At our weekly Wednesday meeting of the Baptist pastors of New Orleans, Oscar Williams (Good News Baptist Church) shared their plans for next Saturday’s neighborhood ministry. They’ll be going door to door in the Destrehan area where their displaced church is meeting these days, looking for anyone needing groceries. They have 300 food baskets to give away. And that’s not all.
They’ll be asking for information on the children in these homes–how many, what ages, boy or girl. Then, they will have a drawing. Lots of drawings, in fact. Seventy drawings for seventy bicycles. Bikes of all sizes, brand new, a gift from Wal-Mart.
Oscar missed our Ministers’ Christmas dinner Tuesday night because his brother-in-law called at the last minute to say the truck with the bicycles had arrived and they needed a place to store them. “We’ve got them all over my house, throughout the First Baptist Church of Destrehan (where Good News is worshiping temporarily), and in my brother-in-law’s home.”
We all wanted to know, “How did you get Wal-Mart to give you seventy bicycles?” “We asked them,” Oscar said. “What a novel concept,” some wit remarked.
Wal-Mart remembers New Orleans.
Anderson University of South Carolina, an outstanding Baptist institution, is being well-represented by its Vice-President for Church Relations Dr. Bob Cline, his wife Angela, and 24 students who are in town this week gutting out flooded homes. Bob came to our Wednesday pastors’ meeting with four of the students. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” one said and the others nodded their heads. Another said, “I’ve been crying. It’s so awful.”
I called on some of our pastors to share their stories with these young people. One college student said, “I wish there was more that we could do. But we’ll be back.” Another said, “Our papers in South Carolina never show us what it really looks like down here. You just have to come to see for yourself.”
South Carolina remembers New Orleans.
Steve Gahagan (Operation NOAH Rebuild) was glad to see the South Carolinians among us. He is firmly dedicated to helping this city rebuild, but there’s no doubt he loves his home state. He and Dianne will be closing the NOAH office Friday evening and driving straight through to Carolina on Saturday for the holidays. The office reopens on December 27.
Steve spoke of the numerous church groups coming in the week of the 27th and just after New Year’s. “The volunteers thank us, if you can believe it,” Steve laughed. “We want to thank them, and want them to keep coming back.” One church team has been here four different times. Nine teams will arrive the first week of the new year.
“The summer is filling up, too,” Steve said, adding, “New Orleans is not forgotten.” Fifty homes are at one stage or other of being rebuilt by the NOAH volunteers, with another 350 on the waiting list. “By Spring break, that number should drop sharply,” Steve said.
People everywhere are remembering New Orleans.
Keith Manuel (Calvary Baptist Church) handed out two books from our LBC Evangelism Department. Austin Tucker’s “A Primer for Pastors” and Dorothy Patterson’s book for ministers’ wives were well received. Several pastors took an armload, one for each minister in their church and their wives.
The Louisiana Baptist Convention remembers New Orleans.
We prayed long and hard in the meeting today. We prayed for 76-year-old Bill Rogers (Grace Baptist Church)–newest possessor of a doctorate in this city, awarded last Friday at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky–whose great-niece Savannah Sharfenstein died yesterday in Children’s Hospital. Last Sunday, the First Baptist Church of Slidell was having a parade in that city. Savannah’s parents were walking along, safeguarding the children, and saw their 9-year-old go to step up on the slow-moving float. The tire ran over her foot, pulling her body underneath and the other tire crushed her head and torso. Associate Pastor Charlie Dale reported that her parents are donating some of her vital organs to children awaiting transplants. Brother Bill spoke so highly of Savannah’s parents and their radiant faith. We can only imagine the pain; how we lift them to the Father.
We prayed for Jerry Darby (One Faith) who is preaching his 92-year-old grandmother’s funeral this week, and who longs to see family members come to Christ.
We prayed for Mark Joslin (New Vision)who tore a calf muscle last Sunday and is consigned to a “boot” and a crutch for a time.
David Rhymes (NAMB) asked the pastors to tell him their prayer needs, and to help him plan prayer walks in their areas. Janie Wise, Women’s Ministry Director for the La. Baptist Convention, and David will be sponsoring prayer walks throughout the metro area in 2007, on alternate months.
We have prayed for Johnny Jones (Free Mission) to get some help from City Hall. He reported that Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis has responded and will meet with him in January. His displaced congregation meets in this room at the association on Sunday mornings, and runs 15 or 20 in attendance.
We ended the meeting with a report from Philip Russell, worship leader at Delacroix Hope, whose home took on 10 feet of water. “My family has lived in 8 places since Katrina,” he said. He and Roxanne and their three teenagers are living in a cramped apartment now, but the NOAH volunteers have been working on getting his house ready. Philip choked up as he said through the tears, “My boys will be able to sleep on beds now.” He’s hoping to get in by the first of the year.
Later I asked Philip privately how he’s planning on furnishing the house. “We’ve saved some money,” he said. “We hope it will be enough.”
The overwhelming sensation I had as the meeting disbanded and our people slowly went their separate ways was this: “Our wonderful Heavenly Father remembers New Orleans.”
I keep thinking of the conversation the Lord had with some skeptical church members back in Isaiah 49.
“But Zion says, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.'”
God responded, “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb?”
Then, as though the Almighty remembered how cruel fallen humanity can be, He added, “Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palm of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.”
Up in Heaven, our Savior could not forget us if He wanted to. The scars in His hand won’t let Him forget.