A plea from the Ninth Ward.
(Photo credit: Laura-Jean Watson. Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

USA (EFCA) — In New Orleans, many people are not fond of calling August 29th the “anniversary” of Hurricane Katrina, as though it were something to be celebrated.

But 2015 marks 10 years since the hurricane tore through their city, causing immeasurable devastation and heartache, and raising untold anguished questions.

Even today, and especially in the poorer neighborhoods, more than 10,000 homes bear witness to Katrina’s wrath, meaning that more than 10,000 families are still awaiting recovery.

Yet New Orleans’ pain has not been without some redemption.

EFCA Crisis Response was birthed out of that tragedy. And from lessons learned there, the growing Crisis Response team has spent the ensuing 10 years responding to other devastating hurricanes worldwide, as well to earthquakes, droughts, tornadoes, fires, floods, tsunamis, and nuclear disasters.

In the storm’s eye

Hurricane Katrina regional imagery, 2005.08.28 at 1515Z. Centerpoint Latitude: 26:13:59N Longitude: 88:08:03W.
(Photo courtesy NASA via Wikipedia)

It all began with a tropical storm on August 24, 2005, headed for the panhandle of Florida. Picking up momentum, the storm graduated to a Category 2 hurricane and shifted toward Louisiana. Voluntary evacuations were recommended but many people stayed, assuming this would be just another nuisance storm.

More than one-third of those living in New Orleans’ poorer neighborhoods likely had no vehicles, making complete evacuation impossible.

Pastor John Gerhardt of Castle Rock Community Church (EFCA) was one of those who took action, using church vans to evacuate 70 church members and their families. His caravan headed first to Jackson, Mississippi, and then to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where they took sanctuary at Village Bible Church (EFCA).

All they could do was watch the news in horror.

Back in Louisiana, the water on either side of the Industrial Canal rose as Hurricane Katrina came barreling onto the coast of New Orleans. Within a day, more than 80% of New Orleans was underwater (over 10 feet in depth in some places).

Many lost everything: materially, in terms of home and possessions; relationally, as families and friends were displaced all over the country; and emotionally, as everything they knew as normal was turned upside-down.

Some traveled back to their homes six months later, others took six years. Still others have never returned.

Random storm destruction in one neighborhood, still unrepaired in 2007.
(Photo: Laura-Jean Watson, Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

It has been said that Hurricane Katrina revealed New Orleans “dirty little secrets”–systemic injustice, racial inequities, and generational poverty. Many of the poorest neighborhoods were those most affected by the storm.

Even after government resources were attained, unscrupulous contractors routinely took advantage of residents.

Other families with limited resources and with aging, sickly, and displaced relatives had to ask almost-unanswerable questions: Do we use our funds to care for our family members or to rebuild our home?

Hurricane Katrina’s winds and water cracked open the city, exposing the poverty, the discrimination, and the gaping physical needs. Ten years later, families are still facing those needs, on top of the hurricane damage.

Yet there is hope, even amid the wreckage.

Engaging physical and spiritual needs

Before the hurricane, despite the area’s deep Catholic roots, most New Orleans residents would not even engage in a spiritual conversation. EFCA church planter Bobby Tinner points out that New Orleans was–and in many ways still is–a bohemian city, meaning “do whatya wanna,” he says, and “God is left out of the process.”

At its launch, the Crisis Response ministry sought to shift that spiritual perspective by focusing on intentional disciple-making in addition to physical rebuilding.

Volunteer teams from EFCA churches around the country poured into New Orleans–helping to gut and rebuild homes, yes, but also standing beside homeowners as they wept over their losses.

Crisis Response teamed with the homeowner and others to build this home in Central City New Orleans in June 2007.
(Photo: Laura-Jean Watson, Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

These sustained outreach efforts and the continued relational presence has helped darkness begin to lift and has opened doors for spiritual conversations.

Nearby Trinity Church–an EFCA congregation 40 miles north of New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain–became “command central” for the EFCA recovery ministry, which immediately adopted the mantra: It’s about the people, not the project.

“I don’t know how many homes we’ve worked on, but I do know how many families we’ve connected with,” says Crisis Response director Mark Lewis.

In fact, his team has kept a spreadsheet of ministry contacts and families who have been served, which now surpasses 5,000 (with another 300+ on a waiting list).

The most significant training regularly given to volunteer teams is the most simple: Pray.

