'Cool collars' help U.S. soldiers fight the heat

A UMNS Feature By Lilla Marigza*

Long sleeves, pants and body armor provide some protection for United States soldiers serving in Iraq… but do nothing to combat the heat. Average high temperatures in Baghdad run over 110 degrees during peak summer months. A little relief is always welcome.

A group of United Methodist women in New Mexico has found a simple, yet resourceful, way to help. It is a strip of khaki fabric that is more than two feet long and two inches wide with something extra sewn into a pocket in the center.

"See the crystals right in there? When it gets wet, it's cooling," says Billie Turner, a member of the United Methodist Women's Circle of Faith at First United Methodist Church, Roswell, N.M.

The crystals are the secret. The polymer granules, which expand when soaked in water, hold moisture. They're used sometimes in the gardening industry to keep soil moist.

"When you soak them for just a very short time they will expand and they will stay wet a whole day," explains Onita Barkley. "They can wear them around their neck or they can put them in their helmet to help bring down their body temperature."

The ladies call them "cool collars." Barkley swears by them. "I used to use one myself when I lived in Arizona and did yard work. I always wore one and it always made me more comfortable."

The women have made dozens of cool collars. It's become an ongoing project for the United Methodist Women's Circle of Faith.

"We sent 106 two months ago through a United Methodist chaplain to distribute. I hope they are already there," says Barkley, chairwoman of the group.

On a recent weekend, a new batch of cool collars was being divided into care packages, each with a particular soldier in mind. As circle members assemble boxes, one shows off a photo, "This is my grandson-in-law Garrick Hendrickson ... and he's in the Army."

Bright blue and white, cardboard priority mail boxes are being packed tight with hand sanitizer, sunscreen, magazines and other things to provide comfort far from home. Donna Echols thinks of the men and women who will receive the gift boxes. "The neat thing is they can share with another friend who may not have gotten a box from home."

The women know the cool collars and treats will be a welcome surprise but they add something extra-a personal note expressing thanks to service men and women who do so much.

Turner has chosen a card with a blue bird on the front. She reads aloud the message she has written inside, "First off, I put 'God loves you all. Thank you guys again. We are all so proud of you over there serving our country. You are in our prayers at First United Methodist Church and all over the country, in all different churches, we love you all. God bless, Billie Turner.'"

Circle of Faith members say sewing cool collars and collecting supplies is a small gesture but they know they are not alone. Barkley says there are a lot of United Methodist Women's groups out there doing the same thing.

"It's my prayer that everyone over there would get a note, get a box, get something that just says I love you and God loves you."

*Marigza is a freelance producer in Nashville, Tenn.

Project Noah draws high-school students to help Katrina victims

By John Gordon*

SLIDELL, La. (UMNS)-High-school students from across the country are giving up part of their summer vacations to help hurricane victims, while getting a living history lesson and a dose of Cajun culture along the way.

About 1,000 students from United Methodist churches in 24 states have signed up for Project Noah (New Orleans Area Hope). Each group will spend a week rebuilding flooded and wind-battered homes in the Slidell and Covington areas near New Orleans.

"I was overwhelmed with the response," said Project Noah director George Ragsdale, who heads the youth ministry at First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge.

"These kids have given up baseball camps and baseball games and summer camps and money out of their pocket to come down and make a difference and to make an impact on the people who are still affected by Hurricane Katrina," he said.

The groups get a taste of the area's unique culture with a makeshift Mardi Gras parade of floats made of hurricane debris.

They also tour some of New Orleans' hardest-hit areas, including the Lower Ninth Ward. Most are surprised by the extent of the damage.

"I didn't think it was going to be too bad," said Paul David Foster, 15, a Project Noah volunteer from First United Methodist Church in Hartwell, Ga.

"And then we went across that bridge and there was nothing there," he said. "So, it was mind-blowing."

Foster was one of 19 youth from his church who signed up to help. One of their projects was putting up sheetrock at the home of Rosetta Beauchat-Zweig, 84, who is now living in a FEMA trailer after her home was flooded by three-and-a-half feet of water.

"I can't say how much I appreciate what they're doing," said Beauchat-Zweig. "These youngsters are doing work that I can't possibly even help them with."

This is the second time Beauchat-Zweig has found herself starting over in less than three years. Her house was destroyed earlier by a fire. She rebuilt, and Katrina hit four months later.

"It's just wonderful to see them doing this," she said.

