Katrina Grace

EFCA Fact Sheet

2008-09-01T12:55:00.001-04:00

The EFCA has posted what they're doing to respond to Gustav here. Text below:

Hurricane Gustav Response Fact Sheet – 8/31/08 Edition

1) Yes, we are responding.

· EFCA TouchGlobal Crisis Response Team has evacuated to Pensacola and will be making an initial reconnaissance on Tuesday 9/2. Our current plan is to be ready to start receiving volunteers on Thursday 9/4 at Trinity Church in Covington, LA… assuming it is still there.

· For up to date info go to www.efcacrisisresponse.blogspot.com

2) How can I help? Please organize a team and come!!!

a. We will be using the same process (and for now, forms and paperwork and costs etc. ) as we have been using for Katrina Relief Teams.

b. Go to www.efca.org/katrina/team ,

c. Find the link for pdf Team application

d. Complete and fax application to 985-893-0175 AND!! Email gustavrelief@efca.org

e. We will charge a reduced fee of $120 per person per week for teams arriving in September.

· Churches or individuals who are organizing teams should email Katie Hooks at gustavrelief@efca.org

· WE NEED INDIVIDUALS TO ORGANIZE TEAMS FROM THEIR LOCAL CHURCH/AREA RATHER THAN COMING AS A SINGLE WORKERS!

3) What kinds of needs do we have – prioritized.

· We need MONEY

· We have a needs list started at www.efcacrisisresponse.blogspot.com

See contact info below for more info.

We can arrange for delivery of pallet loads of gift-in-kind from most areas in

the East and Midwest

4) Where can I get more info?

· www.efcacrisisresponse.blogspot.com and crisisresponse@efca.org

5) How can I give?

· Give to TG ‘Hurricane Account’ 21709-3969. Go to www.efcacrisisresponse.blogspot.com and click on giving link on right.

6) Can we give stuff…not just money?

· We are not accepting clothing or shoes!!!!

· See contacts below!

· We will update needs list at least weekly, maybe daily.

7) Who should I contact … about?

· Until we get our office reestablished in Covington – use the cell phones listed. After the office is reestablished, use 985-893-0218 :

a. Volunteer Teams – Katie Hooks gustavrelief@efca.org 704-305-3427

b. $$ Donations – Dorinda Bogran Dorinda.bogran@efca.org 985-705-2416

c. Serving as a part of our staff - crisisresponse@efca.org

d. Donating Supplies/Equipment/ Gift-in-kind – Dorinda.bogran@efca.org and john.horst@efca.org 610-883-1150

e.General Response Quest. - Mark Lewis mark.lewis@efca.org 717-439-3138

EFCA Blog Updates

2008-09-01T10:45:00.001-04:00

Mark Lewis, with whom we've worked a Trinity in Covington, LA, sent us an email letting us know about this blog where EFCA is posting updates.

Please pray for the Gulf Coast

2008-08-31T11:48:00.004-04:00

As of this writing, Gustav is a Category 3 hurricane that's anticipated to hit somewhere on the Gulf Coast between 8 AM and 8 PM tomorrow (the 12 hour time difference is contingent on exactly where it hits on the Alabama, Louisiana, or Texas Coasts.

Please pray for the people of the Gulf Coast, especially in Louisiana. CNN reports:

"Maps of Gustav's path shows it could strike southern Louisiana and other areas battered by Hurricane Katrina."

CNN is covering Gustav on their Hurricanes and Cyclones page.
Wikipedia has a Gustav entry that's being updated.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune is also closely covering the storm on their Hurricane page.
Weather Underground provides various graphics related to the storm on their Gustav page.

KatrinaGrace is reaching out to those who've traveled to LA and Miss. to assist those who were affected by Katrina and Rita in 2005 to ask for prayer and to consider the possibility of going to the Gulf Coast should that be necessary.

graphic is from NOAA available on Wikipedia Commons

A Field Report from the Jimmy Ro Crew

2008-05-18T14:42:00.002-04:00

We just received this report from the KatrinaGrace Team that was in New Orleans this past week:

I set on the plane heading home, glad to go home but my heart is still in New Orleans and Slidell. As you know, there is still much loving to do there. I hope we never forget those folks still need hope and a bunch of lovin'.

Our group was the best! We worked well together. We worked hard, stayed flexible and had fun.

Monday thru Wednesday, we worked on new construction in Slidell. The homeowners became friends to us. The wife/mother, Jessica worked everyday we did, Anthony, the husband/father, worked with us on Monday but had to go back to work building Armored Service Vehicles M117s (ASVs). The very vehicle my son fought out of in Iraq. Nathan, my son, was extremely happy to know that I was working on a house for a fellow who built the ASV that saved his life more than once while he was at war in Iraq. Sort of a payback he says. Small world isn't it or does God just work that way?

When we arrived at the job site on Monday morning, we found a slab and a pile of wood. When we left on Wednesday, all exterior walls were up and dead straight, interior walls were framed, dead straight, top caps were on and 3/4s of the exterior sheeting was on. We were "cooking" on that house but disappointed the rain hindered us from getting the house dried-in. Another group will have the joy to finish the house we started so well.

Wednesday night a storm rolled in with a small tornado that touched down not far from us but Trinity Church was spared. Thursday saw mud and more rain so HH called off our work. Not to be deterred, we connected with a group being housed at the CastleRock yellow house, and joined them in the reconstruction or a small church in the ninth ward. We put up trim, laid laminate flooring, sprayed texture on walls (with telephone directions from my youngest son, Evan, back in Baltimore) and prayed for the men there selling drugs right in front of the church. We served well there.

Friday morning, we connected with Jessica, the homeowner of the house we were building on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We gifted her and her husband a rocking chair for their new front porch, a bike for the little girl, baseball cards, folder and notebook to hold baseball cards for the son crazy about baseball, a small ball and stuffed toy for the baby. We all cried and loved. We had prayer for the family and cried some more. I cried much there this time.

After the gift giving, we had lunch at KCs Bike Shop in Slidell, a place to visit and eat good po-boys. We met a crisis response person at a home in Slidell to do some "weed eating" for an elderly family who had just bought this abandoned home. Weed eating is a loose term in Louisiana. Weeds were more small trees and the blackberry vines were impossible to traverse. All of us worked in the light rain, high humidity, briars, and critters cleaning the 40' by 276' (almost a football field) sized back yard. When we saw it, we thought maybe we could clear only a few feet in the short time we were there. When we left - the backyard was cleared fence line to fence line. The Lord always multiplies effort. We were really disgusting by the end of the day, gumbo mud does stain blue jeans.

Again I say, the Jimmy Ro crew you commissioned was tremendous. When we left Baltimore, some had limited building skills, some had less, some had none. By the end of the week, we all acquired very guilty knowledge of framing, trimming and laying laminate flooring. Each of us came with a skill set and gift; no one failed to fully utilize their skill and gift; what a team! Each of us tried to love everyone we met. We practiced consensus decision making, understood each others' strengths and weaknesses building on the strengths and compensating for the weaknesses. We moved up the latter (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning) of team building faster than any team I have been a part of. Dr. Steve and I, both familiar with HR principles, feel we actually moved to the performing rung on Thursday and Friday. If you are interested, we can tell you more at the de-brief.

Our days started with an examination of scripture from the joy of Paul to the Philippines to the utilization of gifts in Ephesians, and thoughtful prayer. The Lord worked through us and within us. We saw His face in what we did and honor Him with the glory of our efforts. To the person, we come back different. You know what I mean.

I could go on, we are still an hour away from Baltimore but I will spare you. We will have a debrief soon with a picture show.

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this crew and to love on the folks in New Orleans and Slidell.

2008 KatrinaGrace Trips

2008-03-11T22:55:00.002-04:00

KatrinaGrace is planning two trips in 2008:

One is leaving on Sun 5/11 and returning on Sat 5/17. Team members will be working with Trinity Church and Habitat for Humanity on what’s being called Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2008.

If you are interested in participating in this project, please email Beth at beth.shields@gmail.com. She is the Pre-Flight Logistics Coordinator for this trip.

Our second scheduled trip this year is leaving on Sunday 11/23 and returning on Sat 11/29 (Thanksgiving Week). This will be a standard Work Team Trip. We have a number of spaces avail for this trip.

If you are interested in the Nov trip, contact Sandra Clabough, Pre-Flight Logistics Coordinator for this trip, at scclabough@yahoo.com

In 2008, all KatrinaGrace participants will need to either pay their own way or raise their own money. The cost is approximately $650 per person and needs to be raised or paid before the trip. Beth or Sandra can give you more details if you’re interested.

Grace’s Short Term Mission Ministry – with the able help of Patti Hewat and others – are also working with us this year and providing a tremendous amount of help to KatrinaGrace. If you are interested in these trips, we can give you more information about upcoming training dates that they offer, though these are not required. Nevertheless, they are very helpful and highly recommended.

Please don’t hesitate to email me, Sandra, or Beth if you’ve any questions.

Trinity Church's Michael Sprague in Maryland!

2007-09-16T22:40:00.000-04:00

from our friend CJ Hart of Forcey:

"Please join us for an evening of sharing by Pastor Michael Sprague on the Katrina relief ministry of Trinity Church in Covington, LA. Many members of our Forcey family have served the New Orleans’ community through this ministry. Michael will be at Forcey on Tuesday, September 18^th at 7:00 PM in the sanctuary to give an update of God’s amazing work in Louisiana. For questions, contact Chris Hart at (301)332-6994 or cjhart@aol.com."

2 Years Ago Today

2007-08-29T10:49:00.000-04:00

It's been two long years and there's still so much to be done. This picture was taken last month by one of our KatrinaGrace Teams. You can see more pics of their trip here.

There's a lot of great coverage of what's going on in the affected areas that you can find at
Yahoo's Katrina News Portal. And, of course, check out the coverage of New Orleans' own Times-Picayune.

If you'd like to go down on an upcoming trip to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity, then send an email to beth.shields@gmail.com. If you'd like to work with Trinity Church, reach out to Sandra Clabough at scclabough@yahoo.com.

And please keep praying.

KatrinaGrace Team XIII

2007-06-14T21:45:00.001-04:00

KatrinaGrace Team XIII is traveling to the New Orleans area on Sunday 17 June and returning to us on Saturday 23 June! They will be staying in Covington, LA at Trinity Church and will be working with Habitat for Humanity in Slidell, LA.

The Team is

Tim Hardman - Team Leader (Tim also led KatrinaGrace Team III in October 2005)
Bill Williams
Gerry Walsh
David Lange
Kelly Wolslayer

Please pray for them!

New Orleans Almost 2 Years Later

2007-06-10T11:18:00.000-04:00

"Nearly everywhere local freelance journalist Sara Shipley Hiles turned during her springtime visit, devastation loomed.

The end of August marks the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, yet a large section of New Orleans still stands empty. The Lower Ninth Ward is without electricity. Families still live in Federal Emergency Management Association trailers, afraid to rebuild because the OK to do so hasn't yet been handed down.

It was a heartbreaking sight for the former New Orleans resident, but even more heartbreaking because hardly anything had changed since she traveled there a year earlier...." [links added]

- an article on author and journalist Sara Shipley Hiles recent visit to New Orleans.

Why are we in New Orleans?

2007-06-09T10:51:00.000-04:00

Someone just asked us what was spiritual about our work in New Orleans. Some months ago I posted these thoughts on my personal blog that address this question.

on Mark Lewis and Mary Held's Visit this past Weekend

2007-06-08T09:27:00.000-04:00

I posted a couple of thoughts on my personal blog related to Mark and Mary's recent visit.

2007 KatrinaGrace Trips

2007-06-03T22:35:00.000-04:00

We are currently accepting sign-ups for the five trips we have planned between now and the end of the year. Cost for each individual for these trips is $500 *but* KatrinaGrace has funds available to subsidize or even, if necessary, fully fund individuals for these trips. We do not want money to stop those from going who wish to go and will fund trips as long as funds are available. Details below

June 17th -23rd - KatrinaGrace is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build new homes in Slidell, LA. Please email Beth Shields @ beth.shields@gmail.com if you're interested in participating with this team.
July 22-28 - This will be a general Work Team in Covington, LA working with Trinity - Church (doing general work, cooking or followup compassion visits. Please email Sandra Clabough @ scclabough@yahoo.com or call her at 410-465-9668 if you're interested in joining this team.
Aug 19-25 - KatrinaGrace is partnering with Habitat for Humanity @ Castle Rock in downtown New Orleans. Please email Beth Shields @ beth.shields@gmail.com if you're interested in participating with this team.
Oct 7-13 - KatrinaGrace is partnering with Habitat for Humanity @ Castle Rock in downtown New Orleans. Please email Beth Shields @ beth.shields@gmail.com if you're interested in participating with this team.
Nov 18-24 - This will be a general Work Team in Covington, LA working with Trinity - Church (doing general work, cooking or followup compassion visits. Please email Sandra Clabough @ scclabough@yahoo.com or call her at 410-465-9668 if you're interested in joining this team.

Opportunity to Work with Habitat for Humanity in Louisiana in April

2007-03-04T19:51:00.001-05:00

We have slots open for the team that's flying down on Sunday, April 15th and returning on Saturday, April 21st. You'll be staying at Trinity Church in Covington, LA and working with Habitat for Humanity in Slidell, LA. This will be our fourth trip to work with this Habitat.

