FORT WORTH?”If the church does not learn to deal with the poor, we simply can never fulfill the Great Commission,” said New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley just three days after hurricane winds and massive flooding devastated the campus.

Kelley hopes to raise an estimated $6 million to launch a program of social work that will honor what he described as “a New Testament model of both proclamation and ministry” occurring in the local church simultaneously. “The disconnect has been in place quite a long time,” he said, referring to a tendency of Southern Baptist churches to emphasize one or the other of these two priorities.

Noting the large population of poor people in all urban areas, Kelley warned: “The consequences are going to manifest themselves. It may not always be a hurricane, but it is a time bomb waiting to happen.”

As people observe the generosity that Kelley said characterizes Americans, they “look past skin color, socio-economic class and see the needs” of individuals. “You can’t do that in the church without a pastor first teaching his people from the Bible that this is a biblical model of what a church is. The mission God has given us includes sharing of the gospel and also the doing of ministry. It has to be taught from the pulpit,” he insisted.

Furthermore, Kelley said, “The volume of the Baptist witness in New Orleans can increase dramatically” through the rebuilding effort. In the past, he said, Southern Baptists had never been a player, but merely a “whisper in the noise that was New Orleans.” Now, Baptist groups cycling through the city to rebuild will help people realize, “We’re not going to leave New Orleans.”

Through a well-established program known as Mission Lab, churches will continue to bring mission groups for a weeklong experience of ministry to an urban area. The seminary provides housing, meals and ministry opportunities at an affordable cost. Typically, over 2,500 high school students lead mission projects across New Orleans over a 10-week period. College students fill in during spring and fall breaks. More recently, senior adults began participating in the work among the homeless, alcoholics and impoverished citizens.

“They have a wonderful week and God uses them. Then as they’re riding on the bus back to the church, everyone begins talking about how great it was and they wonder if their own city has anything like this. They ask, ‘If we did it in New Orleans, why can’t we do it in our city?'”

From grandparents sitting on sidewalks alongside “gutter punks” to those who admit to having never touched the skin of a black person, Kelley said they are sharing their faith, anxious to return for another week of ministry the next year.

“We’re not a church and we can’t go out and reach, baptize and disciple people, but we can be the facilitators for the church and take some of our expertise to help where we need help. We can provide the context for them that is relatively safe and let people find out some things about themselves they didn’t know,” he said, referring to the need for experience ministering among the poor.

“There is a way for Southern Baptists to start making some of those adjustments and it’s encouraged me as churches have reached out to people in the storm, taking them into their homes, their shelters, enrolling them in school and getting them clothes. They’ve had contact with them and are finding it’s not that hard.”

Kelley recognizes Southern Baptists have “a huge, long way to go” as they tackle a problem that began with “some bad exegesis.” He spoke of the belief that because deacons were chosen to wait on the tables, pastors should simply do the preaching while the members do ministry.

“We forget that Stephen was one of those doing ministry and he was martyred for his faith. Philip was a deacon and he became an evangelist. We separated the two functions,” he said, contending that often “evangelism became proclamation and ministry became missions” among Southern Baptists during an earlier era.

As Southern Baptists rediscover the biblical pattern of joining evangelism to missions, they will be a part of changing lives among the urban poor, he said.

“Instead of changing our whole ministry philosophy, we need to take some small bites,” he said, suggesting involvement in disaster relief. “There’s this enormous release of energy and a freshness of vision” without “changing or compromising our evangelical witness.”

As one of a few schools indicating its interest in continuing to hold classes and remain in New Orleans, Kelley said, “People remember things like that. The new New Orleans is going to be much more open to a Baptist witness than ever before,” Kelley predicted.

JASPER, TX?Fifty miles north of Beaumont in Jasper County,

members of First Baptist Church of Kirbyville were busy passing out water and ice to fellow townspeople who were all in the same predicament: No electricity and no water.

“We’re living ‘old school,'” said Robert Fuller, a member of First Baptist, Kirbyville. The church did not suffer serious damage, he said, but winds knocked out power and damaged homes around the town, Fuller said. “I’ve got a big pine that should have hit our house,” he added.

Fuller said he was making use of his generator, though he said he was expecting to be without power for possibly a month.

