Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Many of us are wondering how we might be able to help the refugees from hurricane Katrina. There will be a multitude of ways that will be available to help.  Two ways are well-established: Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort in Nashville and the White's Ferry Road congregation in West Monroe, LA.  These agencies will work to meet many of the needs the refugees will have.

 

I was a minister for the LaPlace church of Christ from 2000-2004.  LaPlace is a community 20  miles west of New Orleans.  Not only was it hit by sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, it is becoming a major way-station for refugees from New Orleans since it is the first significant stretch of dry land west of New Orleans.

 

So I am writing this message to give you some more information in case you are seeking some additional ways to help the people who are suffering the effects of the hurricane.  What I share with you will be applicable to needs of people in any community, not just in Louisiana.  Perhaps God will touch your heart to help in some personal ways beyond the immediate disaster relief.  Please feel free to pass this information on to others to consider.

 

UNSEEN NEEDS:

People have lost more than family members, homes and possessions.  These alone are overwhelming losses but their losses will go beyond this.  Without electricity, they will lose all their perishable items in their refrigerators and freezers.  This will all have to be restocked.  If you were to lose everything in your refrigerator/freezer, how much would it cost you to restock?

 

People are not able to work, whether they rode out the storm or evacuated.  Many will not be paid during this time but their bills will still accumulate.  Evacuees often left under financial strain.  It costs money to evacuate.  The longer they are away, the more expensive it gets.  When they get back home, they often will not have the money to pay their bills because they will be needing to purchase necessary items with what little cash they have.  Some will return to find out they have no jobs to go back to. 

 

Older people on social security and medicare will often have needs for prescription medicines. Their limited insurance and income may have barely covered those expenses before.  Now they will have to stretch the little money they have even further.  What will often be cut out will be their medicines.

 

Some will need to start over somewhere else.  It will be a long time before the people of this region overcome the devastation.  Some may not be able to wait.  They may need a new job immediately. Business owners could offer jobs to refugees who have the skills they need.  Refugees will need financial help in relocating.  Some may choose not to move from an area where they were born and raised and where their family is. However, there may be some who will have to move because there is no way for them to make it it by staying.

 

The delta region of our country is one of our nation's poorest regions.  The capability to rebuild is very limited for the poor.

 

WHAT CAN WE DO BEYOND DISASTER RELIEF?

Imagine if you were there and had to start over again with the adveristy that you see on the TV.  What would you need?  That is the kind of help the people in LA, MS and AL will need.  If you want to help in a personal way, I would recommend that you find a congregation in the area where you want to help and send funds to them to assist in whatever way you designate. 

 

*** Make sure you contact that church first to see if they would be willing to put forth the effort to help in such ways, and to ensure that the funds will be used as you designate.  If possible, work through congregations where you know someone or that someone you know could recommend.

 

Having spent four years in LaPlace, I can offer you some  names of people and churches to contact if you desire to help in some way beyond disaster relief.  Because the phone lines are down, I cannot reach them at this time, so you would have to contact these churches on your own.  However, I can tell you that these churches are in areas that were hit by the hurricane to some degree.  None are in New Orleans, but are north and west of New Orleans. 

 

I know these churches and I know the preachers and can recommend them as men of faith and great integrity. In most cases, there are elders in these churches.  I know these men to be of godly character as well.

 

Hammond, LA

Westchurch church of Christ

985-345-3236

minister: Mike Roberts

 

Mandeville, LA (northshore next to Covington,LA)

Tammany Oaks church of Christ

985-626-8360

minister: Todd Vogt

 

Slidell, LA

Slidell church of Christ

985-985-643-4826

minister: Dan Schillinger

 

Luling (west of New Orleans, west bank of Mississippi River)

Luling church of Christ

985-785-2159

minister: Jim Blevins

 

LaPlace, LA

I am not sure that the LaPlace church of Christ is set up to handle such requests for the community.   If you would like to help their members, their address is P.O. Box 430, LaPLace, LA 70068.  You can call the church at 708-652-9938.

 

If you would like to help in LaPlace and St. John Parish, I also could furnish you names of people you could work through.  Just contact me for that information:

Bobby Lawson

Park Forest church of Chirst (708-748-3370)

Home (708-503-4732)

 

 

Because of the flooding there is uncertainty on which churches in New Orleans will be reachable by mail or phone in the near future. Some of the churches that you could try to contact in the New Orleans area are:

 

Crowder Blvd. - (504) 246-6236

 

Louisa Street (northeast side of N.O.) - (504) 947-2598

 

Elysians Fields (north side of N.O.) - (504) 288-1718

 

Carrollton Ave. (central N.O.) - (504) 486-5714

 

Franklin Ave. (Gretna) -  (504) 361-8870

 

DeGaulle  (south of N.O. on the westbank of Mississippi River) - (504) 392-4110

 

Hickory Knoll (west side of New Orleans) - (504) 737-4335

 

Village Square (Chalmette - southeast of N.O.) - (504) 279-9438

 

 

Often times, when our hearts are touched by human suffering, we respond quickly but we do not do this sacrificially.  We shift our money around, even taking from what we would give God in one area and shift to the new area.  In essence we only move our money around, giving no more or no less to be used by God.  It seems to me that we are missing the blessing of sacrifice by doing so.  How can we see human suffering at such a large scale and not surrender to a small portion of suffering ourselves by sacrificing financially.  The Macedonians believers gave out of their poverty to hlpe fellow believers in dire need.  The widow gave her last two cents.  Paul gave his whole life that he might somehow share in the suffering of his Lord. Jesus gave his life for all of us.  Surely what we see before us is a call to sacrifice and not to just shift our monies.

 

May God be glorified in all we do as we help the oppressed who are now in our midst.

 

your servant in Christ,

Bobby Lawson