Storm Survivors See Christ's Love Demonstrated in Faith-Based Relief Effort
by Allie Martin
September 22, 2005
(AgapePress) - On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where many residents lost homes and personal property due to a massive storm surge during Hurricane Katrina, the faith-based relief efforts are continuing to provide for thousands of devastated storm victims. One Mississippi couple say they see Christ's commands being lived out through the volunteers who are helping the hurricane survivors in their area. Lorenzo Brown and Mona Polk live in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and decided to ride out Hurricane Katrina along with their infant son, Drew. But as the hurricane made landfall and their apartment began to flood, the couple quickly realized they had made the wrong decision.
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Pascagoula (Mississippi) residents Lorenzo Brown and Mona Polk, victims of Hurricane Katrina, testify to the blessings they have received as a result of relief efforts at First Baptist Church of Pascagoula |
Brown says he was surprised at the storm's severity, especially as compared with Hurricane Ivan. "The last storm came, and I stayed," he notes, "and I was thinking that this storm wasn't going to hit us, but it did. The water started rising and rising until it got to our knees, and then it came up to our hips, and it was real scary and terrifying, for real." The two hurricane survivors say their baby boy, Drew, slept through the hurricane, even as his crib started floating on the rising waters. The family survived, but they lost virtually all of their possessions, escaping with only the clothes on their backs.
In Katrina's aftermath, Brown, Polk and their son have joined thousands of south Mississippi residents who are now receiving free meals, medical care, and supplies at First Baptist Church of Pascagoula, where volunteers with Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief teams are distributing aid and otherwise ministering to survivors.
Brown feels the assistance of the church volunteers has literally saved his and his family's lives. "We don't have any money, a car, we can't get around to do anything -- everything is closed," he says. The relief being distributed at the church is "a good help," he adds, "because a couple of days we went hungry. Now we've got food, and we're blessed to be living."
For more than two weeks now, thousands of meals have been served each day in the parking lot of First Baptist Church of Pascagoula. Christian agency and church volunteers deployed to the area continue to make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors daily.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
