Such great devastation: the Katrina winds, the broken levee, 1600 killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, a major city nearly taken off the map.
One year later, there are places that still look like a warzone. But rebuilding is taking place. Less than half of the elementary schools are opening, but many are.
This catastrophe brought out the very best of the people of Christ. For months, things like denominational loyalties didn’t matter. Christ-followers knew that major relief was needed, and it was offered in Louisiana, in Mississippi, in Houston, and in many other places.
The Tammany Oaks Church of Christ was one of many churches that rose to the occasion, turning their building into a respite and restoration center for the many groups coming to town to help. Enough can’t be said about that good church.
Mike, I had to toot the horn of one other. Tammany Oaks has done a tremendous job and they have brought much glory to Jesus. One of our fellow bloggers, John Dobbs and the folks at Central Church of Christ in Pascagoula, Mississippi also fall in the “Enough can’t be said about that good church”. They were to the east and off the news coverage, but plenty of devistaiton, mostly water and sewage feet high in your home. But their building still remains damaged. Because they don’t want to fix it while neighbors are without homes.
And I feel led to point this out, the money situation is not good there. Pray for support. I’ve traveled the length of this disaster and It is one of the most beautiful places I have been because the love of Christ is so visable.
I am still a little turned off that many of the places that have yet to be re-built are the so called “ghettos” of New Orleans. Many of those who had the least to lose still have nothing and were forced to start over again with no home, car, or health insurance to back them up. In many ways, the poor have left New Orleans and will never return. Some won’t go back because they have nothing to go back to and others won’t return because it would be financially impossible.
If I learned anything about Katrina, it is this: the church needs to step up every day to help the needy like many did in the weeks and months following Katrina. The storm of poverty and despair is washing people away each day still today and yet we seem to have returned back to our plushy pews and patted ourselves on the back for offering such great help to those in need.
Let’s not kid ourselves, the storm is raging, and won’t quit anytime soon. It’s still not time to give up. Ther are too many that literally will not survive without our help.
Mike, another of the unkown stories of Katrina is that the little country church, with about 30 members, where my dad preaches in far western Tennessee, filled a tractor trailer with supplies and hauled it to New Orleans right after Katrina hit.
i second tcs’s comment. jd has worked tirelessly to elp his community to rebuild and survive. just last week he mentioned that they were able to help a man that has been living in an abandoned van. can you imagine living in your own van for a year, much less an abandoned van?
yes, chris, we do need to step up and show the Christ in us. however, there are those that have been doing that for over year now, and they are my heros!
i have gone to assist a few times, but i have not been enough. more is left to be done, but it will take years before they will be back to semi-normal.
thanks jd, for your tireless efforts! you are being the Christ to your community!
I am also indebted to those who have worked hard in the last year and those who have given their lives to working in this manner and way, Ken. I just think our tendency is to applaud ourselves and think “we did it!” and go back to normal life when this kind of effort and dedication is needed in cities around the country around the clock.
Blessings.
The continued monumental incompetence of the federal government’s response to the devastation caused by Katrina in New Orleans and everywhere else in the Gulf is mind numbing.
Thank God that churches, other nonprofits and individuals have responded in the generous way that they have.
Spike Lee’s four-hour-long documentary “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” was hard to watch.
May God bless them all.
J. Pierpont said: “The continued monumental incompetence of the federal government’s response to the devastation caused by Katrina in New Orleans and everywhere else in the Gulf is mind numbing.”
If all you know about the federal response to Katrina is what you learned from Spike Lee, then you might want to consider looking in some other places.
I happen to work for one of those “incompetent” federal agencies that had mobile clinics on the ground and seeing patients within a week of the event. We responded nimbly and quickly and still are.
There were and continue to be some serious deficits in the response, but no one at any level was truly prepared for that kind of impact. It has taken the best efforts of everyone from Joe Q. Citizen, to churches and non profits, to governments at all levels to overcome this tragedy. It has been a learning experience for all.
But there is no doubt that the govt., in many ways, dropped the ball when it came to this tragedy. I don’t know how that can even be disputed. Sure, some things were fine and well and the wheels were turning but anyone who recalls scenes of people on rooftops, dying on highways, and fighting at the Superdome can understand that the govt. was overwhelmingly incompetent when it came to response to this issue. Regardless of why it happened, it did indeed happen.
The gov’t at all levels was ill prepared for this. You can pass the blame all around but there is no way anyone could have gotten all of those masses off the roofs and other places any faster after the fact. It was all too massive and impassable with no preparation at any level. You have to want to blame someone for this tradgedy to do so. But, yes. Thank God for His people who continue to respond thanklessly.
