I may be wearing my welcome out with my friends. Tonight, I’m staying with Charles and Shirley Martin in Brookhaven, Mississippi, former members of our church in Kenner before they retired and moved to the country. They belong to Easthaven Baptist Church here, a congregation that has basically turned over their facilities to evacuees from the coast.

“We’re not able to have Sunday School right now,” Charles said, “because they’re everywhere. We’re having a great time, though. Yesterday, our choir was packed and the guests really seemed to enjoy the worship service.”

“There’s an old trailer park outside of town,” Charles said, “that we’ve taken over. Another church and we are buying a dozen or more trailers and we’re setting up there for some of the families.”

“We have three requirements,” he said. “It must be a real family, not just some people living together. They must agree to go to church, and third, they have to get a job. We’re helping them find jobs.”

I said, “Things will clear up some once the authorities invite all of us to return home to Orleans and Jefferson parishes. A lot of them will be going back.'”

“No, that’s not what we hear,” Charles said. “Joe, some of these folks have never even been out of New Orleans. They get out here and see the green fields and the rolling hills and smell the pure air, and see how nice the people are, and they just fall in love with Mississippi. They’re not coming back.”

Maybe so. Bill Warren, pastor of Diamondhead Baptist Church on the Mississippi coast and professora at our seminary in New Orleans, says he expects that one fourth of his members will not return. I’ve not taken a poll, but I guarantee you that the pastors of NEw Orleans would be thrilled if their churches lost only one fourth their members. Some will not have churches to return to at all.

Some of the local directors of missions and some from surrounding states are meeting tomorrow morning in Hammond to talk about the Adopt-a-Church program our North American Mission Board is encouraging. I’m excited about this. Imagine how a pastor is going to feel when he stares at his damaged building, his scattered flock, and his dwindling bank reserves, then looks up to see six or eight churches that have adopted his congregation arrive to help. Suddenly, he’s not alone anymore. It may be the closest thing to the New TEstament plan any of us will ever see in our lifetime, the strong helping the weak. Encouraging those who want to do the Lord’s work, but have no clue where to begin. Giving and working and blessing.

I can’t wait to get back into our city and start the process.