'We are restoring lives,' says recovery station director

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

SLIDELL, La. (UMNS) - On a hot and humid summer day, Leona Cousins is out sweeping her driveway.

"I got to keep my home tidy," she says. She laughs as she points to a sparsely furnished shed behind her Hurricane Katrina-wrecked house. She has been living in the shed during the day and spending nights with a niece since Katrina hit Slidell Aug. 29, 2005.

Dale Kimball, director of the United Methodist Slidell Recovery Station, says that Cousins, 95, and people like her, are the reason he does what he does. And what he does is spend six days a week driving a truck from one end of town to the other, 12 or more hours a day, helping the poorest in his hometown rebuild their lives.

Restoring lives
A year after the storm sent a tidal wave over Slidell, Kimball and his crew of contractors and volunteers have been helping people like Cousins who have no insurance and no other way to rebuild their lives.

"That's what we are doing - we are restoring lives," he says.

A retired Navy man, Kimball closed his construction business when Bishop William Hutchinson asked him to take over at the recovery station based in his local church, Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Three contractors that worked with him have also joined the team.

Kimball says he has been told 95 percent of the reconstruction in his hometown has been done by faith-based organizations.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief pays administrative costs for the Slidell center as well as the six other centers in the state. The relief agency also provides money to buy building materials for homes.

The great thing about UMCOR is that its money is available for everyone in need, Kimball says.

To date, the center has served 3,191 clients and has 261 open cases waiting for some stage of reconstruction. More than 3,000 volunteers from 25 states and three countries have contributed 159,266 hours and provided $2.7 million in free labor.

The key to the rebuilding is the volunteers and donations to UMCOR, Kimball says.

"We really need 50 to 60 volunteers a week," says Ken Ward, one of the contractors working with the center. "This week we had 17."

Helping the helpless
Cousins came to the center's attention when a passing sheriff's officer found her crying on the front steps of her house. She had nowhere to turn and didn't know she could get help to rebuild her home.

When Kimball saw Cousins, she got bumped to the front of the line. He says volunteer teams "love her."

"Once (volunteers) meet her, they want to do everything in their power to help her," he says. Cousins will be back in the home her father built for her in the 1950s by the end of August.

Other clients served by the center include sisters Eris Lajaunie and Jermaine Pastoret, who have lived side by side in Slidell all their lives.

Before the storm center came to their rescue, they were scammed out of more than $6,000 by someone who promised to replace their windows and doors, Lajaunie says.

"I am 82, and my sister is 90," she says. "My husband died two weeks after the storm because he couldn't cope."

She says she feels so "stupid" for trusting someone with that much money. Kimball assures her his help comes without a price tag. "If anyone else tells you it will cost you money, you call me," he says.

Kimball says there are many elderly people like Lajuanie's husband who have died because of the stress from the destruction of the storm. "They are the unknown victims," he says.

A few blocks away, young people are swarming over the home of Regina Batiste. Her home was knocked off its piers and was sitting on its side. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the city told her the home was unsalvageable.

Fortunately no one told that to volunteers from Project Noah, a group started by First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge. They jacked up the house and put it on a new foundation.

About 1,000 students from 24 states signed up for Project Noah (New Orleans Area Hope). They worked in Louisiana for eight weeks.

Church, parsonage restored
The Rev. Ernest Scott, pastor of Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, has experienced firsthand the power of the United Methodist connection.

"If I had a word to say to the general church, it would be that our connectionism is alive and well," he says. Hartzell Mt. Zion and the parsonage were just a few of the many structures destroyed by the storm.

The church never stopped holding services, first in the parking lot, then in a partially completed building and now in a beautiful sanctuary.

"Without the help of UMCOR, we would not be in the position where we are now with the church and the parsonage," he says.

He echoes Kimball and Ward's praise of volunteer teams.

"I watch those young kids roll up their sleeves and unload bundles of shingles and I know they mean to make a difference," Scott says.

"Some of the greatest groups we have had have been young high school and college kids. They have the most productive and willing spirits," Kimball says.