Are you interested? If so, please email me - Stephen Shields - at sshields@faithmaps.org.

Thanks!

Team XI Returns

2007-02-12T19:36:00.000-05:00

We're back.

I apologize for not posting earlier.

Internet problems prevented a Friday post.

Saturday travel and nap and semi-consciousness prevented a Saturday post. Water heater replacement took the place of blogging Sunday. And here it is Monday:

Here's a pic of a house several members of Team XI worked on. The roof and wrap are all theirs.

They're next project is to come to my house and build a garage.

Why Go to New Orleans Now?

2007-02-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

Sarah Warrenfeltz traveled to New Orleans with the KatrinaGrace Team that left for the area on 14 January 2007. Afterwards she penned this essay:

I was deep in the woods of New York when Hurricane Katrina hit. My Christian high school had taken its students on a week long retreat at Lake Champion, a Young Life camp. There, we had neither cell phone service nor even any radio reception. When I reentered civilization Friday afternoon, I was astounded at the disaster before me. Reports of eleven feet of flooding in homes, twenty foot tidal waves, people trapped in their homes as the water rose to their deaths; all this and more were prevalent on every news station.

I do not believe the magnitude of this disaster hit me until Hurricane Rita moved in to kick New Orleans while it was down. I cried out in anger to God, asking Him how he could continue to destroy these people’s homes and lives. What does God do in a time of crisis? I wondered.

My father’s actions and Pastor Michael Sprague’s words answered my questions—God mobilizes His body of believers. Seven weeks after the storm, my dad flew to Trinity Church with a team from our church, Grace Community. He called my mom and me at least once a day with stories that further shattered our broken hearts. When he returned home after a week of gutting homes and praying with homeowners, it was with an attitude of needing to return to serve more as soon as possible.

My father’s heart inspired me to not just feel sorry for these people, but also to want to act to help them. This trip, January 14-20, 2007 was the first chance my school schedule would allow me to come down. My father returned with me.

I was bombarded with a tidal wave of unexpected criticism. Students from my college in Westminster, Maryland told me that the current news coverage of New Orleans was propaganda. There is no real disaster left, they said. Your passion for these people is delayed. They changed their arguments to fit my worldview—God helps those who help themselves, right?

Wrong. That saying is actually a Puritan proverb; it is not quoted anywhere in the Bible. I vehemently argued with them, and this only fueled my fire to help.

As we descended into New Orleans and started driving through, my confidence wavered. This truly is a gorgeous city. But I had this eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was not quite right. My suspicions were confirmed—the city is wearing a beautiful mask to try to hide the ugly disaster still hurting underneath it. In a neighborhood visible from the highway, I saw a magnificent home. It was in the classic Southern plantation style with huge Romanesque columns supporting the roof. However, as I looked closer, in its shadow was a dilapidated home with a F.E.M.A. trailer sitting in the front yard.

We drove through the French quarter next. I ignored the obvious symbols of immorality—signs for gentlemen’s clubs, etc. and I admired the classic European architecture. I looked down to write in my notebook for a moment, and when I looked up again, we were in the upper ninth ward. The contrast between this and the French quarter was like night and day. The homes looked as if someone had picked them up and run them through a shredder. FEMA “x”-es, marking the dates inspected and number of dead found within the structure, were plain to the eye on what was left of a front wall. Lucky houses had a zero for a bottom number; I saw one that said six. This is when I broke down and began to cry.

On our first day of visiting homeowners affected by Katrina, I met a beautifully selfless and loving eighty-four year old woman. She owned her home herself, paid off her mortgage years before, and as she could not afford insurance, she was not required to have any. She had applied to the Louisiana Road Home federal grant program. Because she did not pay for homeowner’s insurance, they were going to grant her thirty percent less money to recover from the disaster. Had she been rich enough to afford insurance, she would have been granted more money. But because she was poor, she was reimbursed even less. Later that night I learned that in two months, this very grant program had given to eighteen out of about seventy thousand applicants and used about six hundred thousand dollars out of eight and a half billion.

This put me over the edge. Being a passionate writer, I started organizing an essay in my head and thinking of the nastiest polite language I could use to tell off our government. Then I thought, what can one lone person do? Our government is so huge, they will not even notice me, let alone listen to me. That is when God popped the mission into my head—give your time and effort. If the government will not help these people as they need, why can you not? Louisiana residents did rate religious organizations as the most helpful after the storm. I am, in fact, a Christian.

Even after all the debris is cleared away and the people have returned to their homes, there is a much more lasting damage affecting them. That damage is the scars the storm left on their hearts, and that is what I am after. I want God to use me, to be His hands and His feet reaching out to His children to show them His unfailing love. And that is why I am here.

- links were added

Thursday, Day Four: Please pass the Ben Gay

2007-02-08T18:29:00.000-05:00

Team XI had another good day at the site. I think everyone's a bit weary. Our bodies aren't accustomed to construction work. Even David, who's a hands-on construction guy is feeling the accumulated wear of framing and roofing, something he normally doesn't do.

Tried to upload some pix, to no avail. Will work out that bug. Several Team XI members have some good shots.

Soon we go eat. Refuel. Then sleep.

More soon.

Wednesday, Day 3

2007-02-07T07:19:00.000-05:00

Pre-breakfast thoughts:
Hope to get some pix up today. All depends on timing and resource availability.
OK, and it depends on rounding up the cameras at the right time and place.
The organizational continuum on which we tred resembles a pile of angel hair pasta: very good, but not something you would want to untangle or trace.

We don't do the Circle meeting this morning. It's straight to the web site. But we do need to remove the stuff from our bedrooms to make way for a service tonight. The space does not return to bedroom status till 9p.m.

On our way to the site, we pick up shims for the door hangers and knee pads for the floor installers. And coffee. The last coffee of the day. Once we're at the worksite, it's Gatorade or water. Which is intereting. I had no idea I could make it through three-quarters of a day without coffee. Hmmmm.

Day 2

2007-02-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

Team XI (or X, there is some question about the status of our Roman numeral) is on the job in full strength. Add April Dixon to the Team XI roster. April's last minute decision to join the team gives her something like stowaway standing in the group.

The daily routine, from this observer's perspective is this:
Wake up. Rummage through luggage for second-cleanest clothing ensemble (cleanest is reserved for restaurants and any other post-shower activities.
Once dressed, repair to Trinity main building for breakfast, or only coffee for those who can't eat till after 9 a.m. (There are continentals among us. Who knew?)
Next, we trundle into two vehicles. One's a Vibe. The other one's a real automobile with real-life space and marvelous accoutrements. All the cool people ride in the real vehicle. I believe it is a Ford Behemoth.
Following a half-hour ride, about 70 people mass in what's called "The Circle". Here, marching orders are dolled out. Safety is stressed. Coffee is sipped. Tales told.
Then we scuttle off to our worksites. Ours is in Lancombe.
Bits:
Members of our team have painted, put up roof trusses, laid flooring, hung doors -- for a few highlights.
Much red beans and rice has been been consumed.
Our site contains nine houses, all in various states of completion, with a new foundation being poured even as others are being sided, floored, painted.....
The place is crawling with interesting people.
Met two women who stopped in N.O. for a week and stayed for nine or more months. One, Noel, slept in a church set up like ours for three months before buying a trailer.
George is our worksite guru. Most concise description of George: Somebody put workclothes on Patience and Flexibility.
Most the workers we've seen are Habitat volunteers and some (Noel for instance) get a small stipend.
Oh, yeah, temp reached 65 today. Gorgeous day.
Under the circumstances, conditions at Trinity are very good.
Ralph, a Trinity member, read from the Bible this morning at breakfast. His short talk set us up for the day.
The terms "Patience and Flexiblity" take on a mantra quality here. For good reason. Each week a new set of volunteers shows up eager to slap up housing. They soon find there is a good bit of standing around waiting and/or wondering what will happen next. That can be trying. Having to wait to do something because tools or materials or tutoring is not immediately at hand stands as the single most painful privation amongst us, especially we newbies whose urge to accomplish much exceeds the established pace.

What lessons there are here in New Orleans and environs.
What a perfect place to learn them ... especially if you like red beans and rice.
Thank you Jesus.
(And God bless you Beth Shields.)
More to come.

Long Story Part 1

2007-02-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Woke Beth Shields this morning to see if she could help me get a flight to New Orleans. Beth, sorry; I owe you one.
Short version of the long story that led to this rude awakening:
Friday (Feb 2): Came home to find the house without running water.
Cursory check of breakers, etc. revealed ... nothing.
So we have no water and we're supposed leave for New Orleans in about 36 hours.
Saturday: Hoping the problem is in the house, we spend all day checking stuff inside. Replace pressure regulator, certain that is the problem. Nope. We replace fuses in power swich, really believing this would fix it. Nope. Rick stops by, checks wires for juice. Juice good. That leaves a problem outside. It could be one of two problems: the pump is broken or there's no water in the well, which is the greater of two catastrophes.
We decide Bonnie will go to New Orleans without me. Tears are shed.
Sunday: I take Bon to BWI at 6. By noon my friend Hutch and I have the pump out of the well. Judging by the length of pipe attached to it, we reckon it was 3 miles down in Guy Measure. Which translates to something like 150 feet in reality (had to be there).
After much scrambling, a few wrong moves, we sink the pump, turn on the switch -- WATER!
(I realize this is probably not something one gets terribly excited about in New Orleans.)
So immediately, I tighten down the filter collar inside the house and snap off the inbound pipe in two places. We race to Home Depot, get the repair material, race back (careful to obey most speed limit postings), do the repair, fire up the pump -- flush the toilets, yay!
Then we go outside to admire our work and notice water spraying up from the well bunker. Rats.
Shut off water. Readjust connector. Turn water back on. No spray. Yay.
Wake up this morning. Check connector. Good. Call Beth (Again, sorry).

Here's the sitch as it stands at this moment:
Team XI is on its way to the worksite as of this writing. I am packing.
Thanks Rick. Thanks Hutch. Thanks Beth. Thanks Jesus.
And Team XI, thanks for all the prayers.

Also, our heart goes out to Dolores and Marv Garlick who couldn't make the trip due to the death of a close friend. Paul Mooty also couldn't make the trip due to work-related issues.

By my count, Team XI is nine workers strong with one on the way.

Please pray for the KatrinaGrace Team XII (Habitat 3) Leaving tomorrow - Sunday 4 February 2007

2007-02-03T19:37:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

I'd like to request special prayer for Team XII. We've sent down around 100 people on eleven teams to LA and one to Biloxi, MS since the Gulf storms - Katrina and Rita - in the Fall of 2005. We've never had one person cancel their trip after purchasing their tickets.

On Thursday, one of our men pulled out because he had a work emergency. Then yesterday another pulled out for the same reason. This morning we were called by a couple who were planning to leave with the team tomorrow. They had already printed out their boarding passes but said they would not be able to go because of the death of very close family friend.

Then within the last hour, another couple called to let us know that the husband would need to drop out because their 100 year old farm house lost all electricity because of a mechanical failure and he needs to stay to either repair it or hire a contractor.

So we've lost four men on this trip to build a house with Habitat and we now have ten folks leaving tomorrow on this team. (We were able to pick up one person at the last minute).

I don't know if this is coincidence or what, but we are asking that folks would bathe this group in prayer for their trip. Perhaps this Team will have opportunities for especially effective spiritual ministry while they're on the ground in Louisiana. Please pray for

their safety,
effectiveness,
trip logistics, etc.
Please pray that all nine would be able to leave tomorrow for the Gulf,
and would not be called back home prematurely.

Thanks.

Stephen Shields

Introduction to John Linder

2007-01-28T14:13:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

I wanted to introduce all of you to someone who will be live blogging during his participation in the February KatrinaGrace Team Trip to Louisiana. His name is John Lindner and he's Bonnie's husband who's on staff. John has attended Grace for about seven years. John also intends to produce Katrina podcasts for the Baltimore Sun and Grace. Ironically, the first time John visited New Orleans he also stayed for a week and slept in a sleeping bag!

He's already begun live blogging this team's pre-trip activities! More to come.

Stephen Shields

Katrina volunteers

2007-01-27T06:42:00.000-05:00

U.S.News.com has a story on Katrina volunteers.
The article features Habitat volunteers. One woman, an Americorps volunteer, was sent to N.O. for a month and decided to stay for a year:

Maybe the realization came when she was rebuilding houses with Habitat for Humanity and a group of musician homeowners pulled out their instruments and began to play. "I started bawling," Steinman says. "I was just overwhelmed."

Thanks to Bryan McAnally of Spare Change for the tip on this story.

Team XI

2007-01-27T06:27:00.000-05:00

Hey, turns out the names enumerated in the previous post have a number: XI
I'm assuming that's a number, Roman numeral, as in Super Bowl XLI.
XI. Hmmmm. Do we like that number? Do we have a choice?
We're going to be sleeping on the floor here. I think we should at least like our number.
Maybe it will grow on us.
Actually, if you pronounce it Team Ecks One that sounds pretty good. Pretty can-do. X-One.
Guys, our team sounds like a rocket.
Kewl.

Note to Katrina Grace Team X-One members: If you want to contribute to this blog before, during, and/or after our trip, email your submission to my gmail account and I'll cut out the whiney bits and post it forthwith. If you want me to cease posting ... tough.

