In Katrina's Aftermath, Church Workers Help With Relief, Recovery Efforts
by Allie Martin
September 12, 2005
(AgapePress) - Churches and Christian auxiliary organizations have mobilized to help with relief and recovery efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. The Women's Missionary Union (WMU) of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, for instance, has been working tirelessly in the hard-hit coastal city of Pascagoula, Mississippi, to address storm survivors' physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Every day more than 10,000 meals are prepared and served in the parking lot of First Baptist Church of Pascagoula while, across the street, tens of thousands of hurricane victims have received bottled water, baby formula, ice and other non-perishable items at a distribution point. A medical clinic has also been set up in the church parking lot, where volunteer personnel are providing free checkups and medicine.
All this activity is being coordinated by the Mississippi WMU. Kay Cassibry, executive director of the state chapter, says many Katrina victims' lives have been touched by the Baptist organization's efforts.
"We've got probably four or five chaplains a day that are on site, ministering to people in the lines, ministering to people in the cars," Cassibry notes. As a result, she points out that people are getting spiritual aid in addition to life-sustaining food, water, and other physical assistance.
Also, Cassibry observes, "We've had six or seven in the feeding line that have been saved, we've had several homeless people, and we've had two of our trash collector drivers saved. So God is just opening doors everywhere."
The state WMU director cannot praise the volunteers enough. "These people are wonderful," she says. "They're being so intentional and not just giving [the hurricane victims] food. It's hard to witness to somebody that's hungry; but once their physical needs are met, then they begin to talk to [the relief workers] more."
These storm survivors are "just devastated," Cassibry adds. "They just don't know which way to go. I've worked disasters from hurricanes to 9/11 to tsunami," the state Baptist Convention Board official says, "and the common thing you see is that people are just leveled, and they just can't make decisions. They're looking for somebody to tell them it's going to be okay."
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David Williams (left), pastor of Temple Baptist Church, Moss Point, and Kay Cassibry, executive director of Mississippi WMU, coordinating Baptist relief efforts in Pascagoula, MS (Photo by Allie Martin, c. 2005 AgapePress) |
Pastors Pitching In
Cassibry says chaplains and other volunteers will be needed throughout the next year to help with the WMU's relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, elsewhere across Mississippi's disaster-ravaged coastal region, many local pastors -- like David Williams of Temple Baptist Church in Moss Point, north of Pascagoula -- are finding they have more responsibilities than ever in the wake of the storm. That means the ministers are being asked to help out with "not only the day-to-day activities," Williams says, and "not just our people, but many of us now are trying to help out in other areas." He himself has been helping to man phones and coordinate work crews at the Jackson County Baptist Association -- work he does in addition to his regular pastoral duties.
And Williams points out that the local association is not alone in its need for outside assistance. Although the Texas-based Gulf Coast Baptist Association is a larger group, he notes that it too, "has been overwhelmed, and they've brought other extra people to help in their association as well."
While need is high and widespread, Temple Baptist's minister says he and other clergy will have to do double duty, and perhaps more than that. "We've got our own folks, and we've got the association to think of," he explains. And then, Williams adds, there are the others in need throughout the community. For their sakes, he says, Christian brothers and sisters from many congregations are "just trying to pull together because of the massive destruction and all that's taken place and just trying to join in to help others try to get life back and gain some kind of normality out of each day."
Prayer will be key in the recovery efforts, the Moss Point pastor asserts. He urges believers to "just continue to pray for God's strength as we minister each and every day." Also, he emphasizes the need for people to offer financial help through their local associations or churches. "They can send through Mississippi Baptist Convention to Disaster Relief," Williams says. "All the money comes here -- they don't have to worry about that. It's getting here, and they're funding and helping churches."
Also needed for the recovery efforts are various supplies, he notes, including tarpaulins, nails, and workers to use them. "There's a big need for manpower to do mud-out and tarping of homes," he says. Numerous volunteers have joined the disaster response efforts, including church leaders like Williams, but many more are needed.
Meanwhile, like countless homes and businesses throughout the Gulf Coast region that sustained damage from Katrina's winds, waves, and storm surge, many church buildings are currently unusable. In some cases, congregations are holding Sunday services outdoors, under trees, in tents or in other buildings.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
