Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Last week four individuals from our church spent the week in New Orleans cleaning out a house flooded a year ago by Hurricane Katrina. We removed all remaining furnishings and then removed the kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets and fixtures. We then took out all of the bathroom tile and the sheetrock from all rooms and ceilings. We then spent hours pulling out all nails from the stud walls and ceilings.

As we stood with Fred, the homeowner, on the day before we left for home, he said “Would you do just one last thing for me? Would you pray for me and my wife Nancy and our children?"

There in that house stripped of all that makes a house a home, we held hands and prayed together, ending, so we thought, with an “amen.” But then Fred began to pray, “God, you know that I have tried to live a good life, and I didn’t understand why this had to happen to me. But I thank you Lord for all that’s happened in the past year. Because if this had not happened, I would not have had the opportunity to meet all of the good people you have sent to help me and my family. So I thank you Lord for my life.”

Fred looked at us and said, “I had given up hope of ever recovering from this. Then I saw the sign next door that said ‘Presbyterians Rebuilding Louisiana’ with a telephone number. I called and volunteers came from Greenville, North Carolina and Sacramento, California. You know, I think there’s a Presbyterian church just down the road.” I assured him indeed there was a Presbyterian church in his community and that they would be happy if he chose to worship with them.

That is missions: giving hope where hope has been lost. There are many
other families whose lives have been devastated by disasters. If you are
able to give a week of your time to help bring hope out of chaos, please
contact your pastor or your presbytery to find out if a team is being formed, or to volunteer to lead a team.

Share the Journey; grow in faith.