St Paul's Lutheran Church in East Northport, NY Participated in the 2012 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering

    EAST NORTHPORT, NY, August 10, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Early on July 17 a team of 12 from St Paul's Lutheran Church in East Northport, NY departed from the church parking lot at 5 AM on their journey to New Orleans to take part in the 2012 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering. This was culmination of almost twelve months of planning and fundraising by the eight teens that along with their chaperones journeyed to New Orleans to spend several days with over 38,000 others from throughout the United States.

On the final day in New Orleans - called Practice Justice Day, the teens put their faith into action in a city that has persevered through one of the biggest natural disasters in our world. They learned from the people of New Orleans about their struggles and their strength, and discovered places of amazing resilience and places of neglect, violence and pain. Now, six years after Katrina, New Orleans is slowly recovering, yet the need is still great.

That day our St Paul's teens spent hours working on deconstructing a house that had been completely submerged but was still unattended to after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The eight St. Paul's youth were joined by almost 500 others to take apart this particular house carefully so that most of the materials could be used in reconstructing another thus saving the materials from being discarded in a landfill. The teens were all smiles as they worked through 90 degree temperatures and high humidity - often cooling off with a hose.

The teens were amazed at how much work still needs to be done and have vowed to return to continue the work that is still needed in New Orleans.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church in East Northport, New York has been serving Northport, Smithtown, Huntington and the surrounding area almost 100 years. Please contact us at 631-754-4422 for more information about services and membership.

Website: http://www.stpaulslutheranchurchandschool.org/

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