The call for First Baptist to help post-Katrina came during the Sunday night worship service. MANSFIELD – The call for First Baptist to help post-Katrina came during the Sunday night worship service. Joe Waggener, minister of education, was the one to take the call. He was asked if First Baptist could take some evacuees. When he replied affirmatively, and asked when, he was told they were on their way. At the end of the worship service, the congregation was informed of, and discussed, the urgent need. Within two hours, many members had responded and First Baptist was ready to receive its evacuees. The fellowship hall and classrooms had been outfitted with cots, sleeping bags, mattresses and bedding. As they did not have shower facilities, arrangements were made with the fire station to take people there for showers. First Baptist volunteer cooks provided three meals a day. Others helped with clean-up, transportation, shopping, and supervision. First Baptist volunteers were at the church 24 hours a day. Some men, doing shift work, would stop by at 3 a.m. on their way home to see what they could do. Men, women, and youth gave of their time and possessions. Volunteers always … [Read more...]

Trapped down a country lane north of Covington, 12 Katrina survivors hung on for three days, with barely enough food and water, until the District Eight Chain Saw Team discovered their desperate sign. COVINGTON—Trapped down a country lane north of here, 12 Katrina survivors hung on for three days, with barely enough food and water, until the District Eight Chain Saw Team discovered their desperate sign: “12 adults stranded at end of the road.  Please help,” written on posterboard and attached to a mailbox. Happening on the sign at about 7:30 one morning, a five-person crew wielded chain saws three hours to cut an eight or nine-foot wide swath down that road to a group of houses where they found residents stranded without water or electricty. “There was no way [for all of them] to get out unless someone came with chain saws,” said Lee Dickson, Director of Missions for the DeSoto, Natchitoches, North Sabine, Red River, and Sabine associations, and a member of the chain saw team. “It brings back a lot of emotion just thinking back on it,” he said, remembering how one resident thanked God that the chain saw crew had come. One of the 12, an elderly woman about 85 years old, told workers … [Read more...]

"The Command Chaplain at Fort Polk has $2,000 that has to be spent today on hurricane evacuees." HORNBECK--David Redden, a member at First Baptist Church Hornbeck, took the call. After a few minutes of intense discussion, he hung up and made an announcement to other members busy organizing food, air mattresses and other supplies for Katrina evacuees who were expected to begin arriving at any moment. “The Command Chaplain at Fort Polk has $2,000 that has to be spent today on hurricane evacuees,” Redden said. Activity ceased, as workers looked up from their tasks. “How much?” one asked.  “When?  He wants us to spend it?” “Hey I can spend $2,000 in a day,” another said. Almost immediately, volunteers began making lists of items that evacuees might need. “If their houses were destroyed, we knew they’d need just about everything to start over,” said one member.  “We were thinking about household items at first, but then we realized they wouldn’t have anywhere to put this stuff.  So then we decided to buy food, toiletries, and clothes in a variety of sizes.” Kerri Blankenship and Mary Ann Hill, both members at FBC Hornbeck, armed with lists that they divided between … [Read more...]

Frightened faces, ravaged neighborhoods, injured people in need of help--these are familiar sights on the nightly news. RAYVILLE – Frightened faces, ravaged neighborhoods, injured people in need of help – these are familiar sights on the nightly news. However, in August 2005 these disturbing images were not from some third world country or even from another state. They were from our very own backyard. Extreme Missionary Adventures (XMA) had always targeted foreign countries, leaving home missions to others, but suddenly it became clear that things were going to change. XMA is a parachurch volunteer missions organization led by Randy Pierce, a member of Woodlawn Baptist  Church in Rayville. After Hurricane Katrina, XMA teams snapped into action – delivering food and water to evacuation shelters set up in Baton Rouge and using 15-passenger vans to help ferry survivors to shelters across Northern Louisiana and Texas. Once these immediate needs were met the objective shifted to rebuilding lives and homes from the wreckage, and XMA teams were mobilized to begin the massive task of reconstruction, which is still continuing. Rather than joining the onslaught of volunteers working in … [Read more...]

Out of disaster have come ties that bind for First Oakdale, its members and the evacuees they housed after Hurricane Katrina. OAKDALE – Out of disaster have come ties that bind for First Oakdale, its members and the evacuees they housed after Hurricane Katrina. “In all my years as a pastor, I cannot think of anything that is more of a Christ-based ministry than what we did for our evacuees,” said Laughlin, pastor of First Oakdale. On Sept 1, 2005, First Oakdale accepted a family of 25 evacuees from Point a la Hache near the southernmost tip of Louisiana.  Within a week, that number swelled to 80 people.  Four months later, the final evacuee left the church building. With previous experience sheltering evacuees, the congregation began to prepare almost as soon as Katrina seemed likely to be a serious storm, Laughlin said.  “We began making plans to house as many as we could. We were ready for them.” Although ready, the church still had needs, so church members began calling area residents and businesses, and a few hours later, clothing, food and toiletries began pouring into the church.  A physician at the church provided medical care for the evacuees, while a restaurant provided … [Read more...]