The students do not complain, even as they sweat in the muggy south Louisiana climate.

"During the day, it feels hot," said Shana Toney, 16, also a member of First United Methodist in Hartwell. "But after you've gotten it all done and you've known that you made a difference and you've seen how these people react to helping them, it's a really good feeling."

Johnny Williamson, 16, said the students are helping coastal residents rise above the "wrath of Mother Nature."

"If you have a bunch of people working together, you can overcome a lot of things," he said.
Besides learning construction skills, the students are also living a part of history.

"These students will be able to look back and say, 'Look, I saw that, I saw history. I was not (just) a reader of history. But I saw what happened and I saw the devastation and I saw the plight of the people,'" said Ragsdale.

Organizers first thought about 200 students might sign up for Project Noah, which continues through July. Many of the damaged houses targeted by the volunteers are mobile homes where elderly residents live.

The program is full and no longer taking registrations. But Ragsdale said he hopes to extend it beyond this year-while also encouraging students to pursue mission opportunities near their own homes.

"Hopefully, by going down through those areas so affected, they'll be able to look around them when they get back to their homes in California or Washington or Florida and see the need and be able to respond," he said.

"I hope that as teenagers go back from here…that their lives will be different, because I know that the people's houses that they work on lives will be different."

*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer based in Marshall, Texas

The Shopping Bag, Bethlehem Center of Nashville, Needs Volunteers

The Shopping Bag at Bethlehem Center on Charlotte Ave. was begun by a group of United Methodist Women in 1981 by collecting good used clothes, sorting and pricing them in the home of one of the women. Arrangements were made with United Methodist Neighborhood Center to use the basement under the Center building for a resale shop. A board of directors was to conduct the business of The Shopping Bag and there has been a functioning board up until the present time. The money has been donated to the Center for needed expenses.

The first years saw great growth and success. Donations were adequate and volunteers were young and enthusiastic. The only employee has been a woman to keep the shop clean, help with bringing in donations from the donor’s cars, pricing and stocking and other jobs as needed.

There are faithful volunteers who keep the shop open Tuesday through Saturday but more volunteers are needed. If you have time to give, call Barry Hatcher at (615) 373-8451.

City Road Chapel UMC teens celebrate 30 years of mission work

This year marks the 30th anniversary for City Road Chapel United Methodist Church’s Youth Group to be involved with mission work through an organization called Mountain T.O.P.

Mountain T.O.P. (Tennessee Outreach Project) is an interdenominational Christian mission, affiliated with the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church, dedicated to rural life ministry in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee.

Each year City Road youth and several adult leaders have dedicated a week every summer to help build porches, paint homes, repair roofs, and other home improvement jobs for the people in the Cumberland Mountains.

“Our youth love Mountain T.O.P.! When teenagers decide to give up a week of their summer vacation to do mission work, then you know it has to be something very special.” said Kathy Boland, Youth Director at City Road.

“It is the best religious mission trip that I have ever been on! There is a wonderful Christian atmosphere at Mountain T.O.P., and we have great fellowship with other teens.” said Seth Dobyns, recent graduate of MLK Magnet School and three time participant of Mountain T.O.P.
City Road will be attending Mountain T.O.P. from June 25-July 1, and will be taking a group of 30 on their 30th anniversary.

Kathy Boland
Director of Youth Ministries City Road Chapel UMC
701 S. Gallatin Pike
Madison, TN 37115
615-868-1673
615-865-6491 (Fax)
kboland@nashville.net

Survivors tell of life before, life after the tsunami

By Michelle R. Scott*

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (UMNS) - "Before the tsunami . . . I was a fisherman . . . I had a house . . . I had a son who spoke English . . . I had five grandchildren."

"Before the tsunami" is a phrase often on the lips of survivors. Areas full of life before the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami are now only empty spaces-open fields speckled with house foundations wiped clean.

Two Indonesia staff members for the United Methodist Committee on Relief drive me to see the damage in Banda Aceh this spring. Time has done little to heal the gaping wounds the sea cut across this city and throughout the province.

As we near the sea, Ambiya, UMCOR's procurement officer in Banda Aceh, points to the left side of the road where I see an open field. "That was my mother's village," he says.

We drive further and he points to the right, where the land is filled with stagnant water and rubble. The shell of one large concrete house stands. "That was my father's village." Then he points to a driveway leading to an empty lot. "That was my house."