I started my trip to visit “Katrina” August 27th, 2005 from Modesto, CA, stopped by Sacramento and picked up a Red Cross ERV and headed west. I remember being tearful and angry at the plight of the people of NOLA as they clung to life in whatever ways they could. I arrived in Baton Rouge on the Sept 2 for an assignment. I was disappointed to be sent to Bogalusa instead of New Orleans. However, after spending 3 weeks in a tent on the yard of a Baptist Church, I came to grips with the fact that this disaster was too big to put your arms around. In Bogalusa which I believe is sixty miles inland there was devastation not from water but wind. Point of this, Katrina created on the scale no one could conceive. I know they had played computer simualtion, but it was still hard to conceptualize how many hundreds of thousands of people were affected. It is easy for us to point fingers at the easy targets like Mike Brown. Katrina enabled faith based groups to shine like we have never shined before. Jesus has been seen and proclaimed through this disater. For those pointing fingers at the Feds for lack of response, I ask what is your plan for the next disaster? Why wait for them to respond? Lets saddle up and go. sorry for the rant
My apologies for the bad grammar and spelling above.
Mike,
Thank you for your positive comments regarding the work of Christians in the Gulf.
Hurricanes the size of Katrina are “no respector of persons, neighborhoods, wards, cities, or states.”
I visited with many people that became homeless because of the storm from Louisiana in the Houston area. Regardless of their race or religion, they were loved. The shelters were literally overflowing with food, water, and supplies for our new neighbors. Many people in the Houston area opened their homes to the people of New Orleans at what turned out to be a great risk for a few.
Reality is often the first casualty of our media saturated culture. This may be why we saw very little coverage of the thousands of Christian groups serving in the name of Jesus. Yet, I am not sure we should want it any other way — to God be the glory!
I was involved in the work the Downtown Church in Searcy did following Katrina. I know we touched many people who came into Searcy, but I am reminded how much my life was blessed by being able to serve and bless them. So many of us are so slow to jump into service opportunities, and yet, I know when I do, I TOTALLY understand why Christ told us it is more blessed to give than to receive.
I feel like my comments have been misunderstood thus far today. What I was trying to say was two-fold:
1) Many people have done good things in the last year. Praise God for that indeed!
2) We (the church) need to use this as a reminder that there is so very much work that needs to be done especially in regards to the poor and marginalized of our world.
Sorry if what I said came across any other way. Anything I write about this topic must be read through the filter of someone who is totally and completely passionate about urban ministry and the church’s need to engage this sector of our country more often.
Sorry again if I offended or bothered anyone with what I said. That was never my intention.
I think I understand what “Chris Field” is saying. I feel the same. It is correct that it was hard to rescue folks after the fact. That’s the whole point. We didn’t react in the beginning. We also have to remember that the winds weren’t what caused the most damage - it was the flooding. Yes, this should have been prevented. Our government has wasted too much money on an unjust war - we have enough problems on our soil to take care of. And please, don’t hit me with that sad song of “doing it there so they don’t do it to us here.” Hey, what a minute - isn’t that the EXACT OPPOSITE of the Golden Rule?? God help us! What has happened to us?
“But there is no doubt that the govt., in many ways, dropped the ball”
i do hope that you are including the local governments in that statement. how many busses did we see on the news that were flooded? could they not have been used to evacuate the people?
not to create an argument, but they could’ve been taken out of harms way. why does the local government think that it is the federal government’s job to do their job? it was not the federal governments fault that the people were still in new orleans, and that the levees were in poor condition.
i’m going to stop here, and just know that the federal government did their job. i work the federal government i know we did.
Mike The EyeGuy – I am with you – not against you.
As a clarification – I did not refer to specific agencies within the federal response as incompetent. I referred to the federal government as incompetent and by “federal government” I was referring to those in the executive and administrative branches government - not the folks who have tirelessly carried out the tasks of recovery with grace and compassion.
The legislative branch is responsible for not funding the Corps. of Engineers over the years to the degree needed to secure NOLA from a catastrophic flood. For too many years they wagered that NO would not be hit like the last time.
The executive branch is responsible for a complete lack of leadership in the week before this crisis and the first two weeks after Katrina. These were crucial moments when people’s lives literally hung in the balance and there was every appearance - even from watching FOX news coverage - that things were badly. And all the while the Executive branch was fiddling at the White House, fly fishing in west and attending Spamalot in NYC.
I have followed the crisis closely from the beginning and contributed frequently in the last year to organizations and churches working directly in NOLA. Spike has not been my only source of info.
As you, yourself, noted – there continue to be some serious deficits in our response.
I said: “I was referring to those in the executive and administrative branches government - not the folks..”
I should have said: “I was referring to those in the executive and LEGISLATIVE branches government - not the folks…”
so if another hurricane/natural disaster were to hit the gulf coast, would it be the federal government’s fault for not evacuating the people, or the city and state’s fault for not taking care of its constituants, or would it the people’s fault for not getting their families out of the way, since they had been wtching it approach for over a week?
Wednesday night, I talked with Barbara, one of our Katrina guests who has stayed here and started over.