Evacuees escaping the destruction left by Katrina in Southeast Louisiana found a haven here at East Leesville Baptist, where Office Manager and Shelter Coordinator Mary Johnson welcomed them with open arms. LEESVILLE—Evacuees escaping the destruction left by Katrina in Southeast Louisiana found a haven here at East Leesville Baptist, where Office Manager and Shelter Coordinator Mary Johnson welcomed them with open arms. “At first, living in the shelter was hard and an experience I never thought I’d go through,” said Patricia Ann Powell, an evacuee from New Orleans who stayed at the shelter after the storm. “But everyone was so kind and helpful. I look at this in two ways: I lost some things, but I gained a lot,” she said.  “I was blessed to be there. I have my strength and my health and can start over again. All things I lost are just material; but you cannot replace lives – mine or my loved ones. I am truly blessed.” “We have been back to see what it is like down there,” Powell said.  “It looks like a war zone. No, no, no way are we going back.” Emelda Kenney, who didn’t immediately evacuate New Orleans, also is considering a permanent relocation. “Next time I will listen,” … [Read more...]

Last Christmas, members of First Baptst Church of Pontchatoula played the role of Santa Claus for nearly 700 Hurricane Katrina evacuees. PONCHATOULA – Last Christmas, members of First Baptist Church of Ponchatoula played the role of Santa Claus for nearly 700 Hurricane Katrina evacuees. But some of the children received a gift that even old Saint Nick couldn’t provide – a relationship with Jesus Christ. With Christmas fast approaching, the South Louisiana congregation discovered 1,200 children in the area had evacuated because of Hurricane Katrina and would not receive any presents during the holiday season since their families lost everything in the storm. Karen Roudkovski, wife of Pastor Jake Roudkovski, suggested the church give presents to those children. In the end, the parents of 700 children agreed to receive the gifts, valued between $70 and $300 each. Members personally delivered the gifts to each family and invited them to the church’s Christmas service, where 15 children and family members accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord. “We planted lots of seeds,” Roudkovski said. “Our efforts have continued to trickle down and make a difference in the families’ … [Read more...]

Pay It Forward left the fantasy world of cinema and entered the world of reality after Katrina. PINE – Pay It Forward left the fantasy world of the cinema and entered the world of reality following Katrina. Members of Pine First Baptist Church were the recipients of volunteer missions as individuals and teams shared with the rural community, setting up shop in the church that opened its building and grounds as a distribution center and clinic. Volunteers from the church spent hours with volunteers from across the nation, distributing food, clothing, basic necessities, and water. They stood in the hot sun for hours on end. They aided volunteer doctors, the Red Cross, and social services in screening applicants. “Someone from the community told me that she couldn’t believe we would let our grounds be torn up this way,” one member said, referring to ruts and worn-out spots in the grass created by the activity. “I told her, ‘People are more important than grass.’” After weeks of their Sunday school rooms serving as a medical clinic and housing volunteer workers on inflatable mattresses, the church returned to its pre-Katrina schedule. However, many of the members had been changed on a heart … [Read more...]

Though Gulf waters were churning, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005 dawned quiet in Shreveport SHREVEPORT – Saturday, Aug. 27, 2005, began as a quiet day in our area of the state, though Gulf waters were churning. Some of my family were in the home of my daughter in Cotton Valley.  We were far removed from the Gulf and had little thought of the impact of Katrina – or of Rita a few weeks later. In  mid-afternoon my granddaughter-in-law’s cell phone rang. Melissa was to report for duty in the Louisiana National Guard. Her destination was New Orleans. She and my grandson  were home only a few months from a year in Iraq. They had missed their daughter’s fourth birthday. Now she would miss the sixth, on Sept. 2. Evacuees poured into our area. I had helped with disasters before but as I now tried, a feeling of inadquacy hovered over me. So many hurting; so little I could do. Shelters were opened in our city and surrounding area. My church was busy; the town was busy. As I talked with people in the weeks to come, there were many tragic and heartbreaking stories. But some were inspiring. One of these inspiring stories came from my daughter, Janet Baker. She is the home economics teacher … [Read more...]

Whether they were housing an entire family of 56 or allowing parish inmates to wash evacuee's laundry, Baptist camps in Louisiana have been active in hurricane disaster relief efforts. Whether they were housing an entire family of 56 persons or allowing parish inmates to wash evacuees’ laundry, Baptist camps in Louisiana have been active in Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief efforts. The camps housed evacuees during the first few days of the storm, but the majority of those displaced storm victims began to relocate to other cities within a month after Katrina. “We’ve been wanting to witness to New Orleans for years and God has sent the people of the city here and to other camps across the state,” said James Newsom, camp director at Acadian Baptist Center in Eunice. Soon after the hurricane hit South Louisiana, 350 evacuees moved to the Acadian Baptist Center. The evacuees included a Venezuelan doctor, a truck driver, a street preacher and seminary students. The final evacuee left on October 5. Counselors helped evacuees find jobs and homes in such states as Nebraska, New York, Arkansas, California, Texas and Illinois. “It was a great ministry and we did what God wanted us to do,” … [Read more...]