HEART FOR NEW ORLEANS - Dennis Jones, president of Heritage Christian University in Florence, Ala., commutes 425 miles each weekend to the Hickory Knoll Church of Christ in Harahan, La., a New Orleans suburb.
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That's the message that Dennis Jones would like to convey to fellow members of Churches of Christ.
"To the tourist, it's fancy restaurants, loud music, the French Quarter," Jones said.
Look closer, though, and it's a city of fine universities, hospitals and museums, he said. Even better, as he sees it, it's a city full of souls open to the Gospel.
"There's a spirituality about this place," Jones said. "People here are probably, if you take them as a whole, as spiritually sensitive as any place I know that you can go."
Jones serves full time as president of Heritage Christian University in Florence, Ala.
But 40 weekends a year, he makes an 850-mile round trip to the Hickory Knoll Church of Christ in this New Orleans suburb, on the east bank of the Mississippi River.
"My goal is to strengthen, stabilize and rebuild the church in New Orleans," said Jones, who began work with the Hickory Knoll church in 2007.
"I have a five-year commitment to do all I can -- with the Lord's help -- to rehabilitate the image of the church in the area and encourage young families to move here and start a business or put down roots some way. We need more people who are firmly grounded to help us evangelize the area."
Recently, the Hickory Knoll church hosted a men's leadership breakfast that drew representatives from nearly 20 congregations.
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Source: Christian Chronicle | Bobby Ross Jr.
