Caitlin In New Orleans

We had an amazing day in New Orleans. We met some amazing and interesting people. The ones that stuck out to me the most were almost missed. We were sitting in an open air café eating some kind of traditional Louisiana dessert when I first noticed her. Across from us was a bench with 3 men and a woman on it. The woman was actually lying across a bag and one man. She was passed out and looked nearly dead. She was breathing though, so I just kept an eye on her because she struck me for some reason. A balloon man came and talked to us and we found out he is an evangelist. He told us about this woman and why she was there. She travelled from New Jersey and never left.
“Once you come here you can never leave. This square is like a cage” he told us.
We all talked to him after dessert. He may have a video up here soon. We also met a Christian family that sings as a choir and sells CDs. While we were talking to them one man on the bench called Ashlee over and asked for prayer. We all ended up talking to these people and they each had a sad story to tell. The man who had asked for prayer was Wendell. He was the man who was holding the woman who was passed out. We talked to him and prayed for him. Keep him in prayer. The whole time the woman never woke up. Finally, one of us asked if she was passed out from alcohol. He said yes. Right then, she smiled sadistically and popped right up. She looked us all in the eyes and said “This is not from alcohol. This is because I am in the pits of Hell.” I told her that was absolutely true. It is really. She has kids in New Jersey but she can’t get sober enough to get home. She has marks all over her arms from needles and she passes out like that everyday. This woman truly is trying to crawl up from the pits of Hell. She seems to have a lot of knowledge of God and Christianity, but she will not let go and fully give her life to Christ. Her name is Yvonne. There are people like Yvonne all over our country and how many of us take a minute to listen to them and encourage them? Keep the people of New Orleans in prayer. They are in serious spiritual warfare.
-Caitlin