Scott has advice for the young people. "I tell them, 'Don't forget this. Ten or 20 years from now, you can tell people you helped restore Slidell and the church.'

"I tell them to put it in their journals and on their resumes. Anyone worth their salt will look at that on a resume and know this is somebody who had done something in their lives."

Kimball and Scott feel good about the future of the church and the country after a year of watching young people come into Slidell and work.

"A lot of people question the future of the church," Kimball says. "I say just come and watch these young kids and you will know the future of the church is in great hands."

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

Bishop says, 'Faith stronger than storm'

By Woody Woodrick*

BILOXI, Miss. (UMNS) - In the Bible, a lament is a psalm that names something loved and lost.
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward told a gathering of about 100 people Aug. 26 that all lament what was lost a year ago in Hurricane Katrina, but faith in God is stronger than the storm that devastated Mississippi and Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005.

"Northing is too great for God to overcome. We give thanks that Katrina is not as strong as God's abiding love," Ward said. "Katrina can't hold a candle to God's abiding providence. Wherever we are wiser and more joyful and more persevering and more patient and more confident, we are so because of God's lifting and resurrecting power."

The service of remembrance, sponsored by the Seashore District of the Mississippi Conference, was held on the grounds of Seashore Assembly, just across U.S. 90 from a tranquil Gulf of Mexico. The assembly and the adjoining Leggett Memorial United Methodist Church sustained extensive damage in the storm.

In addition to Ward, speakers included Steve Phillips of Ocean Springs, the Rev. Rachel Benefield-Pfaff of Gulfport and 6-year-old Mary Hilliard of Gulfport.

Phillips, a reporter for WLOX television station in Biloxi and member of St. Paul United Methodist Church, told about his experiences covering the aftermath of the storm. Benefield-Pfaff shared a poem written by two friends that expressed their relief at being spared but heartache for those who died.

With help from her father, the Rev. Larry Hilliard of Nugent United Methodist Church in Gulfport, Mary Hilliard recounted how she and her family went to her grandparents' house because it had never flooded in a storm. Eventually, the family had to abandon that home as the water rose higher and higher. Larry Hilliard reminded Mary of how scared they all were.

"What did you tell me?" Larry Hilliard asked.

"Don't worry, Daddy. Jesus won't let anything happen to us," Mary Hilliard said.

Ward shared the story of three people who rode out the storm in a church in Pearlington, a small town hard-hit by the storm. As the waters rose in the church, they climbed onto the altar, which eventually worked loose from its base. As they prayed, the altar rose with the flood waters, stopping just short of the ceiling. The people scrambled into the rafters, and then as the waters began to recede, got back on the altar, and it settled back in its place.

"God has lifted us toward God's own self in a way in which we have never been lifted before," Ward said, as she stood by an altar made of two sawhorses topped with a sheet of plywood. "I give thanks as we lament the grief of this time that we have not lifted ourselves too high, that we have allowed God to lift us higher and higher and higher."

After Holy Communion, those attending were given an opportunity to write the names of friends and family who had died in the storm, and then attach the names to a banner of multicolored ribbons.

*Woodrick is editor of the Mississippi Advocate, the newspaper of the United Methodist Church's Mississippi Annual Conference.

UMCOR assumes major role in Katrina relief, recovery

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Generous responses by United Methodists to Hurricane Katrina enabled the United Methodist Committee on Relief to assume its largest role ever in a domestic disaster.

UMCOR raised $64.5 million for hurricane relief, causing Newsweek magazine to rank the agency sixth in a survey of "Big Names in Katrina Relief."

In addition to the amount donated for Katrina relief, United Methodist volunteers put thousands of hours into recovery efforts and donated $7.6 million in relief supplies.

UMCOR now heads a consortium with nine other organizations, called "Katrina Aid Today," which received a $66 million grant through the Federal Emergency Management Association and Department of Homeland Security. The grant consists of international donations that were received after the hurricane.

From the start, UMCOR disaster response consultants provided training and assistance to help conference leaders in Louisiana and Mississippi develop long-term recovery programs. UMCOR also established regional recovery centers.