The towns of Jasper, Kirbyville, and Silsbee, in deep Southeast Texas, were hard hit by Rita’s winds. Early attempts to reach churches in the area were mostly unsuccessful since phone lines were down and some roads were blocked.

Wind damage was reported as far away as Tyler, Texas, nearly 220 miles north of the Gulf Coast and on the western edge of the storm.

Winds from Rita tore a large portion of a stucco façade from the four-year-old worship center at Friendly Baptist Church in Tyler, which had to cancel Sunday services because church officials were concerned about the building’s safety, said Pastor Dale Perry.

“It tore the west gables off completely and exposed all of the roof and air conditioning duct work and steelwork,” Perry said. “We were really fortunate that we did not have water damage. When Rita passed by, it was strongest from north to south. On the west side of the building it just peeled of like a banana.” Friendly had earlier voted to postpone a planned building note campaign to allow a focus on providing assistance to Katrina victims.

Edwin Crank, president of Jacksonville College, a two-year school affiliated with the SBTC, said about 120 on-campus students waited out the storm without power for much of the Saturday when Rita hit, but the campus was spared serious damage. Jacksonville is about 30 miles south of Tyler in East Texas.

“We just had a couple of broken windows,” Crank said. “Our electricity went off and we were without power for 14 hours. The campus is full of broken limbs and twigs but other than that, everything is just fine. “We were just thankful for the Lord’s hand on us through the process,” he added.

A SBTC staff contingent covered much of East Texas Sept. 26-27, visiting several dozen churches in Rita’s path, said Deron Biles, SBTC Minister/Church Relations director.

City Groves was hit hard, along with Woodville, Bridge City and Silsbee,” Biles said, estimating that nine in 10 buildings were damaged in those small towns.

LA PLACE, La.–After 24 days of operations in Louisiana, the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention Disaster Relief has suspended its meal operations to New Orleans and surrounding areas in order to minister to the victims of Hurricane Rita. “We will be transferring the operations of meal preparation over to local Baptist churches to work under the leadership of the Salvation Army,” said Bill Davenport, Director of Disaster Relief and on-site commander. During the three weeks of ministry of disaster relief ministry, dozens of salvations were recorded, hundreds of gospel tracts and Bibles were distributed and thousands of prayers were lifted up for victims. In all, nearly 1.1 million meals were served to survivors, rescue workers, soldiers and police from Aug. 31 through Sept. 23 at shelters, food stamp lines, neighborhoods and military posts from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Specifically, a total of 11,100 tracts and 1200 Bibles were distributed, 45 professions of faith were made and more than 300 volunteers came to serve in Disaster Relief in the New Orleans area under Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. “We want to give our heartfelt appreciation to the First Baptist Church of La Place and Parkview Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. We also thank the Church of the Highlands and members from nine other churches which helped us make about more than a quarter of a million sandwiches. The sandwich brigade has been successful and something we will continue in Texas. “The volunteers were the cream of the crop. Their focus was solely on the Lord and serving the Lord. I believe we’ve had an impact on Louisiana and also on the Salvation Army. We have gotten the people.” As Davenport was taking down the signs of Salvation Army and SBTC ministering together, he was asked how he felt about leaving the disaster relief in Louisiana. Looking out over the compound, Davenport said, “I’d love to be leaving…but for a different reason.” Disaster Relief for Hurricane Rita is tentatively set up for College Station as of Sept. 22, where Davenport again will be the on-site commander.

Southern Baptist Texan correspondent Tim McKeown worked with SBTC Disaster Relief in Baton Rouge Sept. 4-11. The following are some of the many stories of how God worked through the SBTC “yellow shirts.”

Based in Baton Rouge, I had been ready to go to New Orleans all week. So on the last day of deployment, Saturday, we were scheduled to go. That day, however, the food preparation was delayed and we were one of the last food canteen trucks to leave. On the way out, our canteen broke down and we had to return to the distribution site. One other canteen was available, but we had to wait on the food and by then the traffic to New Orleans was horrible.

I had been on mission trips enough to see that when things are going the worst, that’s usually when God acts the greatest. I got on the phone and called a Wal-Mart Supercenter and told them we had food to distribute–it was obvious we weren’t going to make it to New Orleans. The manager gave us permission to set up a site there, right off of Highway 10, where a lot of the people who were leaving New Orleans were stopping.

