New Orleans Pastor: Prayers, Saints' Presence Will Bring City Back
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
June 22, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Baptist pastor from New Orleans, Louisiana, says Christians throughout the United States must not forget to pray for his city as it continues to recover from last year's devastating hurricane season. Fred Luter is pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, which was heavily damaged as a result of Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding. He is currently overseeing a massive rebuilding project for the church and says there are many needs to be met, not only for his congregation but for the entire city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas.
It has been nearly ten months since Hurricane Katrina's swept through, wreaking havoc on homes, churches and other buildings and giving rise to the immense storm surge that caused several breaches in the New Orleans' levees and resulted in massive flooding. But recovery has barely begun for many of the area's citizens, Luter notes, including those who stayed and "rode out" the storm and its damage, those evacuees who remain displaced, and those residents who have since returned to face their losses.
Like many other cities and towns throughout the Gulf States region, New Orleans has been permanently marked by Hurricane Katrina. The Sunday before the storm hit, thousands of people filled Franklin Avenue Baptist Church; but one week later, the congregation's pastor could find only a small number of his church's members. He says many spiritual and physical needs remain for them and for all of New Orleans.
Now, as a new hurricane season gets under way, Luter says his city needs prayer -- and lots of it. "We need people to pray for our lodging, and for people to come back to the city. That's critical," he says. "And we need people to pray for the levees, that they'll hold when the hurricanes come."
Another major need, the Crescent City minister points out, is for skilled workers with willing hearts to come lend a hand in the recovery process. "We need people to pray that we'll be able to find enough people to help us to rebuild our churches and our homes," he says. "That's the critical need right now."
Asked whether it is truly feasible for flood-devastated New Orleans to rise from the ruins left in Katrina's wake, Luter says, "I believe we're coming back. We'll probably never again be the same city that we were; but I believe, with the presence of the saints of God, we can be on our way."
In fact, the pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church believes last year's disaster may have primed the Big Easy for revival. "I think after you go through what we've gone through, people are open for the gospel," he says.
Hurricane Katrina and its effects have left many people with "no protest about anything," Luter contends. That is because "after you go through what we've gone through, people's hearts and minds are open to the gospel like never before," he says. Therefore, he is urging Christians to pray and for all who would go even further to "come on down to N'awlins and help us out."