The Rev. Tom Hazelwood, UMCOR executive secretary for U.S. disaster response, spent 106 of 153 days in the field from Sept. 1, 2005, to Jan. 31, 2006. In addition, six UMCOR consultants spent a combined total of 375 days in the field. Twelve disaster volunteer mentors worked in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

"It's just important to be present in those conferences," said Hazelwood, who coordinated Katrina relief work with FEMA staff and other faith groups as well as United Methodists.

While other hurricanes have caused significant damage, the combination of Katrina and Rita left the Gulf Coast in shambles from Mobile, Ala., to Beaumont, Texas. "In terms of geography and the number of people affected, we haven't had anything like that," Hazelwood said.

Long-term recovery just beginning
Despite all the work that has occurred since the hurricane struck, the long-term recovery is just beginning, he added. "Programs are just now what I would call stabilized."

But he believes the relief process, while lengthy, is on target. "I hope that we can keep the attention of our church and volunteers on this for a good while," he said, noting that the Gulf Coast conferences already have experienced a drop-off in volunteers. "The need for volunteers is going to be great for a number of years."

The Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR chief executive, said the request for the agency to manage Katrina Aid Today stems from its long-time relationship with FEMA and experience gained from its large, church-funded case management program assisting families and individuals affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Partners in Katrina Aid Today are Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, Lutheran Disaster Response, Episcopal Relief and Development, Volunteers of America, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Boat People SOS, National Disability Rights Network and Odyssey House of Louisiana.
The organization now operates from 131 offices in 32 states, with about 2,200 case managers, both paid and volunteer staff; 21,000 families have received assistance.

Warren Harrity, who opened UMCOR operations in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2003, is executive director of Katrina Aid Today. He pointed out that case management of this scope and scale had never been in place before Katrina.

"Getting this huge system up and running has been a tremendous effort," he told United Methodist News Service. The biggest task was to bring nine very different agencies under one umbrella "to work in a coordinated, collaborative standardized effort."

A two-day training module used UMCOR principles and standards and utilized the Coordinated Assistance Network, a Web-based data base that allows agencies to access case files. One hundred case managers came to the first training last Jan. 5; since then, more than 20 other training sessions have occurred, according to Harrity. Training also has been taken to the locations of 1,200 case managers.

In each state, the Katrina Aid Today agencies meet weekly or biweekly "to discuss issues pertaining to the storm-affected population," he said. Even nationally, the coordination is seamless enough to allow a Katrina evacuee to receive services from Catholic Charities in Spokane, Wash., and then move back to Louisiana and continue to receive assistance through Lutheran Social Services of the South.

"One of the great achievements of this program has been the coordination and collaboration across agency lines," Harrity added.

The story of Mr. H
An example of a Katrina Aid Today success story is "Mr. H," who relocated to Colorado after his rental apartment in New Orleans was destroyed.

Because he had no income or benefits, the Volunteers of America in Colorado provided housing at an apartment complex and helped him obtain identification and sign up for food stamps and the Colorado Indigent Care Program.

The apartment complex manager convinced her church to donate all the furniture needed for Mr. H's apartment. A Volunteers of America Colorado Katrina Services case manager helped him verify his pre-disaster address to get rental assistance from FEMA and assisted with other local services.

She also discovered that he had numerous disabilities and helped him reactivate the SSI benefits he had been receiving in Louisiana, along with Medicaid benefits. By applying for personal property funds from FEMA, he received a check for about $13,000.

Despite a slower-than-anticipated start in the first quarter, Katrina Aid Today "is really a first of its kind," according to Harrity. Efforts are "done in a way that is a credit to all the agencies that have participated in the program so far," he said.

At this point, the organization is funded by FEMA through October 2007. But Harrity believes recovery could take six to 10 years, so Katrina Aid Today convened an executive-level meeting with all partners in early August in New Orleans "and discussed how we might collectively seek to appeal for more funds elsewhere as time moves on."