Feb Katrina Grace team

2007-01-27T06:21:00.000-05:00

Here are the names of the team members headed to Louisiana feb. 4:

Stephanie Schleicher (team leader) (RN)
Rick Schleicher
Bonnie Lindner
John Lindner
Marv Garlick
Dolores Garlick
Doug Flather
Cynthia Garber
David Wilson
Meg Dawes
Dan Dawes
Laura Mooty
Paul Mooty

KatrinaGrace Team X (aka Habitat II)

2006-12-19T20:40:00.000-05:00

KatrinaGrace Team X (aka Habitat II) left for New Orleans on Sunday 3 December 2006 and returned to us on Saturday 9 December. Blair and Ann Nordvedt write:

"Here are a few pictures of our trip to Louisiana. We had a truly great week. It was unusually cold for Louisiana, in the 30's at night and some days only in the 50's top. We did not take enough warm clothing for the mornings. We stayed in Covington, LA at Trinity Church, sleeping on the floor and they fed us. We drove about 30 minutes to Slidell and worked with Habitat each day. The stores and roads and infrastructure are basically fine after one year from Katrina but there are thousands and thousands of homes that are untouched. FEMA trailers are everywhere in front yards until the homes can be rebuilt. We learned much about the storm and what God is doing. Clearly the storm and faith based relief has had a great impact on many many hearts. We mostly worked on a house for a lady named Ruby and her family. We hope her home will be ready for her by Christmas. Two of the other homes that Ann helped finish will be dedicated and turned over to the homeowners next week. Habitat has a commitment to build 100 homes in Slidell in one year starting last July. Slidell took the eye of the storm and was mostly under water afterwards" (links added)

KatrinaGraceTeam X was

Bill Morgan
Yvonne Smart
Brad Wine
David Mazzuca
Blair Nordvedt
Ann Nordvedt
Glenn Cook (Team Leader)

A few pictures from their trip

Final Report from KatrinaGrace Team VIII

2006-10-14T22:04:00.000-04:00

from Liz Beachum:

Wow! What an amazing week we've had! I can't believe we are home again! It has been a great experience working with the local Habitat for Humanity in East St Tammany Parish and also with Trinity Church in Covington who gave us a home away from home. Everyone was friendly and hospitable, and we've met some new friends.

We spent our last 2 work days installing laminate flooring at the house in Lacombe. They told us ahead of time that if we did not know a skill when we arrived, we would definitely go home having learned a new skill. Many of us learned to install laminate flooring for the first time. A few of the men went to another site in Lacombe to do some foundation work and also in Pearl River to hang insulation.

Someone asked me who qualifies for a Habititat home. Basically, they complete an application and attend an orientation meeting that is held twice a year. They must have a steady income. Since Habitat does "not give a hand out but a hand up", the prospective homeowner is required to complete 200 hours of "sweat equity". Sweat equity can be earned by working on a job site and/or working in a Habitat kitchen to provide meals for the volunteers. After they complete the first 50 hours, the process for building a house begins. Then after they've completed 100-150 hours, they can move in when the house is completed. They are also given a 20-year interest free loan.

Early Thursday evening we drove down to the Lower 9th Ward to see some of the devastation from Katrina. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. What once used to be vibrant neighborhoods, with kids playing outside and riding bikes up and down the streets, have been abandoned to a great extent (understatement).

We saw many houses and businesses that were uninhabitable. Some houses had been swept off their foundations and were no where in sight. Some of the empty parking lots have been converted into FEMA trailer parks. We met a man named Keith who was living in a FEMA trailer parked next to his house. He was so happy to see us and he gladly shared his story with us. Most of his neighbors live elsewhere, and sadly some have drowned. He said the flood waters rose
2-stories high. He lived in a 1-story house. Thankfully, he was able to stay with his brother down the street who lived in a 3-story house. At the end of our visit with him, we joined hands in a circle and prayed with him. He prayed too and, wow, can he pray! As we listened to his story, we were hoping to be an encouragement to him. Ironically, he was an inspiration and an encouragement to us. ln spite of his great loss, he had great faith, a positive attitude and a hopeful outlook on the future. As we drove out of the city to go back "home", the van was very quiet. No one was talking. Everyone was reflecting on what they had seen and heard. The need is truly great here.

We had a great team of 14 volunteers that came with us. Most attend Grace Community Church but we were delighted that some folks from 3 other churches came with us, including members from Calvary Community, Living Hope Presbyterian, and Cedar Ridge Community Church. Everyone came ready to work, willing to be flexible, and eager to make a difference. We are the 8th team from Grace that went down to the Gulf Coast region to help with the Katrina recovery. More teams are preparing to go down in the months to come. The KatrinaGrace web site is an excellent resource for all the great work that is being done by Grace Community.

Thank you all for your prayers this week. Everyone stayed healthy and safe this week. Please continue to pray for us as we return to our own reality.

Liz

PS

I will be uploading more pics in the days and weeks to come here.

Team VIII: Report from Day 2

2006-10-11T09:11:00.000-04:00

Team VIII gets the Award for Best Communication with the Mothership!

This from Liz Beachum after Day 2 working with Habitat for Humanity in Louisiana:

Hi, everyone!

We had another great day in N.O. on Tuesday. We went back to the house in Lacombe to do some more inside painting. We should finish the painting tomorrow and still have time to hang the inside doors and trim before we finish for the day.

Lunch at the sites are provided by the eventual homeowners of the houses. This is one of the ways they can earn their 200 hours of "sweat equity" toward home ownership.

Trinity Church, where we are staying, cooks breakfast and dinner for us each day. The cooks are volunteers too and they are good cooks! There are several teams from around the U.S. that are staying here. But we are the only group staying here this week that is working with Habitat. The others are going into the city to do gutting and cleaning.

When we signed up for this, we were told how important it was to be flexible...which it is because things can change. But what is amazing to me is how 14 strangers can have so much FUN working together.

I uploaded some more pictures.

That's it for now...

Liz

On-Site Report from Katrina Team VIII

2006-10-10T07:42:00.000-04:00

Liz Beachum writes:

"Hi, everyone!

We all arrived in New Orleans safely and ahead of time (yea! Southwest) on Sunday. There are 14 of us. Click here to see a picture of our team. This picture was taken down at the French Quarter on Sunday. That's the Mississippi River behind us. I'll upload more photos as I have time.

The weather is beautiful here, 80s during the day and 60s at night. On Monday we went to Slidell to help frame a house. We actually put hurricane staps on the outside frame and also inside where the roof is going to put on. This is part of a new building code for N.O. After lunch, we went to Lancomb to paint the inside walls with primer.

We are having a blast! We are having alot of fun getting to know each other as most people don't know each other. Everyone on the team is working together very well and everyone is constantly looking to stay busy at the job site. We leave at 6am in the mornings to be at the HFH headqtrs by 6:50 in Slidell. Then we head off for the job site. There are several groups from around the US that are working with the local HFH chapter here and there are several houses that are currently being built. Thankfully all 14 in our group are able to work on
the same house. More later..."

Please pray for KatrinaGrace Team VIII

2006-10-08T19:32:00.000-04:00

Our 8th Team took off this morning to Louisiana to work with Katrina relief. This team will be staying at Trinity Church in Covington, LA but will be building houses in Slidell, LA with the East St Tammany Habitat for Humanity! They'll be returning next Saturday. The Team is

Roger Beachum - Team Leader
Liz Beachum
Matthew Guy
Len Thompson (his 2nd trip)
Jeanne Springer
Stacey Spione
Tony Kim
Peter Lee
Dana Honda
John Albert
Kerry Rye
Steven Lilly
Russ Dickens
David Kapuscinski

Please pray for them this week!

Frequently Answered Questions for KatrinaGrace Trips

2006-09-07T21:51:00.000-04:00

can be found here.

2 Books on Katrina

2006-09-05T12:43:00.000-04:00

I'm mostly done withTulane professor Douglas Brinkley's massive treatment of Katrina - The Great Deluge. His menu of stories is well-worth reading, if a bit all over the place.

Tim Challies also brings our attention to a new Marvin Olasky work called The Politics of Disaster and provides a fine summary.

"faith in action" - one year later

2006-08-31T07:56:00.000-04:00

Nice article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about what faith-based orgs have done and are still doing in areas ravaged by Katrina and Rita.

Katrina Sunday - Aug 27

2006-08-30T11:08:00.000-04:00

some pics from Sunday's Katrina Event.

Building 100 Homes in Slidell, LA

2006-08-26T20:25:00.000-04:00

The East St Tammany Habitat for Humanity has decided to build 100 homes in 2007 in Slidell, LA, a town on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain that was devastated by flooding after Hurricane Katrina.

KatrinaGrace plans to help by sending down 6 or 7 teams of 20 folks between now and the end of 2007. We are partnering with Trinity Church in Covington, LA in this effort and this is where our folks will be staying when they're in the New Orleans area.

If you are interested in working on one of these teams, please email Beth Shields or Sandra Clabough.

Pictures of Trinity and Compassion Staff in Covington, LA

2006-08-26T20:24:00.000-04:00

can be found here!

We've also linked to these under "Links and Information" in the right-hand column of this site for your future reference.

Most of our times have stayed at Trinity Church and worked thru Compassion Ministries as we've worked in the New Orleans Area.

Biloxi 1 Team from November 2005

2006-08-26T20:22:00.000-04:00

Adam Fry
Craig Wampler
Sarah Wampler
Gadget Ambuel
Chad Manifold
Jeromy Smith
Kim Smith
Karen Royer
Nicole Ambuel
Steve Royer

Bilox 2 Team - April 2006

2006-08-26T20:20:00.000-04:00

Gadget Ambuel
Larry Ambuel
Margaret Ambuel
Nicole Ambuel
Chad Manifold
Matthis Wecker
Brett Wiuff
Karen Royer
Steve Royer

katrina by the numbers, part 2: 1 year later

2006-08-21T07:23:00.000-04:00

USA TODAY poll in today's paper:

16% - those who say that their lives are back to normal one year later
56% - those with kids under 18 who say that their kids have been negatively affected by the storm
25% - those who have not moved back
20% - number of those who have moved back but believe they may need to move out again
14% - those currently unemployed
"those who say they are experiencing a great deal or quite a bit of"

anxiety - 27%
trouble sleeping - 26%
depression - 23%
"difficulties in marriage or other family relationships" - 18%

Top 5 Most Difficult Things to Deal with Since Katrina:

damaged property
financial problems
mental or emotional sate
"getting our lives back on track"
"no longer having a job"

Top 5 Types of Help Most Desired to Recover from Katrina

$
help with damage or contractors
more FEMA help
"a place to stay"
a job

Recent stats from Compassion Ministries which works thru Trinity Church in Covington, LA. This is where we've sent most of our Work Teams:

# of volunteers: 5,458
volunteer work hours: 206,350

New KatrinaGrace Resource

2006-08-18T09:26:00.000-04:00

The Evangelical Free Church of America Katrina Project has launched a new website in support of their Katrina relief efforts in the New Orleans area. Most of our Teams have been working with this project and Trinity Church, which is an Evangelical Free church.

It features:

the Latest Stats of the effort (now current thru 7/21/06):

Work Hours: 206,350

Volunteers: 5,458

a project blog
information about sending a team
and they'll be adding more features to the site as well in the future.

"Churches battling post-Katrina depression"

2006-08-13T21:42:00.000-04:00

"But only 22 of the 196 psychiatrists who practiced in New Orleans have returned, according to a report published this month in the
Journal of the American Medical Association.

A state-run psychiatric hospital re-opened last week with 10 adult beds, a fraction of what was available before the storm.

As the city waits for its share of $80 million in federal relief funds allocated for rebuilding the state's mental health care infrastructure, local pastors are being called upon to fill the void."

- link

Katrina By The Numbers

2006-07-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

While we were in Covington, LA in June, I picked up Tulane University's Professor of History Douglas Brinkley's The Great Deluge where he chronicles events surrounding Hurricane Katrina from Saturday 27 August (Katrina hit LA and MS on the Monday 29 August) to Saturday 3 September 2005. As I've been reading, I've been jotting down some of the numbers (some of these numbers are from other sources as noted, primarily the wikipeida article on Katrina):

90,000 - the number of square miles declared a federal disaster - this is almost the size of Great Britain
1836 - estimated deaths
705 - number of still people missing as of 19 May, 2006
460,000 - the population of New Orleans before the storm
230,000 - estimated population of New Orleans in June 2006 [from Reuters via Wikipedia]
125 miles per hour - top sustained winds when Katrina hit the Louisiana coast
150 miles - the number of miles inland Katrina traveled before she lost hurricane strength
80% - percentage of New Orleans that was flooded (Daily Kos)
23,000 - estimated number of people who took refuge in the Superdome (ABC News)
34 - height in feet of the storm surge in Western MS (ABC News)
10 - number of miles inland reached by the storm surge (ABC News)
2,430 - number of children separated from their parents
112,000 - the number of New Orleans residents who didn't own cars
1,500,000 - the number of folks who requested FEMA assistance after the storm
27.9% - percentage of New Orleans' population below the poverty line before the storm
11.7% - percentage of New Orleans' population 65 or older before the storm
181 square miles - size of New Orleans
50,000,000 cubic yards - estimated amount of Gulf Coast debris (equivalent to 400 football fields stacked 50 feet high)
350,000 - number of automobiles destroyed in New Orleans by Katrina
35,000 - number of boats destroyed in New Orleans by Katrina
230,000 - number of Katrina evacuees who went to Texas
over $150 billion - possible total economic impact
500,000 - number of people govt officials estimate "may need mental-health assistance to deal with higher rates of anxiety, depression and hostility" (Charity Navigator)
1.3 million - acres of forest lands that were destroyed (Charity Navigator)

NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at Goddard Space Flight Center

Recent Video and Pics of New Orleans

2006-07-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

Parnell Goodyear and some friends just got back home from New Orleans. Here, Parnell links to blogpost and a video of what they saw and experienced.

from Mark Lewis

2006-07-20T09:06:00.000-04:00

Mark is a Director for Compassion on site in Trinity, where we have sent most of our teams.

