This is the twenty-second update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, and Slidell, Louisiana area.

Pastor Michael Sprague of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA, has written another letter of encouragement and instruction.

“Teachable Moments,

There is nothing like a hurricane to build a teachable heart and have your internal radar system constantly being on the alert for the promptings of the Spirit of God. I wouldn’t wish this calamity on anyone but likewise I wouldn’t trade for anything, what I’ve been learning and how my life has been profoundly changed.

Here is one of the things I have learned. In the providence of God, I had a bunch of missionaries and relief workers bunking up with me in a house without power early on in the hurricane aftermath. One of them was a man named Pete, who was the “Food for the Hungry” tsunami director for the nation of Indonesia. God put this guy in the house I commandeered for a week at the beginning of this crisis. Isn’t that awesome? I learned from him to be proactive and to have a bias for action. I learned that “there is a solution for everything”. There was one more thing I learned that was huge. Pete says that in Indonesia many average people in tsunami hit areas have had their entire worldview changed about Americans and Christians. The American military, churches, and relief organizations have been so exemplary in their conduct, service, and love, that the people have embraced them deeply. Radical Islamic leaders preach hate for these groups, but the good works preach the real story. The people hear the angry words from their religious leaders but reality communicates another story. Islamic people are wondering why the Islamic nations and churches haven’t helped like the Christian groups have. These efforts have opened up a door of opportunity that was not there prior to the tsunami. The U.S. government, military, churches, and relief groups have created a relationship that will serve their various missions well for potentially decades to come.

There are deep implications from Pete’s words for our situation in New Orleans and maybe even for the church in America. For three weeks we have been sending teams into our community to serve people for free. We want nothing in return but simply to display the love of Christ. These efforts have included food distribution, free store, cutting trees, taking medical supplies to hospitals and Red Cross stations, helping clean up flood damaged homes, taking care of employees’ kids for banks and businesses during the day, feeding displaced people, letting people sleep at the church, etc., etc. Our goal has been to serve others.

The result, however, has far exceeded anything we could have imagined. After the initial shock people have with teams serving them for nothing, they stand amazed and perplexed. What does anyone ever give for free? How much do people experience being “Graced”? They ask, “Who are you? Why are you doing this? Who are you with?” The answer of course is, “Jesus Christ.” I can tell you “good” rumors are spreading through the community about Trinity Church. People are coming to the church on their own initiative to thank me, the pastor for our people. One person said, “This is the most amazing church I have ever seen”. A local mayor who we have been serving said, “I used to think all Christians were hypocrites but now I’m thinking a different way”. Last Sunday, a sea of new faces was in our church service and 25 people raised their hands to indicate they had prayed to trust Christ after the gospel was shared. Our people are getting into conversations daily with people in the community and sharing the hope that is in them. The stories are endless I could be telling.

I think this is it! Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:16 work. This truth is working in Indonesia and in New Orleans and it will work in your backyard – “…let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”. If you get a chance to put this verse into practice in your sphere of life, let me know what God does through it. Expect a miracle.

Betting the farm on God,

Pastor Michael Sprague (09/23/05 9:51 AM CDT)”

Just by coincidence, a reader of this blog sent a check in the first two or three days after we began our effort for Trinity Church. She expressly stated that part of the reason for her contribution and her encouragement of her employees to give is because of the outpouring of generosity by the organizations and individuals of America during the tsunami in her home country. She is Indonesian by birth, and now a naturalized citizen of the United States. She had family and friends in the tsunami area though none were killed, the help that poured in was greatly appreciated.

Or perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence.

For those of you who would like to contribute to the combined efforts of this blog and Grace Community Chapel of St. Peters, MO, in raising money for Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Covington, LA, to be distributed locally to the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore area, you will find detailed donation information by clicking here.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 23rd, 2005 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Katrina North Shore Relief. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Tags: Hurricane Katrina, Katrina, New Orleans, North Shore, St. Tammany Parrish