DEVILLE – The phone hasn’t stopped ringing at Longview Baptist Church’s office this week.
Complete strangers, desperate for help, are either calling or emailing the church seeking help to mud out their flood-ravaged home.
“We sent a 12-person team to Denham Springs last Saturday with Josh Sikes, our minister of youth/education,” said Robby Poole, pastor of Longview Baptist Church in Deville. “We could do only a couple of houses but the people were so grateful.
“As a matter of fact, both families want to come here to personally thank our church for helping them out,” said Poole. “In the meantime, other people in the neighborhood saw our van, wrote down the name of our church, Googled it to get our number I would guess, and have been calling non-stop since Monday.”
To help as many as he can, Poole took a group of volunteers Thursday (Aug. 25) and will take another 20 Saturday (Aug. 27). He also plans on going the following week.
“This [cleanup] is not going to end this week, the next week, next month, or next year,” he said. “These families desperately need our help. We are being the hands and feet of Jesus and the gratitude of these families’ faces speaks louder than words.”
From the storm-ravaged areas beginning at Ponchatoula, Denham Springs, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Jennings and all points in between, Longview is just one of hundreds of Louisiana churches who have rushed to assist those in need.
“It is important these people know they are not alone,” said Poole, whose church house Katrina survivors for almost three months. ““We saw people in need and we wanted to show them that we cared even though we did not live down there. We wanted to show them God’s love as we help them to recover.”
Scenes like this – debris and a church van or bus – are common throughout areas affected by recent flooding in south Louisiana.