With me were three Salvation Army volunteers, including one man who set up a sound system, brought out his trumpet and played New Orleans-style gospel music. “We are here to not just tell you Jesus loves you, we want to show you Jesus loves you,” he repeatedly said.

When we couldn’t get to New Orleans, God brought New Orleans to us.

I asked two college-aged men who stopped for hot dogs and water a little about themselves and then asked them if they had a personal relationship with Jesus. Both said no, but wanted to hear more. One of them was a son of an Episcopal priest and I told him that God doesn’t have grandchildren, only children and that he couldn’t go to heaven on his father’s coattails. Both of them prayed aloud to receive Christ. I was able to give them a tract explaining the way of salvation and what they had done.

Then just a few minutes later, a woman who could barely walk and who apparently had received some recent medical care, and her son, walked up and asked if we could drive her to a downtown Baton Rouge shelter, where she was supposed to catch the last bus out at 6:30. After two bystanders turned down our requests to help the woman, I did something I’ve never done: I told the lady for us to pray for an angel to come.

That’s what I said and what I prayed. As soon as I said “Amen” and opened my eyes (no exaggeration), there was a taxi pulling right up to where we were. She hadn’t called him and I hadn’t. God did. He was the only cabbie I saw during the entire day at Wal-Mart. I told her, “He’s your angel, but I want to help,” and paid her $11 cab fare. When she and her son got in the cab, I gave her a tract and for the first time, her son smiled.

–Tim McKeown

I gave a lady a cold Dr. Pepper and she just praised God she had a cold Dr. Pepper. She had not had anything cold since the storm went through. There are people down there who are not going to leave (downtown New Orleans). Some of them act like they didn’t know there was a hurricane.

I’m a pretty new grandfather and it was the kids that got me—and there are children down there. When we went in and brought food, we brightened their days. The law enforcement people are not sleeping at all and if they do, it’s on the floor in the Sheraton hotel. They just got air-conditioning last night. When we gave soldiers cold water or food, their demeanor would improve dramatically.

We went in right behind John Walsh (of the “America’s Most Wanted” television show). We were in St. Bernard’s parish and the soldiers and officers were getting pictures made with John Walsh—a hero of most law enforcement officers. A few minutes later, we’re passing out food and John Walsh walks over and said he wanted to have his picture made with us.

–George Yarger

 

A waitress we met a Applebee’s told us she was from Metairie (near New Orleans) and had lost everything. She had contacted and Applebee’s in Atlanta that was going to give her a job.

She said, “I’ve got five children and need to be in Atlanta and don’t have any gas money.” I told her, “Ma’am I don’t know where you could get that, but let me think about this for a second.” I said, “Can we pray for you at least, so that this can be taken care of.” We stood at the table and prayed and this was while she was still trying to wait on other tables.

There were these two women—Mary Kay reps who have their meeting every week at Applebee’s –who saw us praying and told us they were touched. They helped out, and then I noticed another family praying over their food. I went over and said, “Let me tell you a story about your server.” They were able to help out too.

By the end of our meal, she had all of her needs met. She went through Applebee’s almost shouting, saying, “Praise the Lord, I’ve got my help. God is good!”

The other thing is that she has a 3-year old child who lived in a special home because he has spina bifida and she doesn’t know where he’s at, but she said she is trusting in the Lord that he is safe.

–Monica Collier

 

So many of the people are just so traumatized, they don’t know how to do what they normally would do. I had a lady come up to me with a baby in the stroller whose legs were getting red and sunburned. I said something to her about her little girl getting so warm, and she said, “Yes, I’m going to get her out of the.” She stood there I don’t know how much longer. I had gotten busy serving food and went back there and she was still in the sun. It was as if she couldn’t function.

–Sonia

 

There were several lines that came together at the canteen, and when two of the lines came together, two of the families looked at each other and they were old friends who had thought the other family was probably dead because of the storm and flooding. There were hugging and laughing and crying and screaming and carrying on because they had found their friends.