Harrity said he is encouraged by the fact that current congressional legislation to amend the Stafford Act, which deals with federal disaster relief, includes case management funding for the first time. He considers inclusion in such legislation to be "a very important outcome of this program."

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Hope is greatest gift, says Katrina disaster coordinator

A UMNS Report By Kathy L. Gilbert*

After a year of destruction, chaos and despair, the greatest gift that can be given to people of the Gulf Coast is hope, says Ed Blakeslee, coordinator of United Methodist Katrina relief efforts in Mississippi.

He cites Proverbs 23:18: "There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off."

"Much has been accomplished in the past year, but so much more remains to be done," writes Blakeslee in one of his recent weekly messages from the Mississippi Annual (regional) Conference.

"I told my wife that I have probably cried more during the past year than at any other time in my adult life," he said. "Some were tears of sorrow, and some were tears of joy."

Despite all the harm caused by Hurricane Katrina - more than 200 people dead, 363 United Methodist churches with pending insurance claims, 23 churches severely damaged and seven destroyed - many who have been in the trenches say it has been an exciting year of seeing "the church being the church."

"The hurricane offered us as a church an incredible opportunity to reach people we would never have reached before," says the Rev. Chris Cumbest, coordinator of church recovery for the Mississippi Conference. "Walls and carpet really don't matter. It's about people."

The entire Mississippi coastline, from Pearlington to Pecan, suffered devastating damage from the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.

One year later, after thousands of volunteer hours, Cumbest says years of work remain.

Hope and despair
A tour of churches along the coastline is mixed with bright rays of hope and sad scenes of despair.

One of the bright spots is in Pearlington, where a shiny white church with a bright green roof almost sits where it did before the hurricane.

The only thing left of Clermont Harbor United Methodist Church after Katrina was the concrete front steps. Meshach's Carpenter, a United Methodist group of volunteers from Goldston, Ga., rebuilt the church "from the brick foundation to the steeple" in eight days, Cumbest says.

The first church service was held in the new building June 18.

"I attended worship with them in February, and there were 10 persons present," says Cumbest.

"On June 18 there were around 50 who were not a part of Meshach's Carpenters who attended, many from the Clermont Harbor community." Cumbest calls the rebuilt church "an incredible witness to the community and to the coast of how the Light of Christ continues to shine in the darkness."

A few miles from Clermont Harbor, Barry Smith has a team of United Methodist volunteers building a shed in his backyard. He and his pregnant wife and young son are living in a trailer and he says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has told him he can only have it for seven more months. The shed will hold building material Smith has salvaged from other building sites.

"We lost a lot, but we have gained a lot," he says, watching the workers sweating in the intense Mississippi heat.

Down the road, college kids from Starksville (Miss.) First United Methodist Church are carrying 8,000 pounds of Sheetrock up a steep stairway for Jack Feigel and Paula Coffey.

"We couldn't have hand-picked a better group of people," Feigel says. He and Coffey spent two and a half months on the balcony of a hotel in Diamonhead after the hurricane ripped their home apart.

A shed floated up on their property, and the couple were just about to move into it when they got a FEMA trailer. They earned the money to pour their foundation from salvaging cooper wiring, Feigel says.

With tears in their eyes, they watched as the young people worked. "I just can't believe it," Coffey says. "They are heaven sent."

'We came. We saw. We mucked.'

Pass Christian (Miss.) First United Methodist Church has a huge bulletin board in its hallway filled with handmade signs from the many volunteers who have come to help.

"We came. We saw. We mucked," says one sign from a group in Huntsville, Ala. "Clergywomen strippers were here," says another.

The church had two feet of water in it, says the Rev. Terry Hilliard, coordinator for spiritual and emotional care for the conference's Katrina response team. Debris in front of the church's double front doors kept more water from flooding the building. After the hurricane, only four households in her congregation had habitable homes, she says.

Right after the hurricane most people were shocked, and then they got really busy cleaning and trying to assess the damage, Hilliard says. Months dragged by while people waited for insurance settlements and for government officials to decide how the houses should be rebuilt; that's when it got really hard, she says.

