International Aid's Myles Fish says they were among the first responders. I-A has since 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.

Responding to the criticisms of "not enough," he says, "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."

Fish explains that as a first responder, they were geared to meet the immediate emergency, but they immediately moved into a non-traditional long-term response. In fact, they buried their name as they moved into the second phase.

"We tried to figure out what is the best solution going forward for how continuous ministry can happen in this area. In this case, we started another organization that's focused on reconstruction. So last January, we turned over our efforts to this other organization, and they're continuing to do the rebuilding process."

Many of the survivors feel much of America has forgotten their plight. However, President Bush said Wednesday that the federal government has been persistent in pushing recovery efforts.

With years ahead of the Gulf Coast in restoration, the church-to-church network must reinforce ties to insure future ministry exists. Fish says in this case, the Gospel is speaking through actions–and eventually words.

"The church very much is taking a lead role in providing assistance and helping with the reconstruction process. Both the church that goes down to volunteer and to fund, but also the local church in the disaster area itself which is coordinating and identifying victims that need assistance and masterminding the reconstruction effort."

Operation Blessing’s Bill Horan says, with so many natural disasters in the last two years, “People are feeling like they’re just over this; ‘Don’t tell me another Katrina story.'”

But there’s more going on than just the negative mainstream media reports. God’s at work through His people, and Horan says there are some success stories too as they share the hope of Christ with people they’re helping. “In this case, Operation Blessing, being a Christian humanitarian organization, we have numerous opportunities to minister to the people that we are helping and offer support and prayer. And that’s certainly what these folks need down there. They need a lot of prayer.”

There’s another major need in the rebuilding process, says Horan, “We need volunteers down there, and it’s getting harder and harder to get volunteers.” Yet Horan thinks it’s a matter of awareness, “If people knew the true story down there, that there still are people desperately in need of help, that deserve help, that should be helped, I think they’d be more apt to come down for a week or two weeks and volunteer.”

The situation in the Gulf Coast includes tens of thousands of people who were not poor before the storm, but who lost everything. They’re the “newly made poor” says Horan, and it’s a demographic that’s being overlooked. “Many of the people are just middle class working Americans that are up against a mess.”

It’s not just physical needs, says Horan but emotional, mental and spiritual needs as well. “The churches that have been able to reconstruct down there are overwhelmed with people looking for shelter, if you will, and I don’t mean physical shelter. There’s a great need for spiritual support in this darkness down there, and there aren’t enough churches to go around because so many of them were destroyed.”

What can be done to help? Operation Blessing is looking for volunteers (Medical, Dental are a top need) to invest one or two weeks, or more, in helping Operation Blessing clinics, projects and programs in the Gulf Coast region. For more information, go to Operation Blessing’s hurricane relief volunteer page.