"I had to share with you a few things from the last 2 days. I had the
privilege of hearing Sara's story tonite on how she got here. She is a
late teen/early twenty something from IN, here with a group of teens and
college/carrers. she shared that when she saw the opportunity to go on
the trip a few months ago, her heart jumped. she got an application and
signed up that day and was thrilled that she was going to be able to
come and serve God and help people. but as the summer wore on, and the
deadlines approcahed for paying the costs for the trip, she realized
that maybe she wasn't to come, as she was working to save money for
school, and really could not afford it. so one nite as she was
waitressing, a group from her sunday school class came in for dinner. it
was a slow nite so she was able to vist with them a good bit. she went
back to the regsiter to ring up the bill, she turned and found her
friends were gone, without a goodbye. bummer. she went to the table and
under there was a note that said how much God and her friends valued her
and special a person she was, and under the note was the exact amount of
money that she needed for the missions trip, her tip.

i held back tears then as i heard this story, and now as i type the
story, of God's faithfulness, His provision, and a caring, supporting
christian community. it's only tuesday, and her testimony was that she
will never forget this experience, 'it has changed my life'....and maybe
mine a bit too.

another young lady came up to introduce herself to me and give me ahug.
she wanted me to meet her specifically because she wanted me to remember
her when she came back, because she tols me, 'i am coming back'. she was
with the same group. she did not want to come. she said no 4 times to
the team leader when he asked her to come on the trip. she had had bad
experiences in high school in some church youth activites, not being
accepted, and confessed that her family has really not been going to
church with any regularity. she told me that she had never really read
the bible. she had told her team leader all the resons that she could
not go, the main one being that she could not get off work. but he was
persistent and called her at work one day and had her ask her boss, even
though 2 other s were already off work at that time. the boss listened
and then went to one of the others who had asked off, told the guy what
this gal was going to do, and the guy gave up HIS week of summer
vacation for her, so she could come. she lsot her last excuse, so here
she is. she confessed that she has made some of the best christian
friends, in 3 days time. as i left tonite, she was sitting down with
her group for a bible study time...with her bible open!

it is awesome to see what God is doing in people here, much less
through them.

for those of you in the harrisburg area, i wanted to let you know that
denise and kara and caleb will be at community free church on sunday for
the 930 and 11 services, emily and i are here in la. they would love to
see/meet you guys if you could make it. denise will be sharing for a
brief time in the service. just what she like to do, stand up in front
of people and talk...now me on the other hand... the church website
for directions/addr if you think you can make it.
www.communityfreechurch.org/

we are working a lot now on planning for the next year of work and
ministry. we are doing a more focused training and equipping cirruculum
for the evenings in the fall for teams to learn more about issues of the
poor and the need for ministries of compassion in our own neighborhoods,
as there are hruting people all over, not just here. although they sure
are messed up here. we got a call today from a very upset lady who had
a good friend of the family working to rebuild their house, which was
now going to be a double wide on a slab. the guy was to pour the slab
next week, but the family found out yesterday that he hung himself.
they lost their home in the storm surge, and now they lost a friend and
the person who was going to get them back into a new home. we have not
had a skilled concrete guy in for months, but as the Lord would have it,
we also found out today that we may have a skilled guy in that area
coming next week. it's amazing how God show's a need and then provides a
way to meet it, and why he frequently seems to do it here on like the
same day is beyond me, but it sure is awesome to sit back and watch.

we are really looking for folks who will pray earnestly for workers to
keep coming here to do the cleanup and reconstruction. (it's a biblical
command for us to ask this of the Lord...see mt 9:38) the volume of
volunteers for the fall seems to be slowing some, as i'm sure most folks
think there's nothing or little left to do as it is out of the
news.amazingly , we got a call today from slidell from a lady who needs
her home gutted. this area had gutting mostly done by last november. we
are also getting an increasing rate of calls again for gutting in new
orleans. so many folks still have not even gotten the contents out of
their homes, and fewer and fewer churches are continuing to do this
work, as they are not having enough volunteers, or are just wearing out,
or are running out of funds to sustain the recovery efforts.

but we are planning for ongoing efforts well into 2007 in the area
around covington, and beyond into 2008 in central city new orleans, and
need you and your teams to come and be a part of God's work here.

we are also going to be doing lots of planning for the ongoing crisis
response ministry too in the next 2-3 months. thanks for being a part of
it all and for your care for us... ml"

Pictures from KatrinaGrace Team VII

2006-07-18T13:00:00.000-04:00

This Work Team left on Sunday 2 July and returned on Saturday 8 July. They were:

Eric Heflinger
Terry Gallion
Jeff Maddock
Daniel Rizza
Gregory Klassen
Jeff Klassen
Matt White
Robert Flowers - Leader

Pictures from the trip can be found here!

Lower 9th Ward Gets Mail!

2006-07-18T08:47:00.000-04:00

USA TODAY reports that the Lower 9th Ward has finally gotten mail!

KatrinaGrace Team VI was just down there about a month and a half ago (pics here) and the place looks like a nuclear bomb went off. Though the area was very poor, 60% of Lower 9th Ward residents owned their home.

This is another step of the region back to normalcy.

image courtesy of stock xchng and melvinpiro

A Katrina Survivor's Tragedy

2006-07-06T21:39:00.000-04:00

Mark lives in a FEMA trailer in Slidell and was helped by Trinity and Compassion with some work on his house in October of last year. He's still waiting for an electrician to become available to finish work on his house so that he can move back in. A tragic accident 6 years ago when he was a paramedic has left Mark barely able to walk.

The day after the storm, Mark was slapped in the face by a tree branch which did extensive damage to his teeth. But dentists are telling him that FEMA hasn't been paying them and so they're not taking FEMA patients.

Members of the KatrinaGrace Team VI were able to visit him while we were in Louisiania in June.

We've been able to connect Mark with a dentist, Dr. Shannon Allison, who attends Trinity Church. He's graciously agreed to take a look at Mark's teeth and to see what he can do.

When we were contacting Mark about this tonight, we learned that about two weeks ago Mark's 15 year old son was tragically killed in a car accident while riding with a non-licensed 16 year old. We contacted Trinity and they've agreed to send someone out to visit Mark next week. Mark is divorced from the boy's mom and they also have a 17 year old son.

Please pray for them.

"Katrina shocks New Orleans visitors 10 months on"

2006-07-02T23:29:00.000-04:00

"Bill Friend thought he was ready to go home again. He had read the newspapers, watched TV and talked with friends about the devastation wreaked on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

Still, he was shocked.

"You go down street after street after street and see nothing -- wreckage," said Friend, 80, who grew up in New Orleans and now lives in the Washington area. "The overall impression of it is how much of it there is."

Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, flooding 80 percent of the city and killing more than 1,500 from Louisiana in one of the worst natural disasters the country has seen. So far, only about half the population has returned and vast stretches of the city are nearly deserted and still full of debris."

- the full reuters article

KatrinaGrace Team VII

2006-06-29T11:36:00.000-04:00

On Sunday 2 July, the KatrinaGrace Team VII will be traveling to Trinity Church in Covington, LA to work with Trinity and Compassion Ministries in Katrina Recovery.

Since the storm, KatrinaGrace has sent down 1 Reconnaisance Team, 2 Supply Teams, 1 Cooking Team, 2 Work Teams, and 1 Pastoral Team. Team VII is a Work Team.

KatrinaGrace Team VII is

Eric Heflinger
Terry Gallion
Jeff Maddock
Daniel Rizza
Gregory Klassen
Jeff Klassen
Matt White
Robert Flowers - Leader

Please pray for this team that

they would have travel safety in flying and driving
that they would be safe while they work - some Work Teams are sent to hazardous situations.
that they would have a chance to spiritually connect with Katrina survivors
that they would get the amount of rest they need in unusual sleeping situations
that they would work together well as a team and with Trinity and Compassion Ministries

Katrina Kids

2006-06-14T20:08:00.000-04:00

"Children at a day-care center in Gautier, Miss., ask their caregivers every day: "Did you watch the Weather Channel? What does the Weather Channel say?" In a New Orleans trailer park, a 12-year-old boy who spent five days outside the convention center after Hurricane Katrina and saw a woman in a wheelchair slowly die pleads with his mother to buy a car so they can escape the next big one. An 8-year-old girl is convinced that another hurricane will hit New Orleans -- she is even sure it will be on June 15 and a Category 8 (a rating that doesn't exist)."

Washington Post article on Katrina's effect on the young (free registration required)

A New Letter from Michael Sprague

2006-06-10T10:28:00.000-04:00

Michael Sprague, Trinity Church's Senior Pastor, posts a new letter in which he talks about KatrinaGrace Team VI which visited Covington, LA at the end of May.

Explaining How the New Orleans Flood Happened

2006-06-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

The Times-Picayune has a wonderful site that does a great job at graphically depicting how New Orleans was flooded as a result of Katrina.

A New Site on Katrina and New Orleans

2006-06-08T22:30:00.000-04:00

Grace Community Church's Peter Moulton has offered a wonderful new site on New Orleans and the saga of one of his best friends there.

The New Face of New Orleans

2006-06-07T18:54:00.000-04:00

USA TODAY reported today that

"the New Orleans area...became 73% white in the months after the hurricane Aug. 29, up from about 59% before the storm."
"The median age increased by about four years, and the median annual income rose from $39,793 to $43,447."
"The Louisiana Recovery Authority estimates about 200,000 homes were destroyed."
"Katrina and the subsequent breaching of the levee system flooded 80% of New Orleans..."
"The city of New Orleans lost about 64% of its residents after the storm, going from 437,000 in July to 158,000 in January, the Census Bureau says.

New Orleans demographer Greg Rigamer says the city's population has risen to 200,000 since the Census survey. "
"Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where Katrina hit directly and swept away miles of coastal homes, the population has dwindled 17%, from 363,000 to 303,000."
"The black population rose from 17% to 28%, while the white population declined from 80% to 71%.

whole article

Report and Pictures from the KatrinaGrace Team VI - the Compassion Team

2006-06-05T00:27:00.000-04:00

"You have to be our hands & feet."

Kathy Boren
Covington, LA resident &
a member of Trinity Church
Friday 2 June 2006

If all you want to see are the pictures, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Early Sunday Morning on May 28th, the eight members of KatrinaGrace Team VI, dubbed "The Compassion Team," boarded a plane and flew to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. After reviewing some of the damage near the Marina, the Team continued their journey across Lake Pontchartrain to Covington, LA. There they intended to follow up on just some of the over 4000 folks that the over 3000 volunteers working through Trinity Church and Compassion Ministries had reached out to with practical assistance since Katrina. The KatrinaGrace Team VI consisted of

Sandra Clabough, and

The Group rented four cars and divided into twos to visit as many households as they could thru Friday, June the 2nd.

We were able to reach out to somewhere between 35 and 40 households during our trip. Every morning the Team rose at 6 AM, breakfasted at 6:30 AM with several other Work Teams who had also slept overnight in the church buildings, heard devotions at 7 AM, and then met to pray and strategize the day. Most evenings we regathered for supper at 6:30 PM. Individuals were there this particular week from Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, and North Carolina.

It was a rich, humbling, sobering, and wonderful experience.

In New Orleans East, you can drive for 10 to 15 minutes on Interstate 10 and see nothing but devastated neighborhood after devastated neighborhood on your left and right. One mall there was completely submerged and it's still not open. We spent a lot of time in Slidell where entire communities were flooded. Many folks are still in FEMA trailers, which can be found lined up beside each other on street after street. One resident shared with us that calling and visiting insurance companies, the Red Cross, FEMA, etc. and working through all the red tape is a full-time job on its own. And if you didn't lose most or all of your house, you might have lost your job. Or maybe you lost it all and a few friends and relatives besides. The people there are shell-shocked and in need of lots of attention, care, practical help, prayer and counsel. Many have compared the area to a war zone. One former war zone television correspondant said that it was worse than a war zone. The death toll is currently over 1800 with over 700 still missing. The total economic impact in Mississippi and Louisiana is estimated to exceed $150 billion. The storm left 500,000 homeless and destroyed over 150,000 homes in the New Orleans area alone. As Kathy Boren, also quoted above, commented last week, "The city died and there's no one to bury it."