"I think people are not as energized as they were when there was a lot of physical work to do," she says. "People are tired; they are emotionally, physically and mentally worn out."

But Hilliard says amazing stories have come out of all the despair.

"We worked on a house in Long Beach, and the crew went to replace the roof on a house," she says. The crew had tried to contact the homeowners but couldn't reach them. They just picked up the roofing supplies and got busy, she says.

At the end of the day, the crew found out it was really supposed to be replacing the roof next door.

When the homeowners drove up, they were shocked.

"The couple said they had been driving around making the decision to commit suicide. They had just had enough. And then they came home and there was a new roof on their house. It turned them around."

Hilliard also tells the story of one couple in her church who said, "We could have paid contractors to fix our house, but we needed the volunteers to fix our hearts."

"This is what it is all about," she says. "The spiritual, emotional care is about figuring out some of the pieces of the puzzle to help fix people's hearts."

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

As church recovers, pastor sees expanded ministry role

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

BURAS, La. (UMNS) - The harshest winds from Hurricane Katrina first hit a remote community on the tip of the Louisiana coast destroying most of the town, including Buras Trinity United Methodist Church.

Buras was once a beautiful coastal town located near Empire, touted as one of the top three fishing spots in the world. Now, groves of gray, dying trees line the lonely highway and FEMA trailer villages are scattered among the slabs and splinters of former houses.

"If it wasn't for the weeds, nothing would be green," says Debbie Faurie, wistfully. She and her husband, the Rev. Gene Faurie, pastor of Buras Trinity, lost their home and all their possessions in the storm.

"People say Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane when it hit. Down in Buras, we know it was stronger than that," Gene says.

About 60 to 70 members of the Buras congregation drive from various parts of the state to meet in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church, Gretna, on Sunday nights. Gene says he used to have an attendance of about 240 on Sundays. Most of the members were young families with children. With nothing left for them in Buras, many have moved, he says.

Almost single-handedly, Gene is tearing down and cleaning out the remains of his brick and frame church. Most days he and Debbie drive out to the church and work. Unlike churches in many other parts of the state, Trinity has received only two volunteer teams since the storm hit Aug. 29, 2005.

He says he would love to get some volunteer teams in Buras. He would also like money to buy new tools.

"I am wearing out all of mine," he says.

Future dreams
A former contractor, Gene dreams of turning the shell of his church into a shelter to house teams of volunteers.

"I can see a kitchen (and) bathrooms with showers, and the old fellowship hall can be an open-air pavilion," he says, pointing to a large room missing most of its roof and a wall. The couple has been living in a trailer provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency since the storm. The Fauries laugh when asked what it's like to live in an 8-by-30 foot trailer.

"When we applied for a trailer, I asked for a slide-out," Gene says. Slide-outs expand the living space while still keeping the home within widths needed for towing.

"I told them I needed extra space because I was going to have to have a church office in the trailer. Well, somebody else got our slide-out," he says.

He smiles and turns to Debbie. "I tell her the trailer we wanted is probably saving somebody's marriage," he says. "We get along pretty well."

Gene wants to use the insurance money from the church and parsonage to build the church in a new location. He says he and Debbie can live in a camper on the slab of their old home.

"It was really hard at first," he says, standing on the cracked concrete slab of his former home. He shakes his head.

"God will take this and do wonderful things," he says. "I want to be part of it."

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

Commentary: Church plays significant role in Katrina response

A UMNS Commentary By the Rev. R. Randy Day*

A year ago, Hurricane Katrina and other mighty storms swept across the Gulf Coast region, doing unprecedented damage to families, communities and congregations in five states and Central America. Massive recovery efforts continue and will do so for many years. This work involves government, business, civic and community groups, and churches and other religious institutions.

The United Methodist Church has played a significant role in Katrina relief and rehabilitation since the first rescue teams were on the scene. Assistance is both direct and financial. Individual members, congregations, annual conferences, and national and international agencies are represented in the ongoing ministries of restoration.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief, a part of the Board of Global Ministries, is pivotal in our denominational responses. It serves as a partner with annual conferences in the five affected states in organizing the work and in serving as the repository and steward of funds contributed by United Methodists and our friends for Katrina aid.

