USA (MNN)–The one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is tomorrow–marking a haunting devastation of the Gulf Coast region from which the United States is still recovering.
While much of the storm debris is gone, government indecision hampers reconstruction as does insurance ‘red tape’.
International Aid’s Myles Fish agrees, “When you take somebody down for the first time, and they’re seeing the destruction, it’s not uncommon to hear them express surprise that more hasn’t been accomplished. That’s a little bit discouraging to hear.”
Taken in the scope of the devastation, though, Fish adds, “But, the fact of the matter is, progress has been made, a lot of the cleanup has been done. The complete rebuilding reconstruction is going to take years more.”
While President Bush reiterated his call for accelerating $17 billion in Federal housing grants at the local level, IA continues to focus on long-term work in the area.
Fish explains that IA has provided more than $50 million dollars in aid and facilitated more than 75,000 hours of volunteer labor, successfully fielding one of the largest uninterrupted recovery operations in the region.
Even while assisting in the long term rebuilding, they’re focused on much more than that. “The greatest untold story of Hurricane Katrina is the way the church stepped up and really became the church in the midst of that crisis.”
It’s a readily understood ‘how-to’ guide as to how the body of Christ should work–theory put into practice. Fish says, “At every phase of the disaster response, the Church is on the frontline, responding to people in need. It was really quite a story, and it continues to this day.”
With years ahead of the Gulf Coast in restoration, the church-to-church network must reinforce ties to insure future ministry exists. if you want to help, click here.
