|
Pastor, congregation, count blessings after Katrina
May 18, 2006
By Tim Tanton*
NEW ORLEANS (UMNS)—The Rev. Andrew Douglas learned early in life that he came into the world with nothing and that’s what he’ll have when he leaves.
The events of Aug. 29 drove that lesson home, as Hurricane Katrina struck his city and caused a breach in the levee four blocks away from his house. Water filled the home, destroying nearly everything he and his wife owned.
“I learned how quickly things can be taken from you,” says Douglas, 78. “You can have it this moment, and you can lose it all in the next.”
Fleeing Katrina, he, his wife and sister-in-law spent 19 days in a shelter at New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., sleeping on a hard gym floor — and grateful for it. A former soldier, he is used to roughing it, he says.
It wasn’t until after Thanksgiving that he and his wife, Alice, were permitted to return for a look at their home in the Seventh Ward. They found that water had filled the one-story house up to the ceiling. Though the exterior looks deceptively normal, the interior of the house is empty now but for supporting posts and framing. The Douglases are living in a trailer across the street from one of the churches he leads, Asbury United Methodist.
“We took a beating,” he says of his neighborhood. Several months after the storm, the houses and streets remain eerily lifeless. Despite cleanup crews working here and there, all of the people who gave life to the community seem to have vanished.
One thing that hasn’t been taken from Douglas is his faith. Standing outside his home, he says firmly: “The God you serve will neither leave you nor abandon you.”
Church impact
While the Douglases managed to save little of what they owned, members of his congregation at Asbury United Methodist Church fared as badly or worse.
“Two of my members died as a result of the storm,” Douglas says. They were members of St. Matthew United Methodist Church, which he also leads – in addition to heading up one of the Louisiana Conference’s seven mission zones in New Orleans.
Asbury itself suffered wind damage, but the storm’s impact on St. Matthew was more severe. The church’s roof was damaged, resulting in structural damages inside.
During Wednesday night services in Lent, Asbury was providing time for people to vent about the hurricane and to share about God’s grace in their lives. On this particular night, about 102 people are in the sanctuary.
“Our God can turn things around,” says Joann Taylor, the church’s lay leader. “We just have to believe he is God and he is able.”
Speaking from the pulpit, Taylor cautions the worshippers against focusing “on our emptiness.” “We must see how much we can do for others,” she says.
The organist plays softly as people in the sanctuary stand to tell their stories. Andre Lewis, a teacher, describes the pain of losing his father. Keshaun Heno, 19, shares her plans for returning to college.
“Everybody in here has witnessed a miracle,” says Elaine J. White, a member of Cornerstone United Methodist Church who is worshipping at Asbury. The crowd applauds.
For White, the miracles began at a New Orleans hospital, where she and her pregnant daughter rode out Katrina as the city was evacuating. On Aug. 30, White’s daughter gave birth to a boy, two pounds and three ounces.
Afterward, White took refuge at the New Orleans convention center, which was a place of “despair.” Still, she says, she woke up every morning thankful to be alive.
Complicating her situation was the fact that she is a kidney patient. By the time she was airlifted out Sept. 3, she had gone for several days without dialysis. In April, she was back in the hospital with health problems, and she is appealing for a kidney donor. She has been on a waiting list for more than a year.
Her baby grandson has fared well since the hurricane, growing to 16 pounds by early April.
Asbury members are coming back, Douglas says, but Sunday worship attendance has been about 160 to 190, compared to 280 to 300 before Katrina. Members remain scattered in different states — Tennessee, Indiana, Georgia, Texas. Some who want to return are having difficulty because rents have tripled or quadrupled, the pastor says.
‘We are present’
Getting the area’s churches back in shape is important for Methodism, Douglas says. And it’s important to the city also.
“If they’re not rebuilt, we’re going to lose those people,” Douglas says. “The city has lost a lot of people already.” For people to return to New Orleans, they must be able to making a living, have schools, attend churches.
The United Methodist Council of Bishops has launched a Katrina Church Recovery Appeal to help churches rebuild and to support the costs of ministry, from pastors’ salaries to resources for congregations.
People are turning to the churches now, Douglas says, standing outside Asbury. “We are very present in this neighborhood.”
A small sign on the church lawn announces: “The United Methodists of Louisiana care about you.”
On a side of the church building hangs a large banner similar to those draped on other churches throughout the city. “The United Methodist Church is OPEN. Open Hearts, Open Doors, Open Minds,” the banner reads. “God is here for you in the midst of the storms of life.”
Douglas says the Louisiana Conference has been “really remarkable” in supporting the church, and Asbury paid its apportionments, despite the hardship. “Being in a connectional system, it’s very important for us to do that.”
Across the street from the church, the Douglases’ trailer — provided by the Samaritan’s Purse organization — sits in a vacant lot. They recently started renting a house as well and plan on getting into it before the next hurricane season, which starts in June.
Douglas is hearing that the insurance companies are going to be reluctant to insure homes in his area. Word is that rates may be too high and houses will have to be elevated. Nonetheless, he and his wife want to return home.
Looking down the deserted street outside his house, he explains why.
“I like this neighborhood,” he says. “It’s a place that brought me a lot of peace. It brought devastation, but it brought peace also. And I just believe that all of us need peace, you know.”
*Tanton is managing editor of United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
|