—Darryl Cason

 

We went to Algiers, La., where there was 500 firefighters. They people there told us, “We don’t know where they are, so go find them and feed them.” It was humorous. God had his hand in it. We went down there, turned a corner and found the base camp for firefighters. Three hundred of them were in from New York and 500 from Chicago—without a kitchen. We ended at 11:30 p.m. and thought our day was over. We stopped and got gas and saw a guy who was homeless from the storm but who hadn’t gone to a shelter. We got to share Christ and pray with him. It was a good day. We found four sandwiches we didn’t know we had; we thought we had been cleaned out by the firefighters, but we had stashed them back in the refrigerator.

–Robert Modesett and Glenn Young

 

There are tow different attitudes. There are some who are thankful for their lives and families and our help. Others are not happy, asking for not just food, but mayonnaise with it. They blame God. They probably weren’t happy before the storm and aren’t happy now.

–Glenn Young

We were at a state welfare center and got a call on the radio: “We have 400 people here who don’t have food. Can you come help us?” We were already helping there and saw 800-1,000 people around this building who had been there since six o’clock in the morning. It was now supper time. For the next hour (after serving all the food), we just picked up trash and had an opportunity to help. Whenever you ae down so low, you don’t know where else to go and we were able to help those people. We said, “We can’t leave them like this.”

—Norman Flowers

BATON ROUGE, La.?An army of SBTC volunteers, many of them rookie Disaster Relief workers, have prepared and served more than 300,000 meals in points between Baton Rouge and New Orleans since the week of Hurricane Katrina.

In partnership with the Texas Salvation Army, the SBTC plans to send rotating 60-member teams to Baton Rouge over the coming months on a weekly basis. In addition, SBTC chainsaw units are helping in outlying areas. The SBTC’s mud-out units and Texas Baptist Builders may be activated in the coming months on the damaged campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

The Texas Salvation Army’s (TSA) 53-foot mobile feeding kitchen with a convoy of 20 TSA canteen units and about 60 SBTC Disaster Relief volunteers was one of the first units into Baton Rouge, having waited out the storm in Beaumont, Texas Aug. 29.

Expecting to offer 25,000 meals per day, the TSA mobile kitchen unit fed 35,000 people the first full day of operation. Led by SBTC Disaster Relief Director Bill Davenport, the group soon moved toward New Orleans where holed-up residents of the French Quarter received their first meals after the storm subsided. Others moved into suburbs like Kenner where the staff of two hospitals arrived late Thursday for a meal.

Meanwhile, back in Texas, Southern Baptist churches that had no previous experience in Disaster Relief were pleading for the training that is necessary to serve in Red Cross and Salvation Army units. On Saturday following the storm, the 60 Texans registered for training swelled to 163, packing an SBTC conference room.

Though traditionally many DR volunteers are retired, this early group included an architect, meter reader, well driller, physical therapist, secretaries and many more?most of them under the age of 50 with no previous experience in Southern Baptist missions work.

Thirty of that group agreed to head out the next day to Baton Rouge, joining 30 more already assigned from existing SBTC units.

Among the first-timers was Ben White, who trained Sept. 4 and boarded a truck Sept. 5 in a caravan of six from Prestonwood Baptist Church who headed for Baton Rouge. White is an 82-year-old World War II veteran and retired engineer who in decades past led construction projects such as the Alfred P. Murrah federal building and the upper portions of Texas Stadium.

On Sept. 8, White rolled out of his cot at 3:30 a.m. with most of the other volunteers and headed for the command center 15 minutes away to begin preparing for another day of serving the displaced.

Others included Randy and Denette Sellers, also of Prestonwood, who showed up for training unsure of what they were getting into. Less then 24 hours later they too had volunteered and were headed for Baton Rouge.

Kelly Kendrick, a member of Galloway Avenue Baptist Church, another first-timer, went despite struggling health. While there, he received a voice mail telling him he had been moved up on a list of prospective liver transplant recipients because of his medical condition.

A nurse from the Austin area brought her teenage daughter, whom she homeschools.

The first groups into Baton Rouge slept on the floor at the crowded local Salvation Army church where they shared one shower.

Later in the week, Parkview Baptist Church in Baton Rouge provided an annex building with cots, blankets and pillows for the SBTC contingent. Volunteers from the church even collected laundry and returned it clean for the weary workers.

On one occasion a local chef treated them to jambalaya.