The more than $66 million donated from around the world is being spent primarily in collaboration with the disaster programs in the Alabama-West Florida, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas conferences. We are fortunate to have also received non-tax funds through the federal government for services to families who face special hardships in overcoming the destruction of the storms. Assistance has gone to Central American communities damaged by the storms of 2005 as well.

The Board of Global Ministries deeply appreciates the financial contributions and the hands-on hurricane recovery work of so many people during the past year. Special thanks are expressed to Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster in Alabama-West Florida, Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker in Florida, Bishop William W. Hutchinson in Louisiana, Bishop Hope Morgan Ward in Mississippi and Bishop Janice Huie in Texas, and to the disaster teams in their areas.

Thanks also to tens of thousands of Volunteers in Mission who have assisted with cleanup and rebuilding, congregations that have helped in their own communities, and to the staff and voluntary leadership of UMCOR. Bishop Edward W. Paup of Seattle, president of UMCOR, the Rev. Paul Dirdak, chief executive of the unit, the Rev. Kristen Sachen, another executive, and the Rev. Tom Hazelwood, domestic disaster coordinator, deserve special recognition.

I want to thank all who contributed funds to UMCOR for post-Katrina ministries. Money came not only from the United States but also from Korea, Taiwan, Western Europe, Russia, Africa and Latin America. Humanitarian service is an international ministry in the name of Jesus Christ.

Let me take the occasion of the Katrina anniversary to urge United Methodists to be generous in supporting the appeal of our Council of Bishops for the rebuilding and recovery of congregations in the Gulf region. All congregations are part of one Church, but it is on the local level that we learn to be disciples in mission, equipped by God's grace and love to respond to the needs of others.

*Day is top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

Two upstate New York churches adopt Mississippi family

A UMNS Report By Kathy L. Gilbert*

Lisa, Destin and Darrien Swanson are wearing big smiles and new school uniforms for their first day of school in Pearlington, Miss., thanks to two United Methodist churches in upstate New York.

A chance meeting of three women in a New York pizza place led to the Swanson family in Mississippi being adopted by the Red Hook and Rowe United Methodist churches in Red Hook and Milan, N.Y.

Cable News Network will carry a feature on the family of Denise Swanson, a single mother of four who lost everything in the Hurricane Katrina, and two United Methodist congregations. The program will be cablecast on Aug. 29, the one-year anniversary of Katrina making landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Meeting through a waitress
Angela Cole, a nurse from Tivoli, N.Y., and sisters Deborah Lamb and Jude Polotaye happened to be in a neighborhood pizza place at the same time. The waitress knew the sisters were planning to go on a mission trip to Biloxi, Miss., and she knew Cole had been to Mississippi several times. She introduced Cole to the sisters.

Cole has made helping the people of Pearlington her personal mission. Her efforts have grown into a national, grass-roots campaign, and she is hoping to get more families adopted.

"One year after the community of 1,700 was leveled, the approximately 800 persons who have returned live their lives in limbo not knowing when - or if - their tiny community will fully recover," Cole says. The people refer to themselves as "forgotten," she says.

On the day they met in the pizza place, Lamb and Polotaye were days away from going on the mission trip to Biloxi.

"She told us the story of Pearlington, Miss., in the southwest corner of Mississippi that directly got hit by the hurricane," Polotaye says of Cole. "Pearlington is in the backwoods and is really struggling. The more she talked, the more excited we got."

The mission team made the trip to Biloxi and still had a little more than $800 that was not spent on the trip.

A short time later, Lamb heard Hancock County, where Pearlington is located, was requiring all children to have uniforms for the school year. While the team had not visited the forgotten Mississippi town, she remembered Cole's stories and thought the money would be put to good use by the Swanson family.

"We didn't want to just buy clothes for the children; we wanted them to be able to pick out what they wanted," Lamb explains.

"What makes the way the church did this so special is they sent the money so Denise could buy the uniforms with the kids," Cole says. "Darrien is 12, and that's a tough age.

