Local Students Attend ELCA Youth Gathering in NOLA
A dozen local youth and their chaperones experienced a trip to New Orleans that not only helped them grow as individuals and peers, but most of all, in their faith.
Earlier this summer, members of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Wessington Springs helped send the 12 kids with chaperones Gene and Loree Gaikowski to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering in downtown New Orleans, held every three years. The theme for this year's event was "Created to Be."
The first night they arrived they worshiped with 16,000 youth in a service held at the Smoothie King Event Center.
“It was a whole different church experience. It was this feeling of unity as we all sang together with 16,000 other people,” said one of the attendees, Nathan Gaikowski.
Kaitlyn Braun said she particularly enjoyed the speakers during the service. “I really liked how they put the service together,” she said. “The experience was so cool that night, meeting a lot of new people while worshiping God.”
Loree Gaikowski said she could see the impact that first worship had on all the kids.
“Opening session was amazing with inspiring speakers, the Christian rock band, The Afters, and the excellent house band,” she shared. “These kids’ faith was lit up.”
In addition to faith-based activities and services, the group also did service projects at Peace Lutheran Church in Slidell, LA after the church experienced severe flooding.
Plenty of sightseeing, exploring and adventures in southern food — alligator and frog legs, anyone — made the trip one the youth won’t soon forget.
“It wasn’t just the impact on us, we had an impact on the people there,” said Morgan Mentele. “We were in an elevator and a lady told us about the positivity we brought to New Orleans. It really lifted us up.”
The group from Wessington Springs area participated in a scavenger hunt throughout downtown New Orleans, enjoyed an interactive day with games and socializing with other ELCA attendees from across the nation and fellow South Dakotans.
“We had a day with others from our region and we discovered South Dakota had the largest representation at the gathering — 800 kids from South Dakota,” shared Loree Gaikowski. “That speaks volume about our faith.”
While the group was rooted in faith-based activities throughout the trip, they also carved out time to explore the flavor of New Orleans through food, art and activities.
“We got to really experience New Orleans culture. All the activities were fun and involved God without us even knowing it,” Carter Gaikowski shared.
Madilyn Gaikowski said she loved the diverse range of new experiences during the trip.
“It was all really fun for me. I even tried alligator there. And we all tried the frog. It’s true, it did taste like chicken,” she laughed. “Overall it was a chance for you to grow in your faith through different than normal experiences, like when dancers came in to teach us to dance and we even heard a Christian rapper.”
When Gene Gaikowski reflects on the trip, he sees value in the experience from the group perspective.
“The whole thing was a fun experience as an individual, but to see the group get out of it what they did was rewarding,” he said. “We were spontaneous in all that we did. We got caught in the rain and stumbled across the place that Blake (Miller) had picked out on the flight down. We would walk everywhere as a group and have meaningful conversations with each other and with people we’d come across in our travels.”
Loree Gaikowski saw incredible growth not only in the kids’ faith but in their confidence and abilities to successfully navigate in the world.
“The kids took turns playing navigator on Google maps. For a lot of the kids, this was the first time leaving South Dakota, the first time on a plane. It was a privilege to be a part of their faith journey and allow space for it to be their faith journey,” she shared. “We had some real conversation about how to be your authentic self and what that means. For some, it was the first time in their life they were able to reconcile thoughts in their minds when it comes to acceptance.”
The trip was funded through sandwich and cheese sales, along with donations from Our Saviors Lutheran Church members.
“We did fundraisers in the spring and fall,” Loree Gaikowski shared. “We’ll continue to fundraise again to take as many kids who want to go the next time they hold the event in three years. We want to thank the community for buying sandwiches and all their support.”
Looking back on the experience, Braun and Mentele share the same sentiment when asked about the overarching takeaway from the experience: “It helped us grow and feel closer to God. And no matter what, God will still love you.”