As a lifelong resident of Louisiana until a little over 10 years ago, SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards seized the opportunity to encourage churches to take in evacuees or assist with their transition.

“My seminary is damaged and under water. Many of my pastor friends and their congregations are scattered by the hurricane. Even more disturbing are thousands upon thousands who are homeless, destitute and lacking the basics in human hygiene,” he said.

He praised the thousands of Disaster Relief volunteers trained by SBTC who are on the front lines in Louisiana and Texas me

DALLAS?Instead of blaming or judging those involved in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims, Criswell College President Jerry Johnson instructed students and faculty to assume the attitude of Moses and Aaron?to stand between the living and the dead. In a Sept. 8 chapel address where volunteers were commissioned to serve in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Dallas, Johnson reminded that murmuring, complaining and rebellion brought death, according to Scripture.

“We are prone to this today. That is why I am always for the pastor, I am always for the policeman, I am always for the president. They are authorities that God has placed over us in our lives. We need to get under the authority that God has put over us, and not be murmuring and complaining and blaming them. We need to understand theologically that what brings death is sin and sin is rebellion against God and his authority and those authorities he has placed over us.”

As 40 Criswell College students and professors prepared to travel by specially chartered bus to assist with disaster relief efforts, Johnson called on students to urgently “stand between the living and the dead” with prayer and the atoning message of the gospel.

“When the plague comes and when the blame game begins, God’s people must stand between the living and the dead,” he told the 40 students and faculty joining the efforts of Southern Baptist of Texas Convention (SBTC) Disaster Relief units assigned to work alongside the Salvation Army and Red Cross relief efforts in Louisiana.

“We ought to seize this opportunity. This is an effective door that has opened if we believe in the providence and the sovereignty of God. He means to bring glory to himself and he means to bring the gospel to the people. He means to save people and he means to use you and me to do it. We need to be urgent. Now is the time.”

Johnson’s message underscored the active role the Dallas school has taken in response to Hurricane Katrina. On Sept. 6, the Criswell College volunteers received necessary “yellow hat” training from SBTC to allow them to enter and assist in relief areas. On Sept. 7, about 150 Criswell students and professors went to three Salvation Army disaster relief sites to minister to hurricane victims, including those inside Reunion Arena. Meanwhile, Criswell College students have given over $800 for disaster relief, and college radio station KCBI has raised over $37,000 that will be sent to the North American Mission Board disaster relief fund.

“There are two things happening in that region,” Johnson said of the stricken Gulf Coast. “People there are gospel hardened. Many people in Mississippi are Baptists, but they are backslidden or lost. Many are members of Baptist churches, but they are lost. In New Orleans there is a dearth of the gospel. Now those people have come out. They have been flushed out among us, and we have an opportunity to share with them. We don’t have to go to New Orleans; they are right here among us. They are out of their comfort zone.”

Johnson took as his text Numbers 16:41-50, where the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron, just after those involved in Korah’s rebellion were destroyed when the earth opened up and closed over them.

“There was an earthquake?a natural disaster. The earth opened up and swallowed a bunch of people. It was something that God did in judgment. Actively God judged the people. Then in this passage we read that the people began to complain and the blame game began. They blamed Moses. They said, ‘Moses, you killed the people?the people of the Lord!'”

Johnson noted that other biblical passages, such as the description in John 8 of the man born blind, the story of the fall of the tower of Siloam in Luke 13, and the struggles of Job, show that not all disaster is a judgment on sin. Likewise, Johnson refused to join with those would claim that Katrina is part of God’s judgment on America.

Insisting that he does not know the mind of God regarding the hurricane’s purpose, Johnson noted a range of biblical options:

?A direct act of judgment through natural disaster for sin such as is found in the passage he cited or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah;

?Part of living on a sinful earth when there is a holy God.

Somewhere in the range from this general curse on the earth, to a direct act of judgment for a situation, these kinds of events fall,” Johnson concluded.

He observed that the first response of Moses and Aaron was not to figure out God’s purposes, but instead to pray.

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HOUSTON?The multitude that included Christians, Jews, Muslims and others won’t be wearing yellow shirts with “Southern Baptists of Texas Convention” on them, but the SBTC trained them just the same.