He wants to wear a certain type of khaki pants, and by sending money Denise could preserve his sense of self and dignity and buy him what he wanted."

"It means so much because I can't get my kids all the things I could before, and that hurts," Denise says.

Churches plan baby shower
Red Hook and Rowe United Methodist churches have decided to adopt the family and send more support. Already the churches are planning a baby shower for Denise's oldest daughter, who is pregnant.

"We plan to have the shower in our lounge and take pictures and send the gifts. After that, we are planning to do Christmas for them," Polotaye says. The churches also want to send a mission team down to Pearlington.

"I am just so proud of what these two lay people have done," says the Rev. Dave Jolly, pastor of both New York congregations. "We are too small to be doing this, but we are doing it. Any time they have encountered roadblocks, they have built bridges over the roadblocks."

Cole has formed the Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization, to fund the building of permanent houses for families and individuals whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

She is painfully aware of the looming deadline of February when the Federal Emergency Management Agency has said it will reclaim the trailers it has provided to those left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. For more information on how to donate to the foundation, go to www.pearlingtonproject.org.

Jolly says it is amazing what churches full of spirit-filled people can do.

"One leap of faith has just led to another."

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

Katrina one year later: remembering, rebuilding

A UMNS Report By Kathy L. Gilbert*

For many along the U.S. Gulf Coast, the countdown to the new year will start Aug. 29 - not Jan. 1.

Hurricane Katrina hit Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana Aug. 29, 2005, followed less than a month later, on Sept. 24, by Hurricane Rita, which struck Texas and Louisiana.

As the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, United Methodist churches everywhere will pause to remember lives lost and give praise for lives saved. Special services will be held, and congregations will collect an offering Aug. 27 for the Council of Bishops' Katrina Church Recovery Appeal.

United Methodist News Service will carry a series of stories running from Aug. 25 to Sept. 1 profiling the work volunteers have done in the past year to restore order to the chaos left behind by the storms. The series will feature an interactive coastal map pinpointing churches damaged and destroyed as well as churches rebuilt and restored.

United Methodist volunteers have put thousands of hours into the recovery effort and donated $7.6 million in relief supplies. The United Methodist Committee on Relief raised more than $66 million and was recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of the "big names in Katrina relief."

In New Orleans, Katrina damaged 90 churches and displaced 80 pastors. In Mississippi the entire coastline from Pearlington to Pecan was flattened and more than 300 churches suffered some damage - seven of them destroyed. In neighboring Alabama, one church was destroyed and another dozen suffered damage.

Hurricane Rita damaged church property in Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange and Bridge City in Texas and in Lake Charles and Cameron Parish in Louisiana.

Remembering
A variety of services and vigils at United Methodist churches will mark the anniversary of Katrina.

The Seashore District of Mississippi will host an Aug. 26 Hurricane Katrina Remembrance Service at Seashore Assembly in Biloxi.

The 10 a.m. service will remember the lives lost in the storm and lift up in prayer the pastors and others who have been on the front line of relief and recovery. Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, the episcopal leader of the Mississippi Area, will speak. In the event of rain, the service will be held at First United Methodist Church, Biloxi.

The doors of United Methodist churches in the New Orleans area will be open for prayer vigils 7-8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 27, and Monday, Aug. 28. Vigils will be held at Munholland, First Street, Bethany, Aurora and Aldersgate United Methodist Churches on Sunday.

Additional vigils will be at St. Matthew's, Rayne, Covenant, Gretna and Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Churches on Monday night. An interfaith service will also be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 29, at St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square in New Orleans, and a service of "Remembrance, Thanksgiving and Hope" is planned for 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27, at First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, La.

Rebuilding
The Council of Bishops is inviting United Methodist churches to support the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal by receiving a special offering on Aug. 27, the Sunday closest to the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

United Methodist Communications has developed Katrina Church Recovery Appeal worship resources, including an order of worship, children's sermon, and bulletin insert. More information is available at http://umc.org/churchrecovery. Katrina Church Recovery Appeal DVDs are also available from district offices in the U.S. annual conferences.