She told me, “You know, it’s almost exactly one year. I could never imagine the way my life was going to go. But it did. Everything changed. But, God has been good to me, and given me a new life. Now, I’m just about ready.”
“For what?”
“To be dipped in a liquid grave.”
She spent the next morning studying with Doug (our pulpit minister); and Sunday morning (8/27/06) Barbara was indeed dipped in that liquid grave in the midst of her new family.
My use of the general term “govt.” was purposeful. All levels dropped the ball.
Chris,
I appreciate your enthusiasm on this topic. I have been allowed to do mobile feeding for the Red Cross many times and we end up in an urban ministry environment nearly everytime. The Urban inner cities are less equipped to handle disasters, ie, it is hard to have a three day disaster pack with food for the family when your stretching every dollar to keep food on the table.
Last year in December our church took our annual Youth In Action program to the gulf coast to work on restoring homes. I got to see Tammany Oaks and other church families in action. What a powerful living testament they are to the “God of the Towel”. There is real power in their servant spirit.
God honors God honoring service, and I can see His life flowing through these people out into these communities.
Bay St. Louis, MS, is another place where God’s people are doing good things. Still yet, there is much more to be done. Maybe when I finish praying for God to send more workers, I will get up off my duff and return to work myself! (a little confession of guilt there!)
Great piece on NPR All Things Considered today (check the website)
about Faith Based Groups who are now being lauded for doing a majority of the rebuilding on the Gulf Coast. Faith Based Groups from all over the United States have spent the last year doing the work while everyone else tries to “figure it out.”
I will not forget the Americans who suffered along the gulf coast. I will not forget the poor who didn’t have away out. I will not forget the elderly who died because they had no way out. I will not forget the sick that were in the hospitals who suffered during the storm. American’s. Not Evacuees. American’s. Not Thugs. American’s. I will not forget the response of the goverment. I will not forget the images of the dead. Americans. May we never forget!
Lelland,
I pondered whether I should give you the attention to your stupidity and judgementalism toward Americans who were hurting. Man where is your compassion. Are you a Christian? Where is your heart? Jesus looks beyond race, social status and political lines. God is not a respector of persons.
Bush didn’t do those things, your right. Many of the people you are talking about didn’t do those things either. People weren’t taking Tv’s but taking water, food, clothes, necessaties. Where would they take the Tv’s? Their homes floating in 5 feet of water?
Bush didn’t respond quick enough to get the people the help they needed. It is amazing that we were shipping food and water in Idonesia in 24 hours but it took 5 days for our own people. Bush sending National Gaurd to build a fence along the boarder instead of rebuilding towns, lives.
We will rebuild countries that we go to war with but what about our own?
Bush is spending Trillions on the war on terror but what about Americans?
Thank God that Churches and Christians did step up and make a difference. Churches and Christians housing people, feeding people, providing clothing, building houses, places of worship, making a differnce the way Christ would. Being Christians. God was definatley glorified by Tammy Oaks and many, many others. That my brother is a sign that Christianity isn’t as srewed up as you think.
If any of you have HBO you must watch the Spike Lee documentary “When The Levee’s Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts”. It heart felt, honest documentary that every American must see.
“Can’t we all just get along?” — Jack
Hello all,
Longtime reader, second or third time commenter. I was blessed to work at Tammany Oaks this summer. Just wanted to leave a link to the church:
http://www.tammanyoaks.org
Here is a blog that is run by volunteers:
whereisawjesus.blogspot.com
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been updated recently. Most of the recent posts are business related; I recommend reading the eariler posts.
God bless everyone for remembering these people at this crucial point in their lives.
Wednesday night, I talked with Barbara, one of our Katrina guests who has stayed here and started over.
She told me, “You know, it’s almost exactly one year. I could never imagine the way my life was going to go. But it did. Everything changed. But, God has been good to me, and given me a new life. Now, I’m just about ready.”
“For what?”
“To be dipped in that liquid grave.”
She spent the next morning in intense studying with Doug (our pulpit minister); and Sunday morning (8/27/06) Barbara was indeed dipped in that liquid grave in the midst of her new family.
That’s Barbara’s story for “a Year Later.”
Another church that has done great things since the storm is the Bay St. Louis Church of Christ in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Bay St. Louis was basically ground zero for the storm. They had a storm surge of about 30 feet. Charlie Buckley is their minister, and Katrina relief has been a major addition to his job description for the last year.
As of July 6th, the church there (with less than 100 members, most of which were displaced by the storm) had…
…helped over 2000 families with food, water & basic supplies
…helped over 200 families with building supplies
…coordinated numerous groups who have come in from other churches to help
…set up or conducted Bible studies with 46 individuals or families
…baptized 8 people
all in a city with less than 3300 households.
The churches on the coast are doing a great job helping those in need.
I forgot to mention that they have also helped with cleaning up, tearing out sheetrock, de-mucking, demolishing and helping to rebuild countless houses.