This past July 7th-14th I had the privilege of leading a team of 15 members of our church family, Calvary Chapel, to participate in rebuilding and ministering efforts in New Orleans. Two years after the disaster of Hurricane Katrina the city is still in ruins. Sadly, it looks as if the hurricane was just last week and the work of rebuilding has just started.
Eighty percent of the city (Its land mass is three times the size of Staten Island) was under water and 60,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The water marks, many reaching nearly to the roof, are clearly visible on the homes that are left. Less than half of the city’s population of 450,000 has returned. With very few exceptions (the French Quarter being one of them) the city resembles a deserted urban center in a futuristic sci-fi movie. Over and over as we worked in the shadow of the Superdome I shook my head in disbelief mumbling “This! In America?”
Our team, made up of nine males and six females, ranged from 14 – 62 years of age. We were charged with insulating a quad (a four apartment house) in Central City. We worked across from a crack house but never felt in danger. The agency we worked with, Compassion, is a brand new creation of the Evangelical Free Churches of America. It has run 10,000 volunteers through its home base, Trinity Evangelical Church, in Covington Louisiana (Covington is located some 40 miles north of New Orleans on the other side of the 25 mile long Lake Pontchartrain Causeway).
Under the steady and patient direction of our “home brought” contractor (Sam Autry, Island Brick) we were able to accomplish all of our assigned tasks, despite the unbearable humidity and heat that is the Gulf Coast. By the end of August this quad will be complete and ready for occupancy. On the same street as this quad, as well as the surrounding streets, there remain blocks and blocks of houses just sitting vacant and waiting for someone to find a way to repair them or tear them down (Picture streets and streets of bungalows similar to those in Midland Beach- except damaged.). Whole housing projects (think of the Harbor Houses or the Berry Homes) remain decimated and virtually abandoned.
The businesses are slow in coming back because the people are slower in coming back. There are FEMA trailers everywhere. We even saw a FEMA mosque. Houses of worship did not escape Katrina. They aren’t being rebuilt with any speed because they have so few parishioners to occupy them or they have no pastors to lead them. It is a sad state of affairs when there are shepherds with no sheep and sheep without shepherds.
More than anything else our group’s desired purpose was to demonstrate in a tangible way the love of Jesus Christ to the hurting people in this once proud city. We gave cold waters and Gatorades to passersby. We hosted two impromptu barbeques on the front porch of the quad. Everyone we met was surprisingly open with us. They told us their situations and allowed us to pray with them. About half the people we met were from New Orleans and had either weathered the storm or come back. Almost all, from the little children to the grandmas, were still struggling with the impact of the storm.
We met a neighborhood store-owner trying to make a go of it but with very little business. We prayed with her and we all bought waters or sodas. We met a woman with a motorized scooter but no home of her own. We prayed with her asking God to provide her needs. We meet a retiree with her mother. They had just returned and seen their former home for the first time in two years. They asked for help to clean up the mess. We referred them to a local church and once again prayed for them. Five young men we met had recently gotten out of prison. They were more than willing to share their story with us and accept our prayers and literature.
We met small construction crews from different parts of the country. We met day laborers from as far away as El Salvador (Half of our team spoke Spanish so we communicated easily). All were in New Orleans because there was work and the pay wasn’t bad. Based on our experience, it seems that half of the population is now made up of these workers. We also saw many other volunteer groups from churches across America. The great untold story in our national media is the role that America’s churches are playing in the rebuilding of lower Mississippi and Louisiana.
Our last day in the city we visited both the lower Ninth Ward near the broken levies and the French Quarter. The French Quarter appears to have come back well. The sounds of life are all around. However, “the bowl of the city” which encompasses the lower ninth is eerily quiet. Vacant buildings and deserted blocks don’t make much noise.
There remains much uncertainty regarding the future of New Orleans. Will the levies hold if there is another storm? Will the politicians do the right things regarding the city? Will the city’s population come back? Two years ago New Orleans nearly died. She was in critical condition, on life-support, barely breathing. Today she is still in critical condition but at least she’s stable. Our team left New Orleans with an overwhelming burden for its people and a desire to do more to help them. We are planning another trip to the area sometime in 2008 to do want we can. It’s not going to be easy for the Big Easy. She needs all the help she can get.
Dave Watson - An Urban Christian
