This is the forty-fifth update for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief fund for the Lake Pontchartrain North Shore. This includes the Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Slidell, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The following weekly update is a Christmas Message from Mrs. Donna Sprague. Donna is the wife of Pastor Michael Sprague of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA.

“Michael asked me to share a few thoughts this Christmas season:

Merry Christmas to each of you! It’s hard to believe that Christmas is in less than a week. I guess that’s because we really didn’t have a fall here. Did we really have a September – November?

This has been a long year, but God has been faithful. We have been blessed with friends and family who have shown their love in so many ways! Thank you so very much for your kind words, support, and especially your prayers.

When we took our only child, Jonathan, to college on August 17th, I totally expected that the “empty nest” was going to affect me greatly. I was preparing to lead a women’s Bible study by Beth Moore entitled “Believing God”. I can remember sitting in a hotel room after we dropped him off thinking about how I needed to believe God’s promises now that I had released my son to college life. Little did I know that in less than 6 days we would be preparing to evacuate our home and our lives would be forever changed. I would now also be “Believing God” for what He could do in and through our lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

God has shown His faithfulness over and over since August 29th. I continue to be amazed. This year has not been easy. I have shed many tears. We have all been weary, but I know that we have a God who never allows anything to happen in our lives without His knowledge. When we got back into town after our evacuation we stayed a night with friends who had a generator. In the morning I saw an open Bible on the table and tried to read these words:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. … The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.” (Psalm 46:1-3, 7)

God is our stronghold. Thanks be to Him for His unspeakable gift of Jesus Christ. May each of you have a very Merry CHRISTmas (and I’m not afraid to say it)!

Love to all,

Mrs. Donna Sprague,
as well as Pastor Michael Sprague,
Jonathan & Fluffy (the dog) (8:52 AM 12/20/05 CST)”

God is accomplishing a great work on the Gulf Coast. He is rebuilding lives as well as homes and businesses. We have been sharing in that work by ministering through Trinity Church.

Grace Community Chapel Team 4 is now forming and is continuing to add new members. If you would like to be a part of Team 4 serving with Trinity Church January 11th – 15th, 2006, please contact the Church Office using the link below.

Please contribute to the combined efforts of this blog and Grace Community Chapel of St. Peters, MO, in raising money and volunteers for ministry teams to be sent to 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 Tuesday, December 20th, 2005 at 11:17 am 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