By Lonnie Wascom
Of all the various ups and downs and ins and outs of the past nearly 15 years serving our Lord by serving His churches in the Northshore Baptist Association, there has been no event or encounter or experience more transforming for me and our region than the arrival and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
It was on this day in 2005 she arrived and wreaked havoc on our region.
And it was in the days, weeks, months, and years following that God’s churches, all of you, from Springville southwest of Holden in Livingston Parish to Hebron in Bush in NE St. Tammany Parish, from Ridge Memorial over near the Rigolets near Slidell, west to Pass Manchac, all the way to the north ends of our Parishes and everything in between, that God did a mighty work for His glory by way of the churches that made up what were then the Chappapeela, LaTangi, and St. Tammany Baptist Associations and what is today the Northshore Baptist Association.
It was a defining period.
It was God’s people responding as only God-empowered people can.
A part of Psalm 29 ministered to my spirit all through that season, especially verses 3-8, and continues to do so today.
Look at these verses pertaining to the voice of God: The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory, thunders, The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
Lonnie Wascom is director of missions for Northshore Baptist Association. This editorial first appeared in his daily e-mail to pastors and other laymen on the 13th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
