This is the forty-sixth 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.

This is another weekly update from Pastor Sprague of Trinity Evangelical Free Church of Covington, LA.

“2005 Katrina Year End Report – Yeah God!

I know that some of you love to be told hard numbers and facts, so here is our report as of 12/10/2005 after three months of Christ-centered labor:

Volunteers 1,309
Man-hours 51,498
Work orders 1,069
Work Orders done 487
Work orders not started 550
21% of churches have sent 4 or more teams
52% of churches have sent 2 or more teams
Volunteers have come from 29 states and Canada

I know some of you love stories of God, so I will include a few:

1. One of the teams got to help Angie with her home in New Orleans. Angie is black, and the team members were white. Angie said her only experience with white people was to see them shooting at her neighbors … until the team showed up. Isn’t it great that walls can come down and love can be shown? Angie showed up at church Wednesday night and we rejoiced with her.

2. One team was so impacted by the team ministry in the community that they said that they were going back home and organize their own Compassion ministry.

3. One woman said to me, “I have no hope.” She lived right near the church, with a home devastated as well as many family issues. Her words were understandable. The next day a team was at her house. She was at the Sunday service and now sees things changing in her life.

4. One person said, “I just want to end my life.” Please realize how many people are saying these words. Pray for them. Showing practical love and praying with people makes a huge impact.

5. We received an e-mail the other day from a group of churches in Czechoslovakia. They heard about Katrina and our plight and took up an offering for us and sent it. This is a modern day retelling of 2 Cor. 8-9. The generosity of God’s people is amazing.

6. Here is an e-mail I got from a brother in Christ at Trinity after telling him I was going to spend a week at Christmas with my family. It shows the awesome kind of people we have at Trinity who are sold out to Jesus and want to take up their cross and follow Him:

Where you are going….
I hope the air is crisp
The fire is warm
The company is enjoyable
Your battery is recharged
Your spirit is overflowed with rejoicing
And you can’t wait to come back and help us set impossible goals for recovery, renewal and revival, then push us like heck to achieve them.

7. Remember the $50 gift cards we gave out at Trinity the last two Sundays to empower our membership to go out in the name of Jesus and bless hurting people? We purchased 370 cards and gave out about 330. A couple of days later, Grace Community Church in Columbia, MD called me and said we purchased 360 $50 gift cards and will bring them to you on December 18. Amazing. We give out gift cards and God replenishes them so that we can give them out again. The Manna Principle!

8. Stories are being written how the gift cards are making a difference. Here are a few:

“My daughter and son-in-law took in a homeless person. Their budget is rather tight and I sent them this card to help with groceries. They live in VA, and the person they helped was a 59-year-old woman from LA.”

“Took two cards and gave them to two different single mothers, one who doesn’t even have a job. They both cried and wanted to know where Trinity Church was. I invited them to attend.”

“… is in her mid-twenties and remarried 4 months ago after a very bad first marriage. I have witnessed to her for 2 years. 3 weeks ago, she confirmed that her new husband was/has been having relations with another for months. She has 2 small children and no family in the area. This card gave her a renewed view of Christian love and caring no matter what your “holiness” is. Maybe soon she will give her life to God.”

“My mom and I both took a Walmart card. I didn’t know who I would give it to. I didn’t want it to be someone I thought of. I wanted it to be someone God wanted to have it. I prayed for God to put someone in front of me. I talked to my friend I had not spoken to in a while and she told me she was going through a divorce. She has 4 children and had not bought one present yet because her husband won’t work and continued to spend their community money. I told her how I had been praying for God to show me a person in need of a $50 gift card donated by my church and she was the one. She got very emotional and said all I can say is “thank you.” I
told my mom the story and she wanted to give hers also. Thank you Trinity.”

9. Here is a story from our Trinity Mother’s Day Out (MDO) Director:

“I wanted to let you know how God is blessing the MDO program in so many ways. It is truly answered prayers! For the past few months, there have been some ups and downs in running MDO. We hit a real low at Thanksgiving time when I had no teachers working and it was just me. It was not easy to keep the faith in Him at all times. I was constantly praying for God’s help and asking others to pray for MDO, as well. My human side was trying very hard to keep things running smoothly. But I just finally put everything in God’s hands. I said, “God, I will be your servant leader, but, You are running the show”. Well, it’s all about God’s timing (not that I didn’t already know this!). Almost overnight, He blessed our program with 3 new teachers. One of our new teachers lost everything in St. Bernard and now she is buying a home in St. Tammany. She was in need of a job while her 8 year old son attends school. Another teacher lost her home in Lakeview and was in need of part time work. We’ve been able to give her a job in the infant room where she can be with her grandson who will be attending MDO. We have been able to bless several moms who have been displaced by offering a temporary day care option while they are handling housing issues during the day. It brings such joy to my heart knowing how God has blessed this program and how the program has blessed others. After the holidays we will be opening the infant room with 3 new children. There will be 8 children in our toddler room and 8 children in our 3 & 4 year old class. I am getting calls everyday from moms interested in placing their children in MDO. Since these moms are mothers of preschoolers, I am also inviting them to attend our MOPS group at Trinity and several have expressed an interest in coming. I pray for these moms and their children that they will be able see Jesus’ love through us. Hopefully, you may have a chance to visit MDO so you can see all the wonderful things that God is doing, all in His timing!!!”

I hope you can see why I appreciate the Big “C” Church across and world and the little “c” church at Trinity. God’s plan for the church was pure genius. There is nothing like the Church when the Church is working right under the leadership of Jesus!

In closing, I wish you all a blessed Christmas. There is nothing like the support of family and friends. I pray you experience in full measure the Shalom of God. This Christmas we can remember that Jesus was the greatest of all “first responders”. He chose willingly to be born in the eye of the storm. He experienced danger, hunger, rejection, homelessness, pain and even death. He left the safety of heaven for the pollution of earth. Why? To seek and to save! He died for you and me and gives spiritual and eternal life to all who trust in Him. What a
gift! That is Christmas!

Betting the Farm on God,

Pastor Michael Sprague (8:24 AM 12/24/05 CST)”

Grace Community Chapel has been one of those churches listed in the percentages above who have sent two or more teams to serve with Trinity Church in Katrina Relief. On January 11th, Grace Team 4 will leave to continue the service with Trinity which will move Grace Community Chapel into the smaller percentage of churches above who have sent four or more teams. If you would like to be a part of Team 4, please contact Grace Community Chapel by using the link below, or the contact form on your left. Team 4 will be serving January 11th – 15th, 2006.

If you haven’t already given of your prayer, time, skills or money, 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 Monday, December 26th, 2005 at 5:56 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