Everyone who lives here has a story to tell-a story of survival and loss, of bravery and brokenness. They are sacred tales that represent the rending of many lives in two: life before the tsunami, and life after.

A Better Future
UMCOR is working with survivors to make their lives after the tsunami better. In Banda Aceh, the agency is reaching out to survivors still living in barracks-style temporary shelters because they have no where else to go.

UMCOR workers are assisting with 100 families living in two of these temporary living centers, helping them make plans for a future. Most people already know what they need to do -- they need income and a place to live. Some have specific ideas of how they want to go about this. They just need a hand up to make their plans a reality.

The agency also is helping people like Rima who mistook the sound of the tsunami approaching her village for thunder and its dark appearance rising above the trees for a storm cloud. When she and her husband realized what they were seeing was nothing as ordinary as a quick-moving storm, they grabbed their two small children and ran.

They didn't get far before the tsunami caught up with them. The family was separated in the roiling waves. Four days later, Rima's relatives found her and brought her to their home where she met up with her husband and oldest child. Their youngest child was never found.

Rima and her family now reside in a temporary living center just outside of Banda Aceh. Their house was completely destroyed and the little work Rima's husband can find barely covers their living expenses.

They want to move out of the barracks and UMCOR is providing livelihood training and assistance that will lead to more income for the family. UMCOR is also working to find permanent housing solutions for these displaced families.

The staff at the Banda Aceh office, like UMCOR's offices throughout Indonesia, is made up mostly of fellow Indonesians. Many of them experienced personal loss when the tsunami roared ashore. They have a personal commitment to helping survivors to not only have what they need for today, but to build a new future.More information on the work in Indonesia and other parts of the world can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/, the UMCOR Web site.

*Scott, an UMCOR staff member in New York, visited Indonesia this spring.

Tsunami survivor tells of ordeal

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (UMNS) - Lenni survived the tsunami partly because she was lucky and partly because she is a woman of great courage who knew she needed to survive for the sake of her children.

She clearly recalled her story one Tuesday afternoon in April while her youngest child slept peacefully in a hammock on the porch of the barracks where she lives with four of her six children.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is helping her restore her life along with the other families living in the Cadek Permai temporary living center just outside of the city of Banda Aceh. Her two oldest children are married and live away from home.

Lenni remembers being awakened that Sunday morning by an earthquake. She and her husband gathered the children and ran outside to safety. When it seemed that the shaking had stopped they returned to the house to clean up.

While they were returning fallen dishes to their shelves they felt a second tremor. Once again Lenni and her family went outside, only this time they saw people running toward the town.
She says they were quiet -- no one was shouting, just running. Cars and trucks loaded with people headed away from the ocean. She asked her neighbor what was going on. Her neighbor went to the road to find out but never came back.

Lenni and her husband gathered their children and put them on a truck and told them to go to their grandmother's house in town. She and her husband slowly followed the crowd on their motorbike.

Then the wave came. They were at the edge of it and were knocked down. Lenni was thrown some distance in the crash and her husband was underneath the bike trying to get out when the next wave came, with piece of the neighborhood rolling inside.

Lenni recalls hearing her husband yell instructions for her to hang on to anything she could grab. Then she heard him crying out to God for her protection. It would be the last time she heard her husband's voice.

She describes the water that enveloped her as hot, black and sulfurous. It pulled her under and sucked her out toward the sea. When the third and the largest wave to wash into Banda Aceh that morning, "I thought it was the end of the world," Lenni says. The force of the wave kept pushing her down into the water.

Alone in the Water
When she finally got to the surface, Lenni was not sure if she was alive or dead. Then she tried to swim and realized how badly her right leg had been injured. She tried to stay afloat with the use of only one leg. She looked around and saw no one, no houses or trees, only black water and blue sky. "God saved me," she says.

Lenni found a floating tree to use as a raft and over time began to talk to the tree because she felt so alone. She said, "Bring me somewhere safe." She either passed out or fell asleep when she heard a voice saying "Wake up! Hold on to the tree or you will fall into the water." In her recollection the man who spoke to her was wearing white with a long beard. She clung tighter to the tree as it drifted to a nearby mountain.

She carefully climbed off the tree and found that she could not walk because of her injured leg, which would later become so infected that it had to be amputated. She found a wire lying on the ground and used it and some sticks to make a splint.

Rescue
She spent the night at an empty house. In the morning, she heard a voice yelling "Is anyone here? Is anyone alive?"

