By Sara Horn For those of you not living in Southeast Louisiana, this past weekend was probably very different than ours. You probably watched a little of the Olympics, got ready for a new school year, or enjoyed one last summer trip or cookout. Things didn’t happen that way here. Last Thursday night, a week ago as I’m writing this, the rain started. This is not unusual for summer in our area. But by Friday morning, the rain had started filling ditches that normally don’t fill, and covering roadways that normally don’t cover. I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment in Baton Rouge when we got the call that schools, our second full day of the new year, were closing and parents needed to come back and get their kids. Buses were already en route trying to deliver kids back home they’d just picked up. The water came fast and no one was prepared for what was happening. A couple of buses got stuck in several feet of water because they could no longer see the road. Teachers got stuck at their respective schools because after helping their students leave, they found out the roads to their own homes were no longer passable. State offices closed and my husband had already turned around and returned to the house since major … [Read more...]

By Lane Corley What an incredible week in Louisiana! Flash floods, roof top rescues, shelters, gutted homes, & now months of recovery efforts ahead of us. I ended last week thinking that I was going into a couple of weeks of heavy promotion for our Multiply Louisiana Conference & I’d keep pushing toward 40 church plants for this year in Louisiana, along with helping my kids get settled into new routines in school & prepping for a big fall with my church. But with the 1,000 year flood that hit over the weekend, I’ve had the opportunity this last week to help Southern Baptist setup Incident Command Operations for one of the worst disasters in Louisiana history. It’s given me the opportunity to see a different side of SBC Disaster Relief operations. I’ve been on chainsaw crews, mud out crews, Assessment teams, & chaplain teams, & I knew about Incident Command, with little knowledge of what went on. Still don’t know much, but here’s a few observation & takeaways from shadowing Incident Command this week: Just like everywhere else, it’s led by volunteers Incident commanders are trained & equipped a little differently. A communications trailer, laptops, 3-5 phone lines. All managed by volunteers. … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn About this time last week is when we began to know that this week was going to be one like we have never seen. Though my personal home was spared, we are hurting for so many friends scattered across South Louisiana who have suffered devastating loss. We have had a variety of emotions for sure. Now, a week later, I want to share some random reflections. 1. We need each other. We knew this already, but we seem to forget this too often. Seeing people help each other from every walk of life has been rewarding even in the midst of such tragedy. 2. We need God. Without a spiritual compass that points to an empty cross, an empty tomb, and an awaiting eternal glory that far exceeds any temporary affliction, I don’t know how you make it through times like this. 3. There was a lot of hurt going on in the world before last Friday and that has not changed. And, for some, more bad things have happened this week. In the midst of all of the disaster relief, let us not forget that people still have cancer, still are having heart attacks, some have died this week totally unrelated to the flood, people are still unemployed, and others have suffered many other overwhelming circumstances of life. Let us not forget all of … [Read more...]