NEW ORLEANS – Instead of soaking up some sun on a Florida beach during spring break, Georgia Southern University student Merideth Turner spent her week-long vacation clearing debris inside a home in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward.
By Brian Blackwell
Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS – Instead of soaking up some sun on a
Florida beach during spring break, Georgia Southern University student
Merideth Turner spent her week-long vacation clearing debris
inside a home in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward.
“This has brought us all together,” Turner said last
week, as she was riding with a van load of her fellow Baptist
Collegiate Ministry peers. “It’s amazing how we have worked together
and God has blessed what we’ve done.”
Turner spoke a day after her team completed a
mud-out job inside a home left water-damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The
students completed the job in two days.
“We cleaned it down to the concrete level,” she
explained. “All that’s left is the flooring and framing. We worked our
tails off getting this done a day earlier than expected.”
However, the Georgia Southern BCM is not alone.
Since last October, thousands of BCM students from
Louisiana and across the nation have participated in disaster relief
efforts in New Orleans. The largest influx of students has been this
month, when most colleges have their spring vacations.
“It’s awesome to see college students on fire for
God,” said Aaron Arledge, University of New Orleans BCM director and
Louisiana Baptist Convention untrained volunteer coordinator. “I’ve been so encouraged by Southern Baptists and college students.”
The majority of the student work has consisted of
mudding out homes. Arledge said. Last week the students mudded out
about approximately 40 houses.
About 1,000 students worked in New Orleans last week
and about 500 were expected in the city this week. By the end of the
month, more than 2,500 collegians are expected to have ministered in
areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Arledge said the largest groups
have come from Texas, Missouri and Georgia.
Most of the students are sleeping in an Algiers FEMA campground and inside the Brantley Baptist Mission in downtown New Orleans.
As a result of the students’ ministry, Arledge said
tears have been shed and countless hugs have been exchanged.
“I’ve been with homeowners who are breaking down and
crying because of what these students have done,” Arledge continued.
“It’s awesome that these students are the hands and feet of God.”
For Stewart Moody, college minister at First Baptist
Church of Statesboro, Ga., the experience has been eye-opening.
“I realized how removed I am from people’s lives,”
said Moody, who accompanied the Georgia Southern team. “Being able to
walk with the storm victims and being involved in their lives really
makes me realize that I need to do this as a normal part of my life.
“Watching the destruction on television doesn’t show
the full extent of the damage and hurt people are experiencing here,”
he continued. “Not just their physical homes were lost but memories as
well. It’s just a very sad situation and we’re trying to minister to
them in whatever way we can.”