KATRINA - Churches Respond

CHURCHES THROUGHOUT SOUTH OPEN DOORS TO EVACUEES
Monday, September 5, 2005
By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
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MANSFIELD, LOUISIANA (ANS) -- As former residents of New Orleans and the Gulf face a future full of uncertainties, Christians throughout the South˜a thousand points of light˜have already opened their homes and are caring for evacuees.

"Life as we knew it just a few days ago will never be the same,‰ says Suzanne Williams, a member of Living Word Church in Mansfield. Their church‚s former youth building is now home to 13 members of the Thompson family spanning three generations. "These are wonderful people, who know they‚re blessed to be alive," she says. "We're preparing to take in 50 more people."

Mansfield, once a fairly prosperous town in the northwest corner of Louisiana, is somewhat of an economic basket case today. It shrunk from a population of 16,000 to just 4,500 after several industries shut their doors a few years ago. The jobs were exported overseas.

It lies in the heart of a broad swath of territory that served as a landing pad for refugees fleeing one of the worst disasters in American history. „All the people that did evacuate and found hotels and motels are now faced with no place to go,‰ Williams says. "They are looking for relief in shelters that are springing up everywhere˜mostly in churches,‰ she says.

"Now is the time to put love in action," she adds.

Living Word is a church of about 200, typical of the small churches of rural Louisiana. The church already spent $1000 for food, clothing and supplies to take care of the Thompson family in the first four days. They estimate it will take thousands˜perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars˜to house 50 more people for 6-15 months.

Pastor Glenn Rogers, of Living Word, is overseeing the relief effort among nine other churches in Mansfield. „We‚re overwhelmed with the responsibility right now,‰ Rogers says. There are 100,000 evacuees in the Shreveport area, about 30 miles north of Mansfield, he says. The overflow is filtering into smaller communities along the interstate highway like Mansfield.

"They run out of gas and don‚t know where to go," he says.

The dimensions of the evacuation are historically unprecedented. Pastor Rogers cites 1.3 million in the process of being relocated from the greater New Orleans area, and possibly as many as 3 million from the entire region. „We have over 1500 people camping at one park near us," he says.

After the crisis hit, members of the church signed their names to a volunteer list to cook meals, do laundry, run errands, and haul supplies for new arrivals. Many also signed up to donate extra sheets and blankets, pillows, towels, clothes, baby formula and many other items on a list that's growing rapidly.

A dentist in the church volunteered to do root canals and crowns at no charge for three evacuees in need of attention. Since the church lacks adequate restroom and shower facilities, evacuees are going into members‚ homes to get cleaned up.

"This is a tremendous wake-up call for the church,‰ Pastor Rogers says. "I won't say God caused this," he says. "It could be the judgment of God because there‚s been enough sin in our lives. I think God is also dealing with us about our lack of compassion for our fellow man."

After the 9-11 attack, attendance at Living Word Church swelled for several Sundays and a few people found salvation in Christ. "It only lasted about a month, but now our whole church is turned upside down and people are afraid about the future," Pastor Rogers observes. "We're working around the clock, and we know things won't be the same for a good while."

"We‚re sandwiched between Matthew 22 and Matthew 28,‰ Pastor Rogers says. "God has been breaking my heart and showing me I had spiritual pride in my life," he says. "He wants to squeeze that out of me and restore a genuine love for Him and for others."

Pastor Rogers cancelled his camp meeting budget of several thousand dollars two days ago, and diverted the funds to the church's relief effort. "Our ministry is what we're doing right now,‰ he says, „not just having another meeting."

Mark Ellis is a Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service. He is also an assistant pastor in Laguna Beach, CA. Contact Ellis at marsalis@fea.net

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