She cried back, "I'm here!" but hid herself because the force of the waves left her naked and she was embarrassed. The man called back, "Are you a ghost or a person?" because he could not see her. She answered, "I am not a ghost, I am still alive!" Lenni asked the man to throw her some clothes because she was naked and ashamed. The man told her not to worry, that everyone was naked from the waves.

The man called to some nearby people and they carried her to a medical post where she received the medical attention she so desperately needed. Her children found her at this site. They were all safe from the tsunami because they went ahead on the truck.

Lenni is now able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg and is making plans for the future. She wants to go back to her business of baking cakes and supplying local shops with them. UMCOR is assisting her and the people in the temporary living center where she lives with housing, jobs and other needs.

More information on the work in Indonesia and other parts of the world can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/, the UMCOR Web site.

*Scott, an UMCOR staff member in New York, visited Indonesia this spring.

Ganta Mission Station seeks operating funds

By United Methodist News Service

The United Methodist-related Ganta Mission Station in Liberia needs funding assistance for its general operations.

General funds have nearly been exhausted, according to the Rev. Herbert Zigbuo, a missionary for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, who is assigned as superintendent for the mission station. Ganta Mission reopened in 2004 after Liberia's civil war and is slowly rebuilding its ministries and facilities.

"Along with donated funds, we are able to raise local funds through our charges for services provided through our carpentry and mechanic shops, our guesthouse and our mission station cafeteria," Zigbuo said.

"The locally generated funds subsidize our monthly payroll. We are in need of funds to allow us continue this revitalization effort."

Located on a 600-acre campus, the mission station addresses the medical, educational and spiritual needs of poor, rural, subsistence farming families in northeastern Liberia.

The campus includes Ganta Hospital, a nursing school and a facility for leprosy and tuberculosis patients. Christian-based education is offered at an elementary through senior high-level vocational school, and the agricultural program helps farmers learn skills aimed at increasing crop and livestock yields.

The mission station's maintenance unit, which has a staff of 90, oversees the grounds, roads, water and power system, school, hospital, 28 residence houses, church and various shops, including mechanics, carpentry and building construction.

Students and ex-combatants learn job training skills through the carpentry and mechanic shops.
Zigbuo said donations are particularly needed to purchase fuel to operate the generators; building supplies to continue the renovation of the residential areas and institutions; tools and equipment for use in the shops; and spare parts to maintain the mission's vehicles.

Contributions can be made through the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries Advance Special Program. The specific fund is Ganta United Methodist Mission Station, #14369T. Donations can be dropped in church collection plates or mailed to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO New York, NY 10087-9068.

Credit-card donations can be made online through the Advance at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/give/advance/ or by calling toll-free (888) 252-6174.

After tsunami, UMCOR builds houses, livelihoods in Indonesia

By Michelle R. Scott*

BIREUEN, Indonesia (UMNS) - Zulkifi believes the houses built by the United Methodist Committee on Relief are the best.

Sitting in the living room of his new UMCOR-built house, he likes to compare it to the other homes being built in the area. He then apologizes that his house is empty. It is, save for a straw mat on the floor and the fishing net he is working on to earn some income for his family.

"The house is empty because I have no job," he says.

UMCOR is not only helping Zulkifi and people in four other villages in the Bireuen district with housing, it is also helping them restore their livelihoods, as the region continues to recover from the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami.

Zulkifi is one of 292 people who participated in recent training sessions. The livelihoods program includes a 16-hour course in small-business startup and management, followed by an application process through which Zulkifi and his neighbors can request the supplies and equipment they need to start a new business or restart the one they lost in the tsunami.

Providing support
A local government official, Amir Adli, lists jobs as one of the top needs for people in his community. He explains that people want to work, but they lack the support. "Now they have a good house," he says. "But they lost everything."

At a community gathering near Pineung Siribee Village, dozens of people living in temporary barracks-style housing talk about their future. This village is one of the five where UMCOR is assisting tsunami survivors.

Many of the people gathered here have already attended the weeklong livelihood training session and have either submitted or are planning to submit an application to receive assistance in starting up a small business.

Common interests are fishing, setting up fishponds, operating small stores, chicken farming, supplying well parts, sewing and making cakes. Most are picking up where they left off before the tsunami. Some, mostly fishermen, are choosing to change their occupation.