One of the main things the Compassion Team did was to listen. Some don't wish to burden their neighbors with their hardships because their neighbors have enough hardships of their own. And many locals are so caught up in resolving their own challenging situations that they simply don't have the time, energy, or even the inner strength to reach out to those around them. People expressed gratitude that they could tell their story to someone. One thanked one of our Team members because she said that it was the first time anyone had listened to her. Another said that it was the first time she had cried since she lost her house. As we had opportunity, we shared God's love and the gospel of Jesus Christ with the folks we visited. Team members also brought to the area a number of $25 WalMart Gift Cards to give out as they saw the need during their visits.

And there were so many stories.

Before we came down we received a list from Trinity/Compassion of some of the folks that needed the most follow-up. One was an elderly lady that supposedly lived in a bus. The information was dated and we found it hard to believe that someone could thrive in a hot bus for this period of time. There was a phone number contact for the lady named Donna and we called and left a message. No one called back. Finally, one day I suggested to my team partner, Douglas, that we just try to find her. We drove to the provided address and - sure enough - there was an old Bluebird bus that looked undrivable. I still did not believe that anyone was in that bus. We walked up to the house beside it and let the resident know that we were looking for Donna.

"She's in the bus."

Sure enough, she was.

She greeted us, directed us to pull up a couple of chairs outside, and said that she was so glad that she could tell someone her story. The room that she and her sister had built on the back of her sister's house where Donna was going to spend the rest of her life was destroyed by Katrina. Donna, who had suffered 2 heart attacks and was blind in one eye, eventually ended up in this bus. The good news was that the bus had been turned into something of a converted camper with a sink, a bed, most critically air conditioning, and - even - a 20 inch TV with, unbelievably, cable! Donna had been a gospel singer and indicated that she still had faith. We gave her four $25 WalMart Gift Cards before we left and that evening we picked her up to attend Trinity's weekly 5:30 PM Community Dinners.

Jessie Royster and Becky Rocco comprised one of the four Compassion SubTeams and were given an address to visit where an earlier Work Team had done some roof repair. When they pulled up to the address at the end of a dead end street, Jessie - who's African-American - noticed that the man had a Confederate Flag flying. She and Becky looked at each other but Jessie felt that God was telling her, "This is not your doing; this is not Trinity's doing; this is my doing. Trust me. I've got your back." They proceeded.

The large and muscular home owner greeted them wearing a Confederate Flag belt buckle, a ZZ Top beard, a pony tail, and a t-shirt that said, "Wife Beater."

And he was a perfect gentleman to them.

Jessie, who's originally from Mississippi, and he talked about the South and about Conservative Talk Radio, to which they both listened. Becky shared later that she wondered if Jessie, who usually asked if she could hug whomever they were visiting as they were leaving, would ask to hug this man. Becky thought Jessie wouldn't because he was a guy and because of the whole Confederate flag thing.

Becky was right.

Instead, the man asked Jessie if he could hug her.

And there were many other stories.

In addition to followup work, we were able to serve in a number of different capacities while in Covington. Allen Kiang worked one day with one of the Work Teams from Colorado gutting out a home. When one of Compassion's key staffers fell ill, Sandra Clabough and Mary Lou Gradisek worked for most of the week coordinating the Work Teams and contacting area residents about their Work Requests. We were also able to provide Compassion staffers with a training sesson on Suicide Prevention and Compassion Director Mark Lewis indicated that he was going to include the literature we provided to all future Work Team Leaders.

The crew returned to Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Saturday, June the 3rd and began their re-integration back into their pre-Katrina trip lives. Honestly, we all continue to process all that we saw and experienced.

Some time ago someone asked me if we were making much of a difference. I responded that the need was so great that our efforts were just a drop in the bucket. Later, my wife Beth properly corrected me with this comment: "For the folks we're helping, we're making a world of difference."

Of course, there's still a lot to be done. And KatrinaGrace plans to do more as God gives opportunity. We've already met with Habitat for Humanity about the possibility of jointly executing a rebuilding initiative. But, for now, there's still a large need to clean up, gutting houses, etc.

If you'd like to participate in this relief effort you can:

- Educate yourself on Katrina and Katrina relief efforts. The ever evolving Wikipedia article on Katrina is a great place to start. The many news links listed under "Katrina News" on the KatrinaGrace website is a good source of information. And Douglas Brinkley's expansive The Great Deluge is a helpful first out of the gate overview.

- Pray.

Ask that God would help Trinity and Compassion staffers as day after day, week after week, and month after month they work together with those whose lives have been turned upside down by the storm.

Ask God to give Compassion wisdom as they prioritize Work Requests.

Ask that God would help those whom Trinity/Compassion are practically helping would turn to God and rely on Him more fully.

Pray for the people of Trinity Church and for their recovery from this trauma. Their pastor, Michael Sprague, says that they've lost 30% of their members who evacuated and will never return. One church member shared with us how hard it was for friend after friend after friend to leave in the weeks and months after Katrina.

Pray that the leaders of KatrinaGrace would have the wisdom for the most optimal and effective use of the funds that the people of Grace Community Church and others have provided.

Ask that God would protect the New Orleans Metro Area and the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf Coasts from hurricanes this season. The season began while we were in Covington and ends in November.

- We still have July and November teams heading to Trinity. It's likely we will do two more trips this year at some point before November. If you are interested in any of these trips, please email Stephen. It seemed that most of the folks on the Work Teams last week were repeats. Once you go, you'll want to go back.

- The Team V Leader, Patty Westland, and her husband are donating a trailer to Trinity and driving it down in just a couple of weeks. They are accepting donations of much needed materials that can be used by the Compassion/Trinity Work Teams that they plan to take down with them or buy there. Click here for more information if you'd like to help.

- If you'd like to donate money that can be used to send more folks to Louisiana to volunteer on Work or Compassion Teams, just send a check to

KatrinaGrace
attn: Treasurer
Grace Community Church
8200 Old Columbia Rd
Fulton, MD 20759

and in the note space just put "for KatrinaGrace"

or

if you go to Grace, you can put the check so noted in the offering basket when it comes around. Additional money enables us to send more folks on more trips to help and so far we've not only filled every announced trip but have actually had to turn some folks away.

Pictures from the Trip

Lower 9th Ward Pics

Slidell, LA Pics

New Orleans Marina Area Pics

Louisiana People and Visitors

Misc Pictures

If these links don't work, try

Lower 9th Ward Pics

Slidell, LA Pics

New Orleans Marina Area Pics

Louisiana People and Visitors

Misc Pictures

Help Relief Workers in the New Orleans Area!

2006-06-03T21:01:00.000-04:00

We just received this from Patty Westland who was the Team Leader of the April 2006 KatrinaGrace Team V (a Cooking Team) who travelled to the New Orleans Area:

Patty & Perry Westland
P.O Box 143
Fulton, MD 20759
(301) 604-5420

Dear Family and friends,

I’m writing to tell you about my latest adventure in life.

I went on my first mission trip to Covington, Louisiana to help Katrina victims. It is about an hour from the French Quarter.

I volunteered to be the team leader (surprise!) of a 5 man cooking team. We fed 66 workers that were there to muck houses. Mucking is the emptying of ones home of all its mud, personnel belongings, walls, and flooring that has been rotting there for 7 months (including, freezers and refrigerators yuck). It was a trip, a real eye-opener for all of us.

Everyone here seems to think that because Mardi Gras and the Superdome are operational, life is back to normal. Well, it’s far from that! It is just getting started. It is so difficult to describe what these people are going through. You just can’t imagine it, until you have walked the roads of the destruction. It is now 7 Months later and community after community, after community, is still in ruins. It looks like a war zone. I still can’t believe it looks like that. It is unbelievable that, here in the USA, people are struggling to put their lives back together. People all around me ask:”Why would they want to go back?” All I can say is, it’s their home. They are fighting with the insurance companies to see who will pay. “Oh no!” says the hurricane insurance company, “it was caused by a flood.” And of course the flood insurance says it was caused by the hurricanes. ... It is an unending mess.
We worked with a non-profit organization called “EFCA- Compassion Ministries-Katrina Relief” that works with Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana. People volunteer from all over the United States and Canada to help. Trinity is where the supplies are kept, the food is cooked and volunteers sleep. We slept on the floor and showered in the portable outdoor showers. Volunteers who stay here must pack up their belonging twice a week, for scheduled meetings in the building... Some people find a new calling in life and stay to help. They realize the depth of the devastation and the great need for help.

Perry and I along with my parents Jack and Dee have decided to donate a travel trailer that we own together. The trailer will provide desperately needed sleeping quarters for people who stay long term. I am writing to ask you to help us fill the trailer. We will be taking the donated items to Louisiana. If you are able to help fill the trailer- it would be great. The easiest thing to travel with is gift cards from Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Shell gas and Wal-Mart. We are also looking for the following items:

· N95 dust masks with exhalation valve Safety glasses
· Duct tape/Drywall tape Hand sanitizer
· Work gloves/ladies work gloves Heavy duty forks, knives, spoons
· Paper towels in bulk Septic approved toilet paper
· Heavy duty paper plates Large tarps

I will be collecting items the week of the June 5th thru June 11.

Call for pick up.

You can mail checks made out to EFCA Compassion-Katrina relief and gift cards to

Katrina Bound
Po Box 143
Fulton, Md 20759

If you want more information about the organization go to [the EFCA Compassion Katrina Page].

Please keep us in your thoughts.

Yours truly,

Patty, Perry, PJ and Kris

KatrinaGrace Team VI - The Compassion Team

2006-05-25T19:39:00.000-04:00

Please pray for Team VI that's leaving for Trinity Church in Covington, LA early Sunday morning 28 May and returning on Sat 3 June. The Team is

Allan Kiang
Becky Rocco
Douglas Morin
George Murrill
Jessie Royster
Mary Lou Gradisek
Stephen Shields - Team Leader

This team is called The Compassion Team because they are going to be spending 5 days doing pastoral follow-up meetings with just a few of the over 4500 people that Trinity Church and Compassion have helped since the storm.

Suicide Prevention

2006-05-24T08:49:00.000-04:00

I've built a new page on faithmaps.org that focuses on Suicide Prevention as a resource for those who go to LA and MS (or are there already) to work with survivors of the storm.

"Number of Deaths From Katrina Rises"

2006-05-19T23:11:00.000-04:00

"Louisiana raised its Hurricane Katrina death toll by 281 Friday to 1,577 after including more out-of-state evacuees whose deaths were deemed related to the storm or its grueling aftermath."

- full Associated Press Story

Photos and Thoughts from the April Cooking Team

2006-05-19T22:16:00.000-04:00

Len Thompson recently sent us some pictures of the April Cooking Teams trip to Trinity Church where they cooked for the many volunteers working in the Covington, LA area. They were down in LA April 16-22. You can see the pictures here.

Len also shared some of this thoughts about the trip:

I stayed at a church in Covington, LA, which is across Lake Ponchatrain
from New Orleans. There were about 60 folks there from all over the US.
It was a light week because of Easter; normally they have over 100. The
women slept on the floor of a Sunday School classroom and the men on
the floor of the sanctuary. We all ate at a makeshift cafeteria on the
other side of the sanctuary. I was part of a team that prepared and
served the meals.

The effort is coordinated by Compassion Ministries in cooperation with
Urban Impact. .

Most striking, and appalling, was the lack of progress in the clean-up,
and the extent of the damage. Of the thousands of destroyed homes, only
a handful have or are being rebuilt. Large neighborhoods are utterly
abandoned.

I did get to go out one day with a work crew. The work right now is
entirely demolition. Before a home can be rebuilt - assuming it's in
good enough shape structurally to be rebuilt- it has to be stripped to the
two-by-fours. First they haul out appliances, furniture, and personal
possessions (everything is just piled up outside). Then they tear out the drywall, carpeting,
and linoleum. It's hot, dirty, and dangerous work. Shots for Hepatitis
B and tetanus had been required, but now only tetanus. Most work sites have no
electricity and no sanitary facilities.

A tough week, but I'd be willing to go again.

"The Saints Go Marching Back"

2006-04-28T23:08:00.000-04:00

Lucas and Davis endorse a bold game plan: Encourage a local pastor to return to New Orleans from the Katrina diaspora. Local leaders help that pastor find a short-term job to pay the rent and also help him bring back other ready-to-work church members.

Just 10 tithing church members plugged into good wages can jumpstart a congregation that's been non-operational since Katrina. That pastor in time could quit his "day job" and return to full-time ministry. "The idea is to help get people jobs so their pastor can do the work of the ministry," Davis said.

Christianity Today article on efforts to bring working folks back to the KatrinaZone.

Trinity Stats

2006-04-21T16:24:00.000-04:00

The church we work with mostly in the KatrinaZone is Trinity Church. It's an Evangelical Free Church and most of the work we - and many, many others - have done there has been in conjunction with EV Free's Compassion Ministries. This AM they released the latest stats on the amount of work done in and around Covington, LA where Trinity is located:

Trinity Church

Total work requests: 1,588
Completed work requests: 1,174
Volunteers: 2,676
Volunteer hours: 109,995

Please talk to God About...

2006-04-18T10:16:00.000-04:00

...our two teams that are in the Gulf this week!

The Biloxi group is a work group led by Randy & Nicole Ambuel. They're helping Bay Vista Baptist Church in the continuing cleanup.

Our other group is being led by Peggy Westland and is at Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Covington, LA, cooking for the teams that are fulfilling work orders in the community.

Thanks!!

Meet Mark Lewis!

