Day 1
Hello to all!We arrived safely in Lakeshore around 5pm last night, via the "scenic route" through New Orleans.
It's so easy to see how Katrina caused so much damage to the N.O. area. The only way to arrive to or leave the city is via several 2-lane bridges over a huge expanse of seawater and swampland. Imagine approximately 1.6 million people trying to escape an arriving natural distaster with a maximum of probably 20 lanes of bridge highway. Yes, there are bad areas of N.O., areas that look more like a ghost town than the birthplace of jazz, but there are also incredible signs of hope. Many homes proudly display the American flag, and the blue tarps covering practically every other rooftop are a great indication that people DO want to rebuild, and that they aren't going to desert their city and more importantly, their homes.
We met with Greg London, Lakeshore Baptist's volunteer organizer last night. Please keep him in your prayers. He has been here at Lakeshore Baptist 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for the past 4 weeks doing everything he can to help anyone in need. Lakeshore, about a mile from the ocean, was completely demolished. Imagine standing on the dry land and having someone tell you that during the worst of the storm, 40 feet of water was sitting on this land and didn't fully recede until 8 days later.
Today was L.B's sunday morning service, held inside their temporary building. About 100 people were able to squeeze inside. Our very own Matt Olmstead led us all in the hymn singing :). Pastor Don Elbourne gave a great sermon about John 3:16. He is a very friendly man who is also very passionate about rebuiding this community. Please also keep him in your prayers, as the church is in negotiations with the city and its residents to rebuild a new permanent building.
We are staying in a large trailer that was provided by FEMA, as are most residents in the area. These trailers are their new homes, which more often than not rest on the concrete foundation of where their previous homes rested. Our trailer is separated into 5 rooms, the last of which being the shower room. The gnats are very bad here, so if don't be surprised if we come home resembling people who have contracted the chicken pox.
Well, I should get going here. We are going to meet tonight for a time of prayer and reflection on what we've seen and heard already. We will all come home with many stories and pictures of the wonderful people we've met and of how the landscape here looks. Your prayers are wonderfully appreciated.
God Bless,
FBC Lakeshore Team
posted by My Profile @ 5:58 PM
1 Comments:
Just a correction.
The water went down the same day as it came in.
Also, have yall thought to give some of your time to New Orleans areas affected by the storm.
They need it too.
Thanks for considering the great state of La.
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