ABANDON: THE MOVEMENT

Abandon is a movement!  This summer we are teaming up with Crossover 2012 to present a city-wide revival experience called “Awaken The City” featuring Trip Lee of the 116 Clique, local favorite Jake Smith, and much more!  The event will be held on Saturday, June 15, 2012, at the East Jefferson High Auditorium in Metairie, LA, just minutes outside the city of New Orleans.  It is free and open to the public featuring Free Pizza and Give-A-Ways.  Stay posted to http://www.abandonproductions.org for all the latest information.

Spread The Word // Join The Movement

God is moving… Period.  God has a great plan for the movement of Abandon in the coming years.  Many have been asking, “When is the next big event?” or “What do you all have planned next?”  Answer:  A lot!  We wanted to take a moment to share with you some vision, ideas, and direction for what God is crafting next for our ministry!

The story of Abandon began around a decade ago.  In fall of 2011, God led a small group of students to put on a student-led outreach to other students around our city and in our schools called Impact.  The event took 6 months of planning resulting in 6 decisions made for Christ.  In summer of 2007, shortly after the devastation Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans, Abandon Productions was officially founded and incorporated by Dean Ross, a native of the city.  God had called Dean and his wife Laura in 2006 back to the city to be involved in its long-term physical and spiritual, restoration and renewal.

Many great things have happened.  Over 100 outreach events have been planned and executed reaching all parts of the city of New Orleans and the Gulf South.  Two years ago just before Easter, our ministry partnered with Awakening Events to pull off the largest concert outreach our city has ever seen with over 5,000 souls pouring into the UNO Lakefront Arena.  We have been blessed to work with some great speakers and musicians including Louie Giglio, Toby Mac, Lecrae, Skillet, Chris Tomlin, Newsboys, and many more at local churches and venues like the Superdome, New Orleans Arena, and Zephyr Field.

So what lies next?

This year we are launching “Abandon: The Movement,” a rebranding and strategic focus of our ministry as not just a non-profit, “production” company, but a “movement” of the local church impacting our city for eternity.  Abandon has never been tied to a denomination, particular church, or theological position, we’ve always been an organization that exists to “assist the local church, proclaim Jesus Christ, and mobilize God’s people in mission.”  Abandon: The Movement equals the mission we’ve always been called to expressed as church resourcing, church planting, church revitalization, and much more.

A few years ago our friend and past staff member Troy Gause, who currently serves our city through NOLA Church Plant on staff of Crescent City Community Church, inquired if Abandon ever saw itself planting or revitalizing churches.  At the time the answer was not known, but in praying for and partnering with churches in our city, we’ve seen great need for resources, revitalization, and planting efforts of the Gospel in New Orleans.  Honestly, an internal fear existed that our reach and impact might be diminished by any strong connection to particular local churches, but thank God that over the years many walls come down and the Holy Spirit has begun to move in a big way.  People now tend to care more about who you care for, Jesus and our city, than any particular brand or affiliation that you choose to work with to reach people for Jesus.

Church Planting and Revitalization

In fall of 2011, God led our founder and executive director Dean Ross to replant a church in Metairie called Lakeside.  A core team is coming together to revitalize and plant a new work of the local church in a part of our city that statistics show is both influential and unreached.  Another member of our team Dexter Gaspard, has formed a band called Awake the Bride and is more intricately involved in growing his local church called New Hope in Houma, LA.  Current board member and past staff member, Paul Irons faithfully serves his local church Lakeview Christian in New Orleans.  Abandon loves the local church and greatly anticipates what lies next as we build networks, create and craft events, and provide efforts to see churches across our city thrive and flourish in a new way.

Venue Development

Business as mission is a core principal described in Scripture and one we value at Abandon.  We have had a desire for a few years now to develop a music and multi-purpose venue to reach people in our city.  We have built relationships with and held events at some of the largest event halls and music venues in our city including the House of Blues and Hard Rock Café.  Beginning this month with “Abandon 2012,” we plan to start hosting regular concerts and events at Lakeside.  We can’t wait to see where this brings us and what developments lie ahead.  God has also given us a great vision for the Fat City area of Metairie, LA, with the potential to launch a mission’s center there in the years to come fighting for social justice and bringing compassion to an area in need of God’s love.

Events and Concerts

Abandon Productions is kicking back into full swing bringing the best and biggest life changing, community impacting events to Greater New Orleans.  We are developing a revival event called “Awaken The City,” holding our annual “History Makers” gathering this summer, and concerts at local venues and churches across the Gulf South.  Stay posted online for big announcements in the coming months.  We also have partnered with Artist Hub South, run by our own Brett Weller, to connect with local musicians and creative minds for the sake of networking, growth, and development of dynamic art expressed through music and other means in the Crescent City and Gulf South region.

Productions and The Movement

While “Abandon: The Movement” represents our heart and underlying passion moving forward, we still plan to continue with the “Abandon Productions” element of our ministry.  Our organization is officially registered as “Abandon Productions” and will operate under that name publicly and as “Abandon: The Movement” in the context of the local church.  We now have two primary websites with “abandonproductions.org” serving as our homepage and the site for information on upcoming events and “abandonthemovement.com” serving as the extension our ministry as a devotional blog equipping the local church and providing ways for churches and individuals to get involved in the movement.

Get ready for what lies next…  Stay posted.

// Awaken The City // Join The Movement //

Join us for a night of community & cause!!

Featuring Concerts By:

Admission: Donation @ Door for Missions Work in Fat City ($5-$10 per person suggested)

// Special Give-a-ways // Invite Your Friends //