• Pray before you leave the church.
• Pray at the work site with the homeowner before you start work.
• Pray when things come up in conversation.
• Take a prayer walk daily to connect with more people in the community.
• Pray before you leave the work site.

And prayer has yielded longed-for spiritual fruit, including individuals coming to faith and others walking more closely with Jesus. The Crisis Response team has also helped launch several church plants in the New Orleans metro region, in partnership with local Evangelical Free Churches and the EFCA’s Southeast District.

Fundamentally, Crisis Response has four foci when it comes to discipleship, both in New Orleans and in its work worldwide:

1. restoration of the local church body
2. outreach, evangelism, disciple-making, and church planting in the affected community
3. life transformation in the lives of volunteers serving
4. transformation in the volunteers’ own communities

In other words, there’s a ripple effect in ministry, according to Mark Lewis.

Teams from Jesus Children’s Fellowship in Philadelphia and Hershey (PA) EFC worked together to help paint a homeowner’s house in August 2007.
(Photo: Laura-Jean Watson, Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

“When people come to volunteer, we believe God called them here for transformation in their lives,” he says–a transformation that continues when they return home and disciple others.

Ten years after Katrina, life has not yet returned to normal. Yet part of the new “normal” is a heightened sense of God at work, in a multitude of ways, through His Church, bringing redemption from the pain.

Be part of EFCA Crisis Response’s next decade of powerful ministry worldwide with your financial gifts, prayers, and hands-on service. Teams are still needed in New Orleans as well, to bring healing to that community.

Read the original article on EFCA’s Web site.

Thanks to government-ordered evacuations in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, along with the increased popularity of radio and mobile devices, crisis was averted. But another one's on its heels.

"Most of these reports are off the mainstream media, they've kind of gone by the wayside because the death rate was not so big," notes Danny Punnose with Gospel for Asia.

As international attention turns to other headlines and India's government concludes its work in disaster-affected regions, Phailin survivors are left to fend for themselves.

Approximately 900,000 people were evacuated from Odisha ahead of Phailin and its 140-mph winds. State officials say over 500,000 people have lost their homes. Across both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, more than 100 million acres of damaged crops translate into lost livelihoods for impoverished farmers.

"You're talking 12 million people affected and 300,000 homes gone," he states. "This is where we step in because our people are there; our churches are there…they're already reaching out ground-zero where people are most-affected."

See an initial damage assessment from GFA's Compassion teams.

In the northern state of Bihar, along Nepal's border, believers felt Phailin's wrath as the storm moved inland. More than 15 people lost their lives, and the homes of another 95 Christ-followers were destroyed.

Dakshina Nadig, a regional pastor in Bihar, reported the death of one believer’s 7-month-old daughter due to exposure to the severe cold, wind, and rain. Nine GFA-supported pastors’ homes collapsed from the extreme weather, and other affected believers are staying with friends in schools or in makeshift tents made from tarps.

Punnose says many of those affected in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar are Dalits. This people group is the lowest on India's caste system, often regarded as "social lepers," or Untouchables.

"When you come from that kind of background, especially Dalit background…and you lost everything…you have no hope; you have no way to rebuild your life," he explains. "The greatest need right now is for giving people hope and direction, and that's what our people are doing."

As they do, the Gospel comes to life and hearts change.

"When the Gospel goes along with tangible expressions of love it really makes a huge impact on these people's lives," says Punnose.

"People are turning to the Lord, and they're responding because they see love in action."

Can you help GFA reach more people with the love and hope of Christ? Click here.

"This is not like [Hurricane] Katrina where FEMA comes in, the government comes in, and they do something, everyone gets back on their feet after a little bit," Punnose explains.

Ranked at Category 3, 2005's Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the United States at the end of August. According to 2010 data from the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, over 1 million people in the Gulf region were displaced by the storm.

For the 12 million people affected by Cyclone Phailin in India's eastern states, especially the Dalits, there is no "safety net" of governmental help.

"No one's going to be there to rebuild their homes; they're done," says Punnose. "Unless the Body of Christ makes this an opportunity to reach out to those people and help them, nothing will be done."

Help us keep this story in the headlines through social media. There's a button at the top of this article where you can "Share" this article on various outlets. Or, you can click here to write a prayer for Phailin survivors on our Facebook page.

"Use Facebook, use Twitter; 'Share' it," encourages Punnose. "Let people know that they can pray and they can give, and that they can actually make a difference in these people's lives."