2006-04-18T09:44:00.000-04:00

My name is Diane Schoolfield. I attend Greenridge Baptist Church in Germantown, MD. Our church has gone on two mission trips to Trinity and will send a third during spring break. We have really been affected by what God is doing through Trinity and the Katrina disater.
I am hosting a "meet the missionary" for Mark Lewis on Tuesday evening, April 18th, 7:00PM at Greenridge Baptist. Anyone from your churches are welcome to attend.
As you know, Mark went to Trinity, felt called to change his job, move his family, and go full time with Compassion Ministries. He has not had the chance to raise support for this life changing call. The dessert will be a time for him to update us on what is happening at Trinity, get to know him, and offer financial support for him and for his family.
Feel free to contact me with any questions and for directions to our church(it is right off of I270).
I am excited to see how God will provide for Mark that evening.
In Him,
Diane

On Mark Lewis

2006-04-05T00:16:00.000-04:00

We've worked a lot with Mark Lewis down in Covington. Michael Sprague of Trinity recently posted this:

I have never been a fundraiser and perhaps never will be. I don't know that I ever want to be a fundraiser. I am simply a pastor of a local church, in the middle of the finest movement of the Spirit of God that I have ever seen. One of my dear friends, and now colleagues in ministry, is raising support to provide for his family to continue to help lead the work of outreach here in the Gulf Region. I am referring to Mark Lewis, our Crisis Response Director for EFCA-Compassion. If you have been to Trinity, you know Mark as our Field General, Mastermind of the operation and the man who loves Christ and teams.

Mark and his wife, Denise, were faithfully serving Jesus in Pennsylvania when Katrina hit. Mark was an engineer, and Denise a stay-at-home mom with their 3 wonderful kids. Mark called Jim Snyder of Compassion Ministry and was told, "I need someone in Louisiana tomorrow." Mark's one-week trip to Louisiana turned into a long-term, life-changing opportunity! Mark and Denise's passion to help people impacted by disasters had been growing for some time. Since 1993, this couple has participated in crisis response ministry following floods in the Midwest, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, an earthquake in Turkey, a devastating tornado in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, Hurricane Ivan and now Hurricane Katrina. For an equally long time they prayed for the EFCA to start a crisis response ministry. In fact, Denise wrote an undergraduate thesis on this very topic in 2000!

I can tell you the call of God is upon their lives. They are choice players in the Kingdom and are bearing incredible fruit. In Luke 16:1-10 Jesus tells a story about how the children of light should practice shrewdness with money in accomplishing Kingdom exploits:

"Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and this steward was reported to him as squandering his possessions. "And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' "And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they will receive me into their homes.' "And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' "And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' "Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' "And his master praised the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much." (Luke 16:1-10)

I cannot think of an investment that has greater Kingdom potential than strategically investing in helping Mark and Denise Lewis get up to full missionary support. They are currently at 25% support. Would you pray about this opportunity? If you are associated with a church with a missions committee, would you ask them about the possibility of the church adopting the Lewis family? Mark can be reached at: The Lewis Family, 1183 Springwater Drive, Mandeville, LA 70471; phone: 717-439-3138; e-mail: mlewis@efca.org.

Sleeping Arrangements While @ Trinity Church

2006-04-02T14:00:00.000-04:00

Some folks have been asking about sleeping arrangements while at Trinity Church in Covington, LA. Here's a description from the Evangelical Free Compassion Ministries Katrina Site (Trinity is EVFree):

Teams are housed at Trinity Church in Covington, LA. All facilities are modern with electricity, AC & heat. Trinity Church hosts volunteers on the floor in both the sanctuary and youth room (men and women are separated). Shower facilities are available for men and women with changing areas in both. Subject to space availability, RVs may park in a field adjacent to Trinity Church. Limited electric hook-ups are available.

If you have any other questions about this, please shoot an email to beth.shields@gmail.com

image courtesy of stock.xchng

Can you Help Volunteers Fly?

2006-03-28T10:37:00.000-05:00

If you have any Frequent Flyer Miles that you might be interested in donating to folks flying down to LA or MS this year to help with Katrina Relief (we have 5 trips slated so far this year - click here for more info), please send an email to beth.shields@gmail.com

Thanks!

graphic courtesy of stock.xchng

Baltimore Sun: "6 months later, area is still reeling from Katrina"

2006-03-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

*click here for KatrinaGrace 2006 Trips Information*

The Baltimore Sun ran a story yesterday giving a few details of what's been done and what remains in the Katrina-affected area that's received the most attention - New Orleans:

"...vast stretches of the city -- 100 square miles or more -- are still abandoned and rotting."
" Fewer than 15 percent of 15,000 businesses are open."
" But about two-thirds of the city remains uninhabited."
"Reconstruction officials have picked up about 33 million cubic yards of debris, but they're only halfway done, and piles of fetid mattresses and moldy drywall still line many streets."
"The new hurricane season is fewer than 100 days away, and repairs to the city's levees are 40 percent complete, federal officials said recently."

What's even more sobering is that New Orleans is just one area in a 90,000 square mail zone that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Updated KatrinaZone Team Plans for 2006

2006-03-11T12:45:00.000-05:00

updated on Sunday 2 April 2006

Here's where we are on 2006 Trips

If you have a group that would like to volunteer separately from any of these planned trips, please email Stephen at sshields@faithmaps.org.

KatrinaGrace Team V

The Cooking Team
Trinity Church - Covington, LA

Leave on Sun 16 Apr & Return on Sat 22 Apr
Cooking for 60-80 people Monday thru Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM
Update: This Team is Now Filled
Team Consists of:

Peggy Westland - Team Leader
Peggy Wortman
Len Thompson
Bill Tagalicod
Lynne King
Steven Lilly
Odin Worthman

The Biloxi Team (NEW TRIP)

Work Team
Bay Vista Baptist Church - Biloxi, MS
Randy (Gadget) and Nicole Ambuel are the Team Leaders
Leave Easter Weekend, Return the Following Weekend

KatrinaGrace Team VI

Trinity Church - Covington, LA
Stephen Shields will lead this team.
Leave Sun 28 May and Return on Saturday 3 June
Trinity has reached out to 4,600 folks who could use some "so how's it going?" followup. This will involve those who are good listeners and an empathetic ear. This would be a good trip for those who are, as Trinity's Volunteer Coordinator says, "mercy-focused."

KatrinaGrace Team VII

A Work Team
Trinity Church - Covington, LA
Date Change: Sunday, July 2 - Saturday, July 8th

KatrinaGrace Team VIII

Work Team
Trinity Church - Covington, LA
Specific dates to be set for one week in November 2006

As always, for all of these trips we are looking for donated frequent flyer miles. If you have any miles that you would like to contribute, please email Beth Shields at beth.shields@gmail.com.

Pictures from Tuesday 7 March 2006

2006-03-09T00:37:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that after half a year there should still be so much devastation in New Orleans and Mississippi.

Benjy Oliver posts about his tour this week of New Orleans and Katrina Damage and has created an online album where you can see all of his shots.

Forcey Memorial Church

2006-03-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

Our partner in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor who has worked with us in the past with our Trinity trips is Forcey Memorial Church in Silver Spring, MD. They have a nice website they've set up supporting their efforts.

Sat 4 March 2006 Presentation to Grace's Men's Breakfast

2006-03-04T15:07:00.000-05:00

I had a great opportunity today to speak to Grace Community Church's Men's Ministry about

Hurricane Katrina,
some its impact,
how Christians are responding,
how KatrinaGrace has responded, and
what KatrinaGrace is planning in 2006.

Stephen Shields

Slideshow here.

Residential Construction Project Manager Sought

2006-03-02T10:12:00.000-05:00

All - I am asking you to specifically pray and help us seek at least two
individuals that could serve as a construction pm. We really need to be
moving to construction at this time, and will not be able to do so
effectively without a good residential construction project manager.

Please ask your churches and friends for any ideas of names, and
forward them to me to follow up with. We should be able to provide
housing and possibly some form of per diem. this is such a great
ministry opportunity.

Mark Lewis, who coordinates volunteers in Covington, LA for Trinity Church and Compassion Ministries, asks for suggestions for this position.

Compassion Ministries Katrina Page

2006-03-01T19:26:00.000-05:00

I've added a link to the Evangelical Free Church of America's Compassion Ministries Katrina Page under "Links and Information" on the right-hand side of this page.

Trinity Church, in Covington, LA, with whom KatrinaGrace has been working since the storms, is an Evangelical Free Church and Compassion coordinates the volunteers from all over the country working through Trinity.

The Katrina Volunteer Phenomenon

2006-02-28T21:58:00.000-05:00

Tens of thousands of volunteers from hundreds of faith-based groups have poured into the region.

AP runs a story on the amazing number of church folks volunteering in the Katrina Zone.

The Washington Post ran a similar story earlier in the month (free registration required).

Word and Deed, Again and Again

2006-02-27T20:08:00.000-05:00

The collaboration between Christian groups has impressed Pass Christian's politicians. Christians represent 95 percent of relief volunteers, said Lou Rizzardi, Pass Christian's Ward 1 alderman who coordinates them.

"Faith-based organizations come in here much more organized, ready to go to work," Rizzardi said. "They don't ask for anything." Mennonites re-roofed Trinity Church, an Episcopal congregation. The Assemblies of God donated a huge tent to shelter Crusade volunteers. Pass Christian's largest volunteer presence is Campus Crusade. Of Todd's efforts to mobilize manpower, Rizzardi said, "I don't know what I would have done without him."

Christianity Today article posted today

photo from http://www.dbooth.net/ed/album/index.htm

Positions Available @ Trinity Church in Covington, LA

2006-02-27T12:07:00.000-05:00

Trinity's Michael Sprague announces that they are filling some positions in Covington, LA. Specifically:

Associate Pastor of Adult Ministries

Trinity Church is a growing, vibrant, grace-centered, Evangelical Free Church of about 700 Christ-followers. The candidate must love Jesus and be a strong leader who is able to lead, train, and motivate volunteers and oversee a wide array of adult ministries spanning small groups, men's, women's, discipleship and care. This family oriented community is located on the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain, where you will find some of the best schools in the state. Better yet, we are experiencing revival, renewal, and an Acts 2 kind of experience in the aftermath of Katrina. A 15,000 square foot educational building will open in April. If you have been hearing the "still small voice" say "I've got a new adventure for you" please apply.

Pastor of Children's Ministry

Trinity Church in Covington, LA, is a contemporary EFCA church with an average attendance of 700. Of this 700, 140 are children from birth through sixth grade. We are looking for a dynamic, creative, fun loving person who is passionate about Jesus and able to create environments that are irresistible to children and their parents. The ideal candidate must be able to cast vision, recruit, train and mobilize volunteer staff. A new $1.5 million dollar state of the art children's building will open in April 2006.

If you are interested in applying for these positions or if you know of anyone who might be interested, please email Michael Sprague.

New Letter from Trinity's Michael Sprague

2006-02-26T13:59:00.000-05:00

Trinity's Pastor, Michael Sprague, has posted a new pastoral letter.

work, work, work

2006-02-14T10:41:00.000-05:00

Trinity's Michael Sprague reports that as of 2/12 Trinity Church has seen 1,898 volunteers from all across the country forming 153 teams investing 72,810 work hours completing 834 work requests

See his most recent letter here.

photo courtesy of stock.xchng

New Orleans Times-Picayune Article on Trinity Church

2006-02-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

Volunteers working through Trinity Church in Covington, LA - including those from KatrinaGrace - have invested over 52,000 work hours assisting Katrina-affected LA residents.

The Times-Picayune recently covered the church's efforts.

link

KatrinaGrace Team IV Dec 2005 Trip and Pics

2006-02-13T12:27:00.000-05:00

In late Dec 2005, Jen Long and Beth Shields travelled to Covington, LA to meet with Trinity Church's Michael Sprague and Mark Lewis to plan KatrinaGrace activities for 2006.

Pictures

Pictures of New Orleans, Slidell, and Covington taken by Jen Long

Pictures of Katrina's Aftermath in the neighborhood of Trinity Church's Jeff Boran

Pictures from Chalmette and Lakeview (taken by Jeff Boran)

Some Stunning Katrina Aftermath Shot Provided by Jeff Boran

The Trip

In December, KatrinaGrace decided to bring Christmas to Covington, so on December 17th, Jen Long & Beth Shields flew down to meet with pastor Michael Sprague and team leader Mark Lewis to deliver $15,000 worth of gift cards for Trinity to distribute and to discuss Grace’s role in the continuing rebuilding effort. During this meeting, we learned a number of new things, not the least of which is the extent to which suicide is an issue at this time. Michael said that the effects of the storm are being felt more than ever by those who must rebuild their lives in a dramatically different world than what they knew before. Michael had spoken to someone dealing with suicidal thoughts every day that week. We also found out that our teams need to stay for a week in order to be effective, and that tearing down and rebuilding homes is not the only type of team we can send – cooking teams, counseling teams, and daycare teams are all possibilities - which opens up the number of people from Grace who can be an effective part of this ministry. We talked about the possibility of planning eight trips this year as opposed to the four we had originally planned – a major difference in what we had discussed (the leadership team needs to sign off on this first). In addition, Johnny & Jen Long are hoping to start an adopt-a-family type program, where Grace families can “adopt” families through Trinity. Michael informed us that moral support and encouragement may be even more necessary than financial support. Mark Lewis is contemplating an adopt-a-house type program, where individuals and/or organizations would adopt a particular house to renovate or construct. Mark said only 10 percent of the work has been completed so far. He and Michael also put a bug in our ear about incenting the Howard County community to help raise money and support for the rebuilding effort. The true rebuilding effort will probably not be into full swing until the spring of 2006. Michael also informed us that Compassion is looking to hire a retired contractor who can work for six months as a project manager to aid in the rebuilding effort. Price gouging is a problem now with the market demand being so high for construction and roofing companies. Finally, we discussed the staff of Trinity, a total of eight people who are working more than full-time to bring hope and healing to Covington and the surrounding communities. These amazing people are overworked, overstressed, and overtired and need special support and encouragement from our community.

