Geist Christian Church | 8550 Mud Creek Rd, Indianapolis IN 46256 | (317)842-3594
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Hurricane Relief: Three Years On
Reflections from a recent trip to New Orleans
Reflections from a recent trip to New Orleans
By Courtney Richards*
Hard to imagine, but it’s absolutely true. Three years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf Coast, followed two weeks later by another blow from Hurricane Rita, the work to recover continues ... and in some places, it's yet to begin.
But here is the hope. Progress is being made. Families have been able to make decisions about their own fate, what to keep, whether to rebuild, how to recover. And volunteers continue to arrive.
In communities where official agency assistance is either unavailable or no longer present, faith-based communities carry the lion's share of responsibility for bringing help and hope. Every resident, every shopkeeper, every clerk, everyone repeated over and over to us, “Thank you for coming.” “Thank you for being here.” “Thank you for what you're doing.”
Cutting and installing baseboards, spackling and sanding door and window frames, touching up paint here and there -- none of it seems monumental, but it all makes such a difference. It touches in profound ways the life of someone displaced from their home for almost two years, living with friends and relatives and moving through temporary housing while waiting for their own house to be home again.
The greatest gift of mission trips is relationships ... with other volunteers, with work coordinators, and most of all with residents and homeowners. You don't even have to ask, really, it just pours out – “Where were you? What happened? “Did you stay?” “Where did you end up?” “How did you get back?” “What did you save?” “What does this mean?”
The city, of course, will never be the same. But maybe that's all right - no one who's been there can be the same anymore either.
* (Ed. Note. Courtney Richards, minister of congregational growth, and church member Carol Gebhardt - in photo at left - spent a week in August continuing repairs on a house in New Orleans, with assistance from former residents still waiting to return home.)
HURRICANE RECOVERY TRIPS THIS FALL
It's not too late for you to be part of the mission ... be a "Partner in Comfort" by supporting or by joining other Geist Christian Church members on one of our three remaining mission trips in 2008:
September 13 – 20:
Gulfport
MS
October 11 – 18:
Covington
LA
November 1 – 8: Lake Charles
LA
Visit the mission trip blog www.whendidweseeyou.blogspot.com, for stories and photo albums from current and previous trips, news about coming opportunities, and updates on ongoing issues in the region.
To contribute to the mission fund, or be part of a trip, contact me, Courtney Richards,
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, 317-842-3594 ext 491.