Proceeds from the sale of wristbands inscribed with the words "rebuilding churches and communities" will also benefit the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal. Bracelets are $2 each, with free shipping of orders of 50 or more. Order by calling (888) 346-3862 or going online to the appeal Web site.

Writing in the Mississippi United Methodist Advocate, Bishop Ward gave thanks "for every prayer, every gift, every effort" United Methodists have given to help the Gulf Coast recover.

"You have continued in generosity during the past 12 months. How thankful I am for the light that shines through you," she said. "On Aug. 27, may we once again be amazed by the overwhelming generosity of the connection of United Methodist people."

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

Chernobyl kids receive health care through Carolina church

By Bob Vernon*
CARY, N.C. (UMNS) -- This year marks the 20th anniversary of an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what was then the Soviet Union.

Radioactive fallout equivalent to 150 Hiroshima atomic bomb blasts spewed for 10 days over 77,000 square miles. Most of the damage caused by the April 26, 1986, explosion was felt - and continues to be experienced - by the 10 million residents of the Republic of Belarus, which received 70 percent of the Chernobyl radiation.

Some of the land around Chernobyl will never be habitable again. Farther away from ground zero, the effects of the radiation will be felt for generations. It is the children of these areas that a group of Americans is reaching out to help.

The American Belarussian Relief Organization was created in 1991 for the sole purpose of helping children in the contaminated areas. White Plains United Methodist Church of Cary, N.C., was one of the first churches to get involved in the program. Each summer for a decade, it has brought children from Belarus to North Carolina.

Money for the plane tickets and visas is raised by church members who operate a food concession at the annual fall North Carolina State Fair. Other expenses are covered by special offerings. Church members who are in the medical profession donate their services to the children.

Judi Brettschneider, ABRO project coordinator for the White Plains church, has made many trips to Belarus. The six children who are guests of the church this year are all orphans. As Brettschneider describes the conditions in the village where the orphanage is located, she sounds as if she might be talking about a community from another century.

She says people in the area do not have indoor plumbing, and they line up at a central pump to get their daily water supply. The quality of medical care is no better than their water system, says Brettschneider.

"I appreciate what I have a lot more than I did," Brettschneider says. "I understand that life is not easy for everybody. My life is easy. Even when I have a bad day, my life is easy."

Medical care
The children, ranging in age from 8 to 15, stay with church families for six weeks. The days are filled with picnics and fun on area lakes along with trips to seemingly magical supermarkets and shopping centers.

Visits to American doctors are the most significant part of their summer experiences. While the most common ailments in the highly contaminated villages of Belarus are leukemia and Hodgkin's disease, most of the children have suppressed immune systems that make them vulnerable to other medical problems as well.

One of the children brought here for several summers by the White Plains church has tuberculosis. Each year, she has been treated by North Carolina doctors and medicine has been sent home with her. This summer she shows no signs of the disease.

Another child is being treated by Dr. Steven Boyce, an ears, nose and throat specialist, who is a church member. He says the girl has a condition that needs surgery or she will soon lose hearing in one ear.

Boyce is looking for a way to make sure the child gets the necessary operation. He says her best option would be to return later in the year for the procedure.

A transforming experience
The interchange between the Americans and the children of Belarus is not a one-way street.

Church member Patti Crane says she has learned much from 14-year-old Vika, the teenager staying with the Crane family. "There are a lot of things that make her happy, and material things aren't necessarily the things that make her happy."

While many of the host families would like to adopt the orphans, the Belarus government will not allow it. "I do worry and am concerned about what happens to (Vika) while she is back in the orphanage," Crane says.

"Our church and our church members are transformed," says the Rev. Kelly Lyn Logue associate pastor of the White Plains church, "because we don't write a check to tend to these kids, we actually live out our commitment to them. We all learn new ways of communicating and find that offering home and shelter, friendship and love translates the same in any language."

The church is already making plans to expand the program and to sponsor additional children from Belarus next summer.

More information is available at http://www