Giving and receiving
Syarifa is one of the more than 500 people who submitted an application and a business plan for a cake-making business to UMCOR. In the plan, she says she needs an oven, a way to purchase ingredients, and something to transport the cakes she makes to nearby shops where people buy snacks.

This is what she did before the tsunami took her home, her husband and her only means of income. "Everything was gone except me," she says.

In her application, Syarifa explains how she will give back to the community. Those who receive livelihood assistance will be obliged to return to the community 25 percent of the value of what they received from UMCOR.

The return payment is not expected to be in cash. Instead, beneficiaries can provide free or reduced cost services to their community, hire additional employees or use other creative ways to give back some of what they received.

UMCOR plans to provide at least half of the applicants with material assistance in the form of equipment and other support that will allow them to start new or restart businesses lost in the tsunami.

More information on the work in Indonesia and other parts of the world can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/, the UMCOR Web site.

*Scott, an UMCOR staff member in New York, visited Indonesia this spring.

African-American staff to provide 'Project Relief' on coast

A UMNS Feature By Linda Green*

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, it caused considerable damage to many homes and neighborhoods, especially areas where people of color are the majority.

Work teams have been heading to the hardest-hit areas on a weekly basis since the August storm, and although grateful for the assistance, many relief workers and victims say they are not seeing all-black teams doing recovery work. African Americans are sprinkled among teams providing relief work.

In response, African-American executive and professional staff from the United Methodist Church are heading to Louisiana and Mississippi July 20-25 for "Project Relief."

Diane Johnson, president of the National Black Forum

Their goal will be "to model good leadership and to challenge and encourage African- American congregations to have a more visible presence among the countless congregations who have volunteered in the gulf region and continue to do so," said Diane Johnson, executive secretary for the Office of Urban Ministries at the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and president of the National Black Staff Forum.

National Black Staff Forum comprises 208 black and Africana people who serve in executive and professional positions on the denomination's boards, agencies, commissions, annual conferences and districts, as well as 25 bishops and four top agency executives. Its mission is to serve professional staff members at all stages of their careers through networking, education and career development.

During the forum's annual meeting last March, members heard an appeal from the Rev. Connie Thomas, Louisiana Conference disaster relief volunteer coordinator, to encourage the leadership of Black Methodists for Church Renewal - the denomination's African-American caucus - to mobilize African Americans to serve on relief teams on the coast.

"Thomas wanted a commitment from us to come," Johnson said.

Opportunity for mission
Last February, two United Methodist pastors also called for African Americans to become more involved in recovery work along the Gulf. The Rev. Kelvin Sauls, then pastor of Downs Memorial United Methodist Church, Oakland, Calif., and the Rev. Lance Eden, pastor of First Street United Methodist in New Orleans - the oldest black United Methodist church in the city and one of the few that emerged relatively unscathed after Katrina - lamented the lack of a large African-American presence in the recovery.

"I am aware that African Americans have not been part of the recovery effort in the way our non-black brothers and sisters have been," Sauls said at that time. "It troubles me." A team of United Methodist volunteers from Downs Memorial went to First Street United Methodist last winter to assist in relief work.

Eden said that of the more than 60 volunteers to come through his church as part of recovery teams, fewer than five had been black.

African-American United Methodist churches have stepped up to the plate to provide dollar support for relief, but Sauls believes they are missing an opportunity to be in mission if they are absent from the front lines.

'Going is important'
"Going is important because, first of all, we should have been there as far as I'm concerned, but we weren't," Johnson said. "Sometimes you don't know what to do so you don't do anything, but after we heard the plea from Rev. Thomas, we decided that was something that we could do, we ought to do, and we embraced it."

The staff members will gut, clean, haul and paint. They also will perform administrative tasks, such as interviewing, telephone response, filing, data entry and case management.

Black Methodists for Church Renewal approved a petition from the National Black Staff Forum last March in which the group resolved to call upon the caucus "to actively mobilize its constituencies to become volunteers within the next 12 months in the Gulf Coast region, both Louisiana and Mississippi, and that we, the National Black Staff Forum, would commit to this volunteer relief work as model leadership," Johnson said.

"In other words, we're not going to tell you what you should do, we're going to model it," she said. "And we thought that if we stepped out as general agency staff to do this work, then others would follow, so we're modeling good leadership."

Cheryl Walker, president of Black Methodists for Church Renewal and director of the Office of African American Ministries at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, said it is important that African Americans be involved in the work because most of the people affected are "our people. It is the call on all of our lives to be in mission with people who are need."