Some of the 32,000 people who filled Second Baptist Church in Houston Sept. 3-5 to be trained in relief operations for Katrina evacuees were Baptists, but many were not even Christians?an oddity, maybe a first, in a Southern Baptist church.

Gibbie McMillan, the SBTC’s missions services coordinator over Disaster Relief work, in several sessions led a church auditorium full of volunteers through much of the typical disaster relief “yellow cap” training.

Included was 5-10 minutes of Scripture-based teaching, said SBTC Communications Director Gary Ledbetter, who attended the sessions.

“Gibbie’s presentation was not denominational but included a clear, New Testament foundation for doing various kinds of relief ministries,” Ledbetter said. “It was a clear reminder to non-Christians in the training of our unique motivation.

“These volunteers represent a broad spectrum of denominations and religions,”

The tens of thousands of sympathetic Houston area volunteers were processed quickly, many of them in place by Sept. 6, sharing a meal of chicken and rice pilaf before manning the feeding units.

After being appointed incident commander in Houston, McMillan began training volunteers offering to help at the Astrodome and downtown convention center. When displaced people were moved from New Orleans’ Superdome to Houston, the Astrodome space quickly filled to capacity.

The George R. Brown Convention Center provided overflow space under the direction of a coalition of faith-based groups.

Operation Compassion drew so many people to the training at Second Baptist Church of Houston that every route for a mile away required traffic direction by police. When the huge church lot was filled, volunteers parked at area grocery stores, restaurants and even a liquor store, walking several blocks to the training site.

Although only Southern Baptists can join SBTC Disaster Relief units and wear their official yellow shirts, a shrouded Muslim woman with a Middle Eastern accent found her way to the meeting. She joined hundreds of other Muslims training to serve with their faith group.

Training held on Saturday of the Labor Day weekend attracted 1,000 volunteers, growing tenfold on Sunday and to 20,000 on Monday. Crowds were so large that overflow seating was utilized at the Houston megachurch and the large number turned away remained for an improptu session added afterward.

Though dominated by Baptists, the 131 faith-based organizations included Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, charismatics, Pentecostals, Church of God, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, Quakers and Mennonites. Other religions represented included Jews, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhists, Bahai and Muslims.

By Sept. 6, the 32,000 volunteers in Houston had assumed responsibility for supplying 240 volunteers for each meal shift at the convention center for the next month. Churches in the Houston area are contributing millions of dollars to cover the cost while mobilizing members to volunteer their time.

The command center coordinated placement of neatly arranged beds, a color-coded shower schedule and a vast array of services functioning when the first group of evacuees arrived.

Led by Second Baptist Church of Houston, pastor Ed Young Sr. told those gathered that a Southern Baptist minister would be praying in the name of Jesus. He invited volunteers from other faiths to understand why this was appropriate in a Christian church.

“In this church we will pray in our way,” he explained, inviting others to approach God in regard to their own convictions.

Young said Houstonians understand the impact of a flood of great magnitude, referring to the 2001 devastation that put much of metropolitan Houston underwater. He called the fact that tens of thousands came together from so many faith-based

“Just another day at the office” has taken on a whole new meaning for several Texas Southern Baptists who are using their ordinary vocations to provide extraordinary aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Glenn Freeman of Grand Prairie is using his 30-plus years of military experience on the frontlines of Katrina’s destruction: New Orleans. According to his wife, Toni, her husband has served in the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard. He was activated by the Guard and sent to New Orleans where he is helping to set up a tent city in the ravaged community. Due to the destruction, communication with Freeman is sparse, but his duties might be expanded to include search and rescue and recovery operations.

Freeman, who works for Sprint, was called to serve for a year in Fort Worth following the 9/11 attacks and has been struck by what he’s seen in New Orleans, his wife said. “He e-mailed and said it was like being in a whole other country.”

Ben Peterson of Keller might have felt like he was in another country as he tried to fulfill his duties as a prime medical supply vendor following the hurricane. Peterson’s territory includes Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama?all affected by the storm. In addition, the regional distribution facility near Lake Ponchartrain was knocked out of commission. “We had to redirect all of our products,” Peterson said.

While many of the hospitals he services in New Orleans were closed, other hospitals in the region were overflowing with casualties and had a great need for medical supplies. “It was unbelievable. We were struggling from our inventory to try to get product to the hospitals,” Peterson said. Also, communication breakdowns complicated the efforts. “We had a hard time getting in contact with hospitals,” he said.