Pray for protection for those who survived Phailin's wrath. Pray that someone will share the hope and love of Christ with them.

"They don't have food, they don't have shelter, they don't have clean water; they've lost everything, and they've lost all hope," summarizes Punnose.

Ask the Lord to fill your heart with compassion.

"Put yourself in their place and pray for them. Until our hearts are filled with compassion…we are going to see this simply as news information, not real life," Punnose says.

"The Bible tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion. [It] wasn't that He felt sorry for them, He really, really understood their condition, and it broke His heart; and then He would act based on that."

Yet that time has still not been sufficient to complete rebuild efforts in New Orleans. The work remains overwhelming.

"Believe it or not, we still have a major effort ongoing in New Orleans following up on Hurricane Katrina," says Mark Lewis, director of the EFCA TouchGlobal Crisis Response. "There are still over 20,000 Katrina-blighted properties in the city. So there continues to be an ongoing effort there of recovery and working with families."

The needs are not only ongoing, but they're urgent. Lewis just spoke with one woman who has been living on couches of friends and family since 2005. She just wants to go home.

"For those homeowners who are still displaced and still trying to get back into their homes, it's just an ongoing impact that has been totally forgotten," Lewis notes.

For the last seven years, TouchGlobal has been using volunteer labor to build one home at a time in New Orleans. But the rebuild effort has been much more than physical. Emotional and spiritual needs continue to be significant. TouchGlobal has been working with multiple local churches and has even been planting new churches in response.

"With the church-planting work that we're connected with, it really provides a very rich opportunity not only to invest in the lives of individual homeowners, but to be part of a broader metro strategy for church planting and disciple making," says Lewis.

It's been a great opportunity to build relationships and continuously share the message of Christ. But many hands are still needed to just bring people back home.

"We need hands that would be able to come and help. It doesn't have to be skilled folks in any of our locations, but just willing hands, open hearts that can help on the physical side, but also help with the relational ministry pieces as well," says Lewis.

If you live in the U.S., consider taking a team to New Orleans. Lewis says there are slots available every week this summer if you want to embark on a last-minute road trip and service project with a small group, friends, or family. Otherwise, teams can come in the fall or even up into next summer.

Help is vital. To learn how you can go and serve, click here or e-mail touchglobal@efca.org.

Two years ago, they responded to Hurricane Katrina's
devastation by providing shelter, food, water, counseling, and a long-term
rebuilding plan. And for two years, CityTeam volunteers have lived in a baseball field called "Field of Dreams." 

Today, there are still
families living in emergency trailers in Bay St. Louis. People of
the community share with one another their rebuilding efforts, as well as need for
labor, building materials, or appliances.

People also share their
frustrations and fears and have a volunteer listen to them. As a result, what was a unique kind of "refugee camp" has ultimately become a place where the community can heal.

Richard Williams, VP of Disaster
Response for CityTeam, says their teams have rebuilt 130 homes along the
Gulf. However, he adds, "I can't
count the thousands of people we have helped on a daily basis with multiple
services or home repairs, even today, two years after the disaster."

CityTeam focuses on helping one person at a time with
physical, emotional and spiritual needs. But they also
specialize in long-term disaster recovery along with the immediate relief.  If you can be the hands and feet of Christ, click here .

Rats can quickly overpopulate when they live in a place where they have no predators, such as in New Orleans, and their numbers can become hard to contain. The pests can carry over thirty different diseases dangerous to humans, including typhys, salmonella, and bubonic plague.  That's turned into a growing health and safety concern for residents. 

In a city where there is already a fractured health care system, controlling the rodent population and the potential spread of disease is critical, explains Jody Herrington, U.S. Director of Disaster Relief for Operation Blessing.

Operation Blessing partnered with City of New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board officials to launch the Rat Busters program. Teams are planting rat bait in storm drains throughout the city to help suppress the rodent population. 

After 14 days, board inspectors will revisit treated sites to track the population and see if the bait has been consumed. At five weeks into the program, the teams have covered a lot of ground, and a huge impact is expected in the rat population.

In just one day alone, volunteer teams walked 277 city blocks and baited 1,441 drains. In addition to providing volunteers, OBI is also supplying transportation, administrative supplies and training.  It's just one more way OBI shares the hope of Christ as they meet people's physical needs.

If you want to help, click here.

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.