"It is important when people are suffering to see people of like kind providing support and care," said Amelia Tucker-Shaw, vice president of the Black Staff Forum and communications resource consultant at United Methodist Communications.

Black Methodists for Church Renewal has agreed to be the coordinating body for African-American churches and individuals who want to do disaster response work.

After arriving in Louisiana, Project Relief participants will fan out to New Orleans, other parts of the state and to Gulfport, Miss., and will work from various church sites.

"We need to go where there are needs for recovery," Johnson said. It is not known whether the staff will be spending time at the wiped-out Gulfside Assembly, the historically African-American United Methodist center in Waveland, Miss.

Other efforts
In a related matter, the National Council of Churches has partnered with six denominations, the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North American and the Every Church a Peace Church movement to sponsor to sponsor "Churches Supporting Churches."

The program will help rebuild 36 destroyed or damaged churches in 12 predominantly African-American neighborhoods of New Orleans, the NCC said.

Churches Supporting Churches' goal is to "restart, reopen, repair or rebuild the churches in order for them to be agents for community development and to recreate their community," said C.T. Vivian, chairperson of the program and longtime activist in the civil rights movement.

Congregations across the country will be offered the opportunity to help. A year long training program in community development will equip pastors and lay leaders for their expanded work as community developers, the NCC said.

As the Aug. 29 anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, the Congressional Black Caucus is also responding. "Insufficient and flawed action by the federal government has resulted in minimal progress in the Katrina-hit region," the caucus said.

It is hosting a series of briefings every Tuesday in June, "The Katrina Housing Series: How Congress Can Raise the Roof for Katrina Survivors." "The purpose of the housing series is to expose the challenges and complexities involved in assuring that a safe and affordable housing stock is created in the Gulf region," the lawmakers said.

For more information on the National Black Staff Forum's Project Relief, contact Johnson at (877) 870-3832 or dhjohnson@gbgm-umc.org.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Disaster coordinators brace for new hurricane season

A UMNS Report By Kathy L. Gilbert*

Three men in particular are standing on the shorelines of the Gulf Coast praying for mostly sunshine and blue skies from June to November.

"I haven't been looking at how many days until hurricane season starts; I am looking at how many days until it is over," says the Rev. Darryl Tate, executive director of the United Methodist Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference's Storm Recovery Center.

Tate along with the Rev. Clyde Pressley, Alabama-West Florida, and Ed Blakeslee, Mississippi, lived through the one of the worst hurricane seasons to hit the United States last summer as disaster response coordinators.

Having learned lessons from Hurricane Katrina, the Rev. Clyde Pressley is preparing his churches and pastors for another hurricane season. A UMNS photo by Meredyth Earnest


In the Louisiana Annual Conference, 90 United Methodist churches were damaged and 80 pastors were displaced. In the Mississippi Conference, 48 churches were damaged and six churches were destroyed beyond repair. Coden (Ala.) United Methodist Church was destroyed and Bayou La Batre sustained considerable damage in the Alabama-Florida Conference, where three other churches also sustained damage.

While coordinating his conference's response, Tate also dealt with the challenges of being a displaced pastor. His church, St. Luke's United Methodist, and parsonage were flooded in New Orleans.

Pressley became Alabama-West Florida's coordinator after Hurricane Ivan in 2004. He says people still need help rebuilding from that storm. Hurricanes Dennis and Katrina just set them back even further.

"We just go back to the drawing board," he says.

Blakeslee, a member of Trinity United Methodist Church and retiree from the Mississippi Power Co., has lived in Gulfport, Miss., all his life. He has seen a lot of hurricanes come through his state. He counts them off: Betsy, Camille, Fredric, Elena, Georges.

"The sad part is I never had the vision this would happen," he says of Katrina's damage. "A lot of what I remember and love about this area is gone forever."

Hard lessons
All three men have learned hard lessons and are preparing churches and pastors for the next storm.

Pressley has met with four of the eight district superintendents in his area to talk about preparing for a hurricane or other disaster.

"We talk to them about how to organize the church, how to respond immediately … how to communicate, how to take care of the homebound folks and how to safeguard their church records," he says. "We don't have a lot of optimism that everyone went back home and did what we said. That is what concerns us."

During annual conference meetings, which begin June 4 in both Alabama-West Florida and Louisiana, Tate and Pressley will be making presentations on what happened last year and how to prepare for this year.

