling faces says it all.
Great work, Very inspiring!
Love your projects. Good usage of positive energy. Keep up the good work.
I am very pleased with what I see. God bless you all. You and family are involved in a great ministry. I really hope to meet you one day. Your method of engagement of us into your activity (via photos) gives me hope that there are really good online internet persons around.
Eric,
That is very beautiful. What you’ve done there for the people in that community they will never forget. May you continue to be blessed abundantly for your kindness and generosity.
Much Respect,
Rodney Anderson
Hello Eric! I live roughly 125 miles south of Lake Providence. It is really amazing and sad at how many small towns and villages in the U.S. are in need of hope, assistance and a plan. This looks like a successful and fantastic outreach during which many were blessed. My wife and I look forward to going into full time ministry one day. But until then, we just continue to reach out to those closest to us. Be blessed!
Great Work, Wish I was able to do something like that. Keep up the good work. I stay busy trying to get my websites to bring in money for me at 79years old. PMI is trying to help me. Enjoyed the pictures.
Thanks Eric, for being such a great example of Christian love in action!
What a wonderful way to give back to a beautiful community. Congratulations Eric, you are a great family! Giving back to others is doing God’s work.
I am very pleased with what I see. You emails have been great and your engagement of us fantastic. I enjoy recommending you and I hope to have you as one of my guest blogger because we seem to have similar interests. I also hope to meet you and yours soon as we share the same faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (By the way I wrote the comments above but I realized late that I did not include my name so I did it over)
Eric, I love what you did, I hope to be able to this for people some day, I am watching and admiring from Canada!!
Thanks, Eric. Both for your service to God and sharing it. That is what I honor about you: that you are a man of God with character. Always keep an eternal perspective!
<3!
You and your family are leading by example
Nicely done Eric I live in Lake Charles Louisiana and like other people here have said, there are a lot of places in a lot of cities that need help.
It would be nice to have the money to travel around helping people.God bless Brother.
Nice photo’s! it’s good to see someone like you helping others in need..I plan on being in your shoe’s one day soon..you’re a good man Eric!
It’s a good thing that you Eric. Keep up God works.
Bless!
Mark
Very nice work Eric! Great to see you out there giving back and helping others with the lifestyle and rewards you’ve earned for yourself.
…But to be honest…. I gotta say, WHEN THE HECK ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE THE OTHER Erics tips PRODUCT LAUNCH VIDEOS AVAILABLE!!!!!?
We’ve been stuck on #89 for what must have been over a MONTH now, i’ve been eagerly anticipating the dang next videos in the series FOREVER now, could you please, sir, politely, HURRY THE HECK UP! We got products to launch! 😛
Jamie
hi Eric I hope one day that I Will be abel to give as much as you do helping so many people keep up the good work gavin
Thanks for sharing the great photos of your trip and fantastic work.
Very inspirational. Charity starts at home, and it’s great to see you are able to assist in this way.
That was really a nice to thing to see. 🙂 Wow… 🙂
Great work..
Eric you and your family are doing a great job.
God bless you and your family.
Mohammad
Hi Eric,
Someday I’ll like to be part of your mission team. I’m great at creative art too.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for sharing the pictures.
I enjoyed seeing them.
Best wishes on the new baby.
Melissa