It's not known at this point how many of these needs KatrinaGrace can specifically address, but the trip definitely gave us a lot to think about as we finalize plans for 2006. And, of course, with God's help, we will pitch in in 2006!

Impact of KatrinaGrace Christmas 2005 Initiative

2006-02-12T23:49:00.000-05:00

On December 17th, 2005, Beth Shields and Jen Long, on behalf of Grace Community Church's KatrinaGrace Ministry, delivered $15,000 worth of Gift Cards from Home Depot, Target and Walmart to the folks at Trinity Church in Covington, LA to distribute to their friends and neighbors impacted by Hurricane Katrina. After these were distributed, at our request, Trinity asked her folks to provide some feedback on the cards' impact. Here's what we found out.

Donnette Nienaliei

I gave the gift card to a young couple with 3 children who are taking care of a 91 year old woman in a wheelchair. They had a tree on the roof of their house that caused major structural damage. They still have a 4*4 in their den holding up the main beam to keep it from falling in. There were so grateful for the gift card and couldn’t believe we would do that.

John McCants

A lady came into church asking for help with her light bill. I asked if she was ok, and she said she had lost a family member, had another sick relative, and was working odd jobs in tough financial times. I have her the gift card and was able to pray with her! She was very grateful, saying it would help.

Accardo Family (four $50 Cards)

We gave all 4 of our cards to Cindi Christian.

Cindi lived in Slidell, LA prior to Hurricane Katrina. Cindi’s House was totally flooded and she lost all of her personal belongings. Cindi is in the entertainment business and all of her clients closed down and [her] business was lost.

Cindi is a warm and giving person who needed to know that God loves her and will be with her during this time.

Cindi is currently living in Kenner, her clothes are in Algories and working in New Orleans ([when] she can). She was delighted with the gift!!

Robin Cooper

I live n Slidell about one mile from the lake. Needless to say my house became an indoor swimming pool. God has continued to show His Great Grace & Mercy in providing 1st a c*15 camper & now a FEMA [trailer]. His will [permitting], my home is being [rebuilt[. Thank you for your kindness towards our family.

John Hecker

One of my co-workers lives in Slidell. He had 5 ft. of water in his house and lost both of his cars. His children, [a] daughter [(15)] and son [(10)] (guessing on ages), were sent to New York with his mother-in-law. The family is Catholic by faith, but by the way [of his] fierce love he has for his children, I know he knows the Lord in his heart. His son returned from New York the day after Thanksgiving. His daughter is too afraid to come home. His heart is hurting very much because of this. With the help of work, FEMA, and others, his house is being rebuilt. He has done a lot of the work himself. I had given him the card to buy his son a Christmas present. With all money going into the house, he had no hopes for giving his son anything. He is not materialistic, but Christmas is for the kids. I felt that this [was] where the Lord was prompting me to send these funds. He asked me to thank everyone in Trinity. I have talked to him about what we do at Trinity. I do not know if he will ever set foot in here, but he seems very openhearted and humbled by what we do.

Tony B

This lady I work with and her husband lived in Chalmette. They had just made their final mortgage payment and their house was paid off. Her husband drove an 18 wheeler. When Katrina came, their house and the 18 wheeler were washed away. I didn’t know but 18 wheelers are only insured when they are being driven. So that was a total loss. In their late 50’s, she told me last week that she couldn’t believe that they were having to start over. Her husband is working ripping out houses. They now live on the West Bank in an apartment and hope to rebuild in Chalmette at some point. I had carried the gift card for over a week and last night I decided to give it to her. When I got to work, I went to the lunch room and she was the only one there. She went to her office and after getting some coffee I approached her as she was taking out her check book. I don’t know if she was checking her balance or getting ready to write a check, but the gift card brought tears to her heart.

Beverly Theisen

Spoke with a lady at my gym – while we were talking she began to relate to me the story of her daughter and grandbaby who lost everything and were in a FEMA trailer.

As I shared the gift with her she was sincerely touched and very grateful. Thank you for allowing me to participate in giving this gift of love – what joy it brought to my heart.

Unknown

I wanted to share an experience we had with the gift cards. We picked up three gift cards when they were first offered and kept them waiting for the Lord to put someone on our hearts or bring the need to us. We waited and waited – nothing. Then I got a call from this lady whom I’ve known for years that works with OCS. Years ago my office had adopted a family for Christmas and then continued to do so every year since. She called and wanted to know if we still did that. I checked and we had already adopted our family for this year. Then she told me she had prayed about this family and who could she call and she said the Lord told her to call me. Then I thought of the gift cards. I put her in touch with Karen and the kids and they all got together and used the gift cards to buy presents for this family with 10 kids under the age of 12, 5 boys and 5 girls. They wrapped the presents and delivered them to the family. I receive a thank you card this past week that reads as follows:

Bill, Thanks! Hanging out with your family was a wonderful experience. Your obedience to God to help this family and demonstrate the true meaning of giving warmly touched my heart and theirs. Thanks for arranging and thank Karen for making it happen. Regina”

Praise God!

Rebecca B

First I must praise and honor my God for his provisions. In the last few months God has provided me with a vehicle and a home. After returning from Katrina I felt as if I should give a lady $50.00. At first I thought maybe it was my own emotions. I wanted it to be of God and for Him to receive the glory from it. As I waited and prayed, the idea would not leave me. I was about the give the lady the money. I guess I was also so hesitant because I am a single mother living solely on child support. So I am very limited on finances. What an amazing God! When I was told about the card last Sunday and that the amount was for $50.00 I knew my God had provided the money. So I knew it would not be in any way my doing and God will receive the Glory. Not only did God provide that, but I was also blessed when someone gave me a gift card this week. I got my son a nice Christmas suit and new pair of shoes. I am not poor, my Heavenly Father owns it all. Praise His Holy Name.

Liz Haindel

I gave a gift card to a store clerk that I saw regularly that just seems to have a hard life. Surprisingly she just snatched it up with hardly a word.

God is teaching me again to do His works without expectation of any reward here but trust He is going to use this for His glory.

A preschool worker new to Northlake Christian since the storm is commuting from Percy Quinn State Park everyday. She and her extended family all lost their homes in Chalmette but are together in campers at the park.

She was very grateful for the gift.

Major Bridge Damaged by Katrina Reopens Connecting Covington to New Orleans

2006-01-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

A major bridge over Lake Pontchartrain that was torn apart by Hurricane Katrina reopened fully to traffic just before dawn Friday.

Katrina's storm surge ripped giant sections of the five-mile concrete bridge, which links New Orleans and Slidell, La., and tossed some into the lake. Other sections of the Interstate 10 span shifted by as much as 5 feet.

ap story

Thanks from the Batiquins

2005-12-12T20:06:00.000-05:00

KatrinaGrace recently helped the Batiquins with $250 to help pay for a mobile storage unit for their belongings while they replaced their roof which was destroyed by Katrina.

They sent Grace this note:

We wanted to thak you for your prayers and the check you guys sent to us through Kathy Boren. It really blessed our hearts and our lives that day! We moved back into our home last Friday and today we are busy counting our blessings!

Thanks and blessings back on you! You have served us well!

The Batiquins - Tony, Dawn & kids

image from stock.xchng

Forcey Provides Updated Information on Upcoming Trips

2005-12-09T16:48:00.000-05:00

We have officially scheduled 4 trips to Louisiana. If you are interested in participating in any of these trips, please contact me directly.

Trip #1: Led by John Riston is scheduled for January 14-22 – it is completely full.

Trip #2: Led by Gary Williams is scheduled for January 28 – February 4 – still has room for about 17 more people. Included in this group is a small group of men led by Grove Teates who will be driving down to Louisiana and hauling a number of large pieces of landscaping equipment. This group of men will be staying from January 28 – February 10. If you have a desire to stay that long as well, let us know.

Trip #3: Led by Sam Barrow is scheduled for February 11-19 – still has room for about 22 more people

Trip #4: Led by John Heater is scheduled for April 8-16 and is geared for teenagers. The plan is to take about 6 adults and 27 teens and drive down in three vans. If we do not get enough teens signed up, then we will open it up to more adults.

All of these trips are open to those outside of Forcey but Forcey-ites get priority placement.

Thanx,

John Heater

john-heater@forcey.org

(cell) 301-928-8060

KatrinaGrace Plans thru 2006

2005-12-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

As you've probably picked up from media reports, there is still a lot to be done in Louisiana (and Mississippi) to aid the region in its recovery from Katrina. In addition to the remaining need still for massive cleanup and rebuilding all through the region, there is now additional concern for increasing depression and more suicides.

KatrinaGrace is planning to continue to partner with Trinity Church in Covington, LA in reaching out to Katrina Survivors in the area for many months to come.

This past Sunday, the KatrinaGrace Leadership Team met to establish focuses for 2006. Here are some of our plans for the next several months. And some of this will likely change:

On Saturday 17 December, Beth Shields and Jen Long, two members of the Leadership Team are flying to Covington, LA to meet with Michael Sprague, Trinity's Senior Pastor, Mark Lewis, who coordinate's Trinity's Katrina Relief Efforts, and Jim Warren, who is taking a leadership role in Trinity's efforts to aid the community in rebuilding. The meeting is to discuss how KatrinaGrace and Trinity might most effectively partner to serve the community in the coming months. Michael has also asked Beth and Jen to speak to the church on Sunday and then they're flying back.
Because of your generous giving for Katrina relief, KatrinaGrace will also be providing Trinity with several thousands of dollars worth of Christmas Gift Cards to be distributed to Katrina Survivors. What's really cool is that independently of us, Trinity had already decided to do the same thing themselves. There's enormous need in the area and this will only be a drop in the bucket.
In addition to the small planning trip mentioned above, and participating in the Forcey trips mentioned yesterday, KatrinaGrace plans to sponsor at least four trips in 2006 to Covington, LA in Feb, May, August and November to work with Trinity in cleanup, rebuilding, social work, etc. The plan is to use donated frequent flyer miles and rent trucks in the area once we arrive. Beth Shields will be coordinating these trips and establishing team leaders, so if you're interested in participating in any of these, please email her.
In October, KatrinaGrace decided to directly support Trinity's Katrina Relief efforts with $1000 monthly payments through March of 2006. This past Sunday, the Leadership Team decided to extend those payments through September of 2006.
One of the focuses in 2006 that we are most excited about is the KatrinaZone Family Adoption Initiative, that will be led by Johnny and Jen Long. Michael Sprague of Trinity loved this idea when we recently shared it with him and this is one of the items on the agenda for further planning when Jen and Beth fly down in a couple of weeks.

The idea is that Grace individuals and families get personally involved with one particular Katrina surviving family in Trinity's community. They can exchange letters, assistance, advice, money, fellowship, friendship, whatever. KatrinaGrace allocated $3000 for this but we are also encouraging folks to establish their own monthly amounts, giving thru Grace (which makes it tax-deductable) and with the entire amount going to the selected family.
We haven't gotten as involved with Katrina Survivors who have ended up in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor as much as we originally hoped. It seems that most of them have connected with family and friends and have flown under the radar. Nevertheless, we've earmarked $3000 for supporting these kinds of folks as they hit our radar screen. If you learn of particular cases that could use our assistance, please email Stephen Shields.
A KatrinaGrace Community Event. Not sure what this looks like yet but we've a lot of pictures and some video and - more importantly - some good stories. We are seeking the best forum in which to share these with whoever is interested.

So this site will be the best place to learn about how all this unfolds and to discover where you might fit in!

Possible Action Steps

If you have any frequent-flyer miles that you'd like to donate, please email Stephen Shields.

If you are interested in going on any of the KatrinaGrace trips, pls email Beth Shields.

If you'd like to go on any of the Forcey Trips, email John Heater.

If you'd like to adopt a Katrina Survivor Family, email either Johnny Long or Jen Long.

If you'd like to contribute financially to any of these initiatives, just give a check to Grace Community Church and designate it for "KatrinaGrace."

More to come.

image from stock.xchng

Upcoming Trips to the KatrinaZone

2005-12-07T18:36:00.000-05:00

Forcey Memorial Church is inviting interested Gracers in participating in one of their several upcoming trips down to work with Trinity Church in Covington, LA. Forcey folks participated in KatrinaGrace's last trip to LA. KatrinaGrace is willing to contribute to Gracers' costs on these trips. Here's their announcement:

Forcey is planning four trips down to Trinity Church in Louisiana. We are opening these trips up to those outside of Forcey but we are giving Forcey-ites priority placement.