"On Monday night (June 5), we are going to have a Katrina-Rita party," Tate says. "It will be a chance to let our hair down and just have a relaxing evening. Then on Tuesday afternoon, we share our plans and talk about the mission zone that has been declared in New Orleans." The plan designates seven mission zones in the city that will be directed by a clergy team. Thirty-eight churches are in the zones.

Disaster relief workers will also be honored during the conference, Tate says.

Pressley will make a presentation June 5 that will include suggestions about what individual churches can do. "By that time, we will already be four days into the new hurricane season."

Blakeslee will meet with pastors and district superintendents in the next few days to talk about plans in case another storm hits.

"Nobody in this country was prepared for a storm of this magnitude," Blakeslee says of Katrina.

"Based on what we learned, there are a lot of things we would do differently and faster."
One of the things weighing heavily on his mind is the coming hot weather. "It is already 92 degrees, and a lot of people are in those small FEMA trailers."

Warehouses and modular buildings have been built in Mississippi to help with some of the problems encountered last year, when storage space and lodging for volunteers ran short.

"I think by the end of the summer we will have everything up and going," Blakeslee says. Churches have been straining to house volunteers and still maintain their ministry. Construction of some dorms will take pressure off those churches, he says.

In Louisiana, Tate says every pastor will be asked to register at annual conference and supply emergency contact names and numbers. He wants to pair each district in the state up with another so congregation members will know who to call with their locations.

Last year, congregations were spread out across the country, and locating people was hard. "People evacuated to St. Paul, Minn., or St. Louis or Nashville will know who to call and say, 'This is my address and this was my church.'"

A database will then be developed after annual conference ends. Tate also wants to get copies of Louisiana's evacuation plan so each delegate leaving the meeting will have one to share with others.

"We've been told by the authorities that if you live in a trailer, even in a thunderstorm, they want you out," Tate says. "Down in New Orleans, they were saying if a tropical storm warning is issued, there will be a mandatory evacuation. I think that has been revised to a Category 2 or above hurricane."

Pressley is hoping for a chance to recover and plan ahead. "If we get a reprieve this year, we can get ahead on these recovery efforts, and our next plan of action is to be more proactive and aggressive."

'Never thought I would be here'
All three men also say they never expected to be in the roles they now occupy. Tate has gone from pastor of a church to disaster relief coordinator to director and now to executive director.

"In this ministry, pretty much every day you see something that lets you know you are making a difference in humanity," he says. "I haven't had this much reward in ministry, really being able to touch the surface of humanity, for a long time."

Pressley spent 26 years as an Air Force chaplain and then retired and was an associate pastor at Daphne (Ala.) United Methodist Church for 10 years.

"Then I decided I'd go play golf for awhile," he says, chuckling. "Come September, the storm (Ivan) came through and the bishop called me." He said yes to what he thought would be a temporary assignment.

"Long story short, I'm still here and thoroughly enjoying it. You know, it is a joy to see the church come alive and be the church and be the body of Christ when the world needs you the most."

Blakeslee directed work crews out his church for two months before getting the call from his bishop asking him to take over as conference coordinator.

"It makes you feel good about what the church has done," he says. "There are a lot of things we could have done better, but then nobody was ready. When you compare the church to other organizations, you really have to feel good about the effort and the results."

Outpouring of help
The generosity of people from around the country has impressed - and touched - the three men.

"I could not have done this ministry for 10 months without the generosity of the people of St. Luke's," Tate says. "They gave us insurance money from the parsonage so we could start over again, and they even gave us money to take a vacation this summer."

Blakeslee says he has met wonderful people from everywhere.

"I was just over at Bay St. Louis today and I met a man from Oregon, some young people from Tennessee and North Carolina, people from Arizona. I have just met some outstanding people."

"You know, when you think about it, people from Michigan weren't hit by Hurricane Katrina; why would they take their time and energy and means to drive all the way down here except that they care about people," Pressley says.

Tate is excited about all that has been accomplished.

"We have volunteers galore, we have wonderful case management going on, we have construction people in place and a plan for the future.

"People who are the least, the last and the lost are going to have their needs met through the ministry of the Louisiana Annual Conference, through the generous donations to the United Methodist Committee on Relief."

Blakeslee sums it up: "All these wonderful people have stepped forward to help, and I just hope they keep coming."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.