By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter
NEW ORLEANS – Before Hurricane Katrina, churches in the comfortable, middle-class neighborhood of Gentilly in New Orleans struggled to find ways to stir the hearts of their neighbors.
The new presence Gentilly Baptist Church and Edgewater Baptist Church enjoy results from walking alongside neighbors on the long road to recovery, even as they walked hand in hand with special groups of Baptists who supported them through the journey.
THE RIGHT PLACE TO BE
In real estate, location is everything.
For Edgewater Baptist Church, its location four blocks from the western wall of the London Avenue Canal didn’t seem so “good” after the levee broke in Hurricane Katrina.
Now, members see themselves as being in the right place, at the right time.
The storm opened doors for the Gospel and gave the congregation the connection to the community they had long prayed for. With the closure of two nearby public schools and a large church down the street, Edgewater became the neighborhood’s gathering place.
“We would have never thought that ten feet of water in our community would result in our church building becoming the community hub where neighborhood meetings and recovery efforts would transpire,” said Chad Gilbert, pastor.
The church recognized the building’s value as a bridge to the community. Today, as members move outward to feed immigrant workers or share the Gospel, others greet those who step into the building for meetings of neighborhood associations, recovery organizations, public school planning committees, and addiction recovery support groups.
The recent baptisms of two new believers – both young men from the community – reflect the church’s fresh growth.
“We could never have imagined the witnessing and relationship-building opportunities we have had as a result of Katrina,” Gilbert said.
Members’ personal spiritual growth as a result of the storm brought a new sense of community and a renewed vigor for evangelism, Gilbert said.
Roger Cull, a contractor who moved to New Orleans after the storm, said the hard lessons of Katrina and accompanying deep financial losses taught him to rely on God.
“I’m the most blessed guy in the world,” Cull said. “My relationship with God has multiplied. It would never have happened without Katrina.”
A new, 6 a.m. weekly Bible study started by Cull and led by Gilbert is drawing truckers and working men who shy away from a traditional church setting.
Sang Nguyen, a college student and a New Orleans native whose many friends and family members were deeply impacted by the storm, joined the church a year ago because of the church’s passion for missions.
Nguyen – a former soldier – said the church’s midnight prayer meetings for a bold mission initiative into the French Quarter reminded him of a “Black Op” – an operation that enters enemy territory under the cover of night.
“If I can’t be on the ‘front lines of ministry,’ I will pray for those who are,” Nguyen said of his commitment to evangelism.
Nguyen recently baptized a young man he led to faith in Christ.
Edgewater’s return to ministry was possible because of a partnership with First Baptist Church of Thomasville, Ga. Soon after the storm, the Thomasville church restructured its budget to free up $100,000 annually to help the New Orleans church.
The three-year partnership provided Edgewater the funds to pay a pastor’s salary, make repairs on the building, and put a ministry back together. Gifts totaled more than $300,000.
The Wednesday evening fellowship dinner – funded by the Thomasville church, and begun in order to feed volunteer teams working in the neighborhood – continues to be a tool for evangelism and fellowship.
“I can’t fully explain it, but I have this strong sense that the work of each church, each volunteer team, each individual who has traveled to our community to serve it and sow seeds of the gospel is about to be used by God to bring about a great harvest of souls,” Gilbert said. “It is overwhelmingly exciting!”
CHANGED FROM THE INSIDE OUT
On the outside, Gentilly Baptist Church doesn’t look much different than it did before the storm. But “inside,” very little has stayed the same.
With a new pastor and additional staff, the once-predominantly African-American congregation is a healthy fifty-fifty racial blend that reflects the community around it. The once-empty church nursery is now booming as young families continue to join.
“We’re much more a community and neighborhood church,” associate pastor Dennis Cole said.
The storm brought together two congregations – Gentilly Baptist and Elysian Fields Baptist Church, whose facility was lost in the storm – with a single-minded vision for ministry. The churches met together first on the steps of the gutted sanctuary and merged officially two years later.
Jason Thomas, a minister of education provided through the post-storm Unlimited Partnerships program linking NOBTS students with area churches, said the church is focused on people’s needs.
New initiatives include a women’s ministry active in prayerwalking and Bible study for women recovering from addiction. This year’s summer day camp averaged 50 children week each week. “Moms and More,” a women’s Sunday School class, is helping some improve reading skills while learning the Bible.
“We’re not [yet] where we want to be, but we’re definitely at a place where we can reach the community,” Thomas said.
A key partner in the church’s revitalized ministry is the Arkansas Baptist Convention’s Baptist Builders and its partnership with the Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Builders. The group headquartered at the church for more than two years to rebuild the church and neighborhood homes from funds provided by Arkansas Baptists.
Jackie James, project manager, and his volunteer staff, directed 6,000 volunteers in work that enabled 200 families to return home. More than 1,800 additional work projects were completed for 300 homeowners.
“We actually saw more rebuilding of lives than we did rebuilding of homes,” James said of the volunteers’ contribution.
One life impacted by volunteers is Steve Donahue, a double-amputee, who was digging a drainage ditch from his seat in his wheelchair when he met pastor Ken Taylor. Disillusioned by loss and frustrated in rebuilding, Donahue had lost his faith in God and in mankind.
Teams of volunteers came to his assistance. Donahue said he told one volunteer – a man with one arm – he would never forget him. Because of the volunteers, Donahue said he is on a journey back to faith.
“It was good to be wanted,” Donahue said of the warm reception he received at the church.
“They are helping restore my faith in mankind.”
“The volunteers really touched his heart,” Taylor said. “He has been very faithful [ever since].”
Pearl Spears, 75, a long-time New Orleans resident and a new member of the church, knows firsthand the volunteers’ contribution.
Spears lost her husband months after losing everything in the flood. Volunteers came to her rescue after finding her crying on the porch of her new home next door to the church. The group made the final payment on her appliances and brought them home to install them.
“I don’t know where I’d be without Jackie James and the Arkansas people,” Spears said.
“They were a bridge over troubled water.”
The church continues to host volunteer teams working in the neighborhood, using the upper-story space that was converted to Katrina recovery volunteer housing by the Arkansas team.
“We’re just so grateful for how God worked through you,” Cole told the Arkansas Baptist Builders at the sanctuary rededication earlier this year.
“Katrina did for us what we could not have done otherwise,” Taylor said. “We had the opportunity to reach the community in ways we had not been able to do before.”