Trip #1: January 14 – 22: Team Leader is John Riston – this team will be driving down in two church vans and a pick-up truck. The maximum they can take is 25 and as of this past Sunday, Dec 4, 15 people have signed up to go. Forcey is providing the vans and the fuel costs for this trip. We are looking for laborers, workers for the free store, and cooks/bottle washers.

Trip #2: January 28 – February 4: Team Leader is Gary Williams – some of this team will be driving down and some of this team will be flying down. Grove Teates and crew will be bringing several large pieces of earth moving equipment on this trip. We are looking for laborers, workers for the free store, and cooks/bottle washers.

Trip #3: February 11 – 19: Team Leader is Sam Barrow. Details are still being worked out for this team.

Trip #4: April 8 – 16: Team Leader is John Heater – this trip is geared for teenagers but we will have need of some adults as well – we will be working with Urban Impact in downtown New Orleans. Urban Impact is connected with Trinity.

More details will follow as we get them. Let me know if you are interested in any of the above dates.

If you are interested in participating in any of these trips, send an email to John Heater ccing Stephen Shields.

image from stock.xchng

Local KatrinaGrace Survivor: Trinell Goodley

2005-12-04T18:46:00.000-05:00

You might recall an earlier post regarding Trinell Goodley and her family. She writes to let us know:

...Walter Reed Medical Center formally offered me a position on last week, still under consideration due to the hours 5am-1:30pm. Interviewed today with Anrundal Hospital for a part-time position in the Wound Center.Kids are fine, I'm doing well, due to the concern and kind hearted people like you. Thanks, keep in touch.

Thank you Grace!

Willow Creek's Katrina Efforts

2005-11-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

- see their Katrina Relief Site

An Around the Room on Christian Charity

2005-10-25T10:41:00.000-04:00

With his usual thoroughness, Christianity Today editor Ted Olsen provides us with a helpful journalistic around the room of various views on Christian charitable organizations and their response to Katrina.

photo from stock.xchng

KatrinaZone Team III Log and Pics

2005-10-22T11:47:00.000-04:00

KatrinaZone Team III served in the Zone during the week ending Saturday 15 October in the area around Covington, LA, the location of Trinity Church, our sister church with whom we are partnering in reaching out to those effected by Hurricane Katrina. The team returned with a lot of great stories and pictures.

Ron Warrenfeltz put together a very interesting and detailed log that's great readin g and a slideshow of the trip that's now available online. You'll get more out of the pics if you peruse the log first.

KatrinaZone Team III was

Tim Hardman (team leader)
Shirley Highfill
Leslie Mansfield
Ron Warrenfeltz
Claudia Cortes
Jessica Alston
Ben Alston
David Hull (from Forcey Memorial Church where Michael Sprague served for many years before serving Trinity)
Sam Barrow (from Forcey)
Chris Hart (from Forcey)

Katrina Jobs

2005-10-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

A great site for Katrina Victims looking for new jobs.

image courtesy of stock xchng

Disaster Mental Health Training for the Spiritual Caregiver

2005-10-22T10:45:00.000-04:00

The Parish Nurse Health Ministries of Howard County - through a grant by Columbia, MD's Horizon Foundation - presents a free day-long workshop for those involved to those recovering from a natural disaster called

Disaster Mental Health Training for the Spiritual Caregiver

on Saturday 5 November.

This seminar has only 100 seats avail on a first come, first serve basis.

Those who wish to attend should mail their registrations to

Lynee Karanfil
6242 Deep Earth Lane
Columbia, MD 21045

before Sat 29 Oct 2005.

Questions? Contact Kristine Holmes @ 443-803-1560 or by email here.

Find more information here.

Trinity's Michael Sprague Posts Another Update

2005-10-14T22:05:00.000-04:00

Always good stuff.

Update from KZ Team III

2005-10-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

We spoke to Tim Hardman, team leader for KZ Team III currently on the ground in Covington, LA, last night. The team has been working for the past two days on gutting a house. Tim said he thought their part of it was done last night. They removed all drywall, every appliance, everything but the outer walls. It's a shell now. This was for a man whose son called Trinity EFC to ask for help. When I asked Tim how they were, he replied "Exhausted!" But he said it's a really good team, everybody gets along well, they can give each other a hard time and take it in stride.

The recon team was out for about 5 hours yesterday, so we're hoping they'll return with some critical information on how to use the 18-wheeler that's been donated to us. .

Tim also said they had driven into New Orleans (which was something you couldn't do when KZ Team I was down there) on Monday. He said it was really creepy, because there was about an 8-mile backup leaving, and they were the *only* ones driving into the city! They are witnessing firsthand the devastation.

So that's all the news I have from KZ Team III. They're all returning home tomorrow evening. I expect to speak to Tim again sometime Saturday morning, so I'll let you know any more information. Thanks so much for praying. He said the weather had not been bad at all, and not as hot as it was for Teams I and II.

We'll let you know as soon as we know what the next phase is for Katrina Grace. Thanks again for all the support.

Beth Shields :o

image from freefoto.com

New Update for Michael Sprague

2005-10-11T20:20:00.000-04:00

from Trinity Church in Louisiana can be found here.

Guess Who Else is in Covington, LA Today?

2005-10-11T12:46:00.000-04:00

President Bush today is in Covington, LA, where KZ Team III is working today as well.

photo from the White House

KatrinaZone Team III Has Launched

2005-10-10T22:41:00.000-04:00

Part of KatrinaZone Team III - from left to right:
Ron Warrenfeltz, Leslie Mansfield, Tim Hardman, and Shirley Highfill

Our third team left *today*!

Tim Hardman, Leslie Mansfield, Ron Warrenfeltz, and Shirley Highfill left bright and early at 3:30 this morning from Grace's parking lot. Beth saw the team off this AM and took the picture above. This part of the team left from Ronald Reagan and arrived at Jackson, MS, and then drove the rest of the way to Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Covington, LA. They were able to procure two pickups and a cargo van, which was a total answer to prayer.

Also joining our team today from Forcey Memorial Church were Chris Hart, David Hull, and Sam Barrow. These three are long-time friends of Michael Sprague, the senior pastor at Trinity, and each has considerable experience in carpentry and home-building skills.

Tomorrow, Ben & Jessica Alston and Claudia Cortes will join the team, rounding out the final 10.

KZ Team III participated in two orientation meetings today. They are going to LaCombe, LA on Tuesday, and will be doing either tree removal or gutting houses (mold is a serious issue now). Our recon mission for the anticipated 18-wheeler trip will happen on Wednesday. Please pray they'll get enough information to let us know how best to use the donated truck & driver.

Please pray for the team's safety, unity, and effectiveness. The team will be working to fill the work orders Trinity church is receiving from their community.

Finally, we have been getting requests for how to help. This team used up the frequent flyer miles that had been donated. We could certainly use more for future trips. I think the days of kamikaze driving the 18 hours it takes to get to Covington are behind us. So, if you would like to donate frequent flyer miles, please email Beth at beth.shields@gmail.com.

Thanks again for all the support you've been giving this mission. The work is far from over, so we'd like to encourage you to keep it up! We expect to hear from Tim Hardman, the team leader, Wednesday night, and we'll update you then.

New Pastoral Letter from Trinity's Michael Sprague

2005-10-10T15:41:00.000-04:00

October 8

Dear Friends,

Let me start with an offer to help you visually see what is going on here. Wayne Rogers, our worship pastor, has produced the first in a coming series of DVD’s to chronicle God’s work here. You can order a copy at Trinitychurchonline.net. The DVD will help you understand things that could never be communicated with words.

Tonight I just finished addressing a large group of our volunteers. We almost hit the 200 level! These are the best people you could ever meet. Let me tell you about a few:

1. One man came to serve even though his stepson died last week in a car accident. His stepson wanted to come with his stepfather to serve in New Orleans. Though grieving, he and his wife decided God had called them here. The stepfather brought his stepson’s boots and laid them before the cross located at the front of the church. It is amazing how this family is sacrificing for us and our community. This man, a career military man, said he stood in shock and awe when he saw New Orleans. It is worse than anything he has ever seen in battle. He is making a difference.

2. Another man stood and shared that he was from Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. Through his tears he shared that he had learned to trust the Lord daily at the intercity mission for food and life sustenance. He could see that we were doing the same and tears came for the overwhelming need here. Here was a man with so little, giving so much to us.

3. One group from Illinois cancelled their “men’s advance” (retreat) this month and brought their men here to serve us instead. They forfeited money through the cancellation, but felt this was a great opportunity for their men to give of themselves.

4. Church after church verbalized that they were committed to us for the long haul. This is so encouraging, for the needs are so great. My observation is that life is getting harder for people, not easier. Power is coming back on, schools opened Monday and FEMA is clearing the debris, but I am seeing the magnitude of the problems growing wider and deeper by the day. The props that got us through the first month are going away (Red Cross, National Guard, delayed mortgage and credit card payments, etc.). Very soon we will face the realities of life and in many cases it will not be pretty. Job lay-offs are reported every day and this will have a spiral effect. Bills will come due soon and many will collapse under their weight. Many homes have 2-5 families living in them. Imagine the pressures living with several of the families who have lost everything. I predict a tidal wave of human devastation in the next 4-8 weeks as pressures mount. I met with a family yesterday who lost their 14-year old in the hurricane. They had two trees crash through their home, yet three families were now living in it. $60,000 worth of tools were stolen and the man’s employees were gone. The tears that flowed could have formed a puddle by the time we finished praying and helping them out financially. It will take years to put the community back together and see lives rebuilt.

In the middle of all this chaos, people are being helped one-by-one. That is the way of Christ. Hundreds of people have come into the free store. They are helped both spiritually and physically. Some of those helped in the free store now also work in the store and have begun attending church. Some have come to Christ within the last three weeks and have given testimony in our services. At least 52 new families have signed our visitor book at the church over the last few weeks. Opportunities abound to share the message of the love of Christ. Good rumors about the church are circulating everywhere. Wouldn’t it be great if people didn’t think of Christians as angry people carrying placards of protest or as self-righteous finger-pointing people? What if they saw a new humanity that displayed the fruits of the Spirit? What if Christians displayed both truth and grace in a way that reflected the real Jesus who came to seek and to save those who are lost? This is what I long for and am seeing. Please pray for a great revival.

Last Sunday I encouraged Trinity church in three ways: First, prayer…no revival has ever taken place without surrender and dependence upon God. Second, consecration…no revival in scripture or church history has occurred without repentance and coming clean with God. Third is love…we need to practically practice a supernatural kind of love so that there is not a needy person among us. Pray for revival and renewal in our lives.

On a personal note, Donna and I had our roof rebuilt this week. The skylight from where the tree hit the house was huge. One day soon, three rooms in the house will need to be rebuilt, along with new carpet, and a new kitchen countertop. A new fence is being built tomorrow and FEMA just removed the debris from our 10 trees. Pray for Donna. As someone observed, Donna went from the empty nest to no nest in a week’s time. She is back in her nest, but it has been messed with greatly. Donna continues to be a choice servant of Christ. Daily she ministers to others and enables me to focus on ministry. Her love for Christ and for me is outstanding. I am very grateful. We are bringing Jonathan back from Texas for a three-day weekend in two weeks so that he can get a firsthand look at our house and his room!

Well, the clock just struck midnight, so I’d better wrap this up. The Lord is good. I’ve got a great staff and a loving church. My wife is the best, and we cherish our son. I’ve got the best friends in the world who are all over this country. I’ve got a purpose to live for, enough problems to keep me dependent on God, and enough joys to keep me going. As I go to bed tonight, I realize that there is nothing I’d rather do than follow Christ.

Betting the farm on God, Michael

all Michael Sprague Letters

KatrinaZone Team III

2005-10-04T21:19:00.000-04:00

Announcing the final roster for KatrinaZone Team III and a request for your assistance.

First of all, the request:

Please email Beth Shields if you can do either of the following

take 4 people to Dulles Airport on Monday 10 October very, very, very, very early.
pick up some folks at Dulles Airport in VA on Sat 15 October around 10:45 PM.

This is a great way to serve the folks in the KatrinaZone if you can't go to LA. If we need to, we'll pay for shuttles, but we'd rather use that money in other ways.

And now about our team:

We now have a full contingent of folks for KatrinaGrace's third Team to visit Trinity Church in Covington, LA. Michael Sprague - Trinity's Pastor - called us today and is so excited because three members of our team who go to Forcey Memorial Church in Silver Spring, MD (where Michael used to pastor) are friends of his. Here's the complete list:

Tim Hardman (team leader)
Shirley Highfill
Leslie Mansfield
Ron Warrenfeltz
Claudia Cortes
Jessica Alston
Ben Alston
David Hull
Sam Barrow
Chris Hart

As of today, Trinity is letting us know that our team will likely be tearing out drywall, cutting trees, and cleaning up debris - thought the situation on the ground is highly fluid and could be changing. We are urging Team Members to visit the Evangelical Free's Crisis Response Team Preparation page to orient themselves to the trip (Trinity is an Evangelical Free church).

Please be in prayer for our team members!

New Update from Trinity's Michael Sprague

2005-10-03T21:19:00.000-04:00

Trinity's Michael Sprague has posted a new update.

Trinity's also prepared a 10 minute tape of the results of Katrina and of the chances they are having to serve in their community. I've let Michael know that we wish to get a copy to possibly show at Grace.

image from stock.xchng