Peterson was so engrossed in trying to make sure hospitals had what they needed that he didn’t realize the scope of Katrina’s destruction for several days.

“I had been so busy. My focus had been on what I was trying to do,” Peterson said. “I reached a point last week and I stopped and watched TV. It broke my heart. It was gut-wrenching.”

The distribution center Peterson uses is now fully operational again.

But while structures are being repaired, it will be some time before the lives of the hurricane victims are back to normal again. Working through school districts across Texas, many children will begin to rebuild by going back to school.

At Grand Prairie Independent School District, Southern Baptist Patty Busby serves as secretary to the superintendent, helping to welcome 146 children of evacuees. GPISD is not only enrolling students in school, but is also helping provide assistance in the form of food, clothing, and housing.

“It’s just part of my job,” Busby said. “We are working with all our school principals and social workers and the superintendent to get everyone on the same page.” The superintendent is also working to get the city of Grand Prairie on board with the relief effort. “We are trying to get these kids into a stable environment.”

Busby said the district is working with families to make sure students have a place to learn even if it means making exceptions to the norm. For instance, one apartment complex that is housing victims is split between two different schools.

“We are trying to let them go to other schools even outside the boundary,” Busby said. “We don’t want schools to be overcrowded.”

Workers have also heard incredible stories of how people are surviving after Katrina, according to Busby. She had a report of one family with 78 people living under one roof. Of the 78, more than 25 were school-aged children.

Despite the overwhelming numbers and the increased workload, Busby believes this effort is her responsibility.

“As a Christian, there was no question I would be participating,” Busby said. “If we felt inside about what Christ did for us like we do when we see the pictures on TV, there would be no question that we would share our faith. It’s not just a Christian obligation. It’s a moral obligation.”

Lynn Cunningham of Grapevine is trying to fulfill her Christian obligation each day as a transitio

BATON ROUGE, La.?Amid the challenges left behind by Hurricane Katrina, “I think a good prayer would be, ‘Please Lord, don’t leave me here the way I am,'” Southern Baptist Convention President Bobby Welch said Sept. 6 in Baton Rouge, La. “‘Use me.'”

Welch joined Southern California pastor Rick Warren and several other Baptist leaders in addressing an afternoon gathering of pastors, pastors’ wives and church staff members displaced by Katrina. The leaders also spoke at an evening disaster relief worship rally open to Baptists from throughout the state. Both sessions were held at Florida Boulevard Baptist Church.

Warren, taking a cue from the Old Testament prophet Nehemiah, told several hundred people at the afternoon session that “rebuilding the city is always harder than building the city. The same is true of lives.”

Earlier in the day, Louisiana Baptist Convention leaders and Welch met with associational directors of missions and later with several SBC entity heads and state convention leaders.

Louisiana Baptist Convention President Philip Robertson told about 15 of the state’s associational directors of missions (DOMs) that Louisiana churches must mobilize for weeks and months of recovery.

“They’re the lighthouses in the community,” said Robertson, pastor of Philadelphia Baptist Church in Pineville. “And if ever they needed a lighthouse it’s now.”

Welch told attendees at the evening rally that disasters don’t discriminate against certain individuals but they affect everyone.

“Many organizations can bring them food, electricity and water they need,” Welch said. “But we can bring them Jesus.”

Welch also said hardships have a way of becoming holy events because the love of Christ can capitalize on catastrophe.

Alluding to his challenge for Southern Baptists to baptize 1 million people in a year, Welch said, “I believe that Louisiana and Mississippi may be poised, themselves, to witness to, win and baptize 1 million people in a year.”

Warren told the afternoon crowd that there are three stages following disasters: the rescue stage, the resuming stage and the rebuilding and relocation stage. The latter is the longest and most difficult part, he said. “And that, my friends, is the duty of the church.”

Warren said in Nehemiah 2:17-18 that Nehemiah took note of the devastation of Jerusalem by saying, “Let us rid ourselves of this shame and rebuild.”

“God loves to bring good out of bad. He loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. Every obstacle is an opportunity. Every problem has potential. Every crisis is an opportunity for ministry. Every hurt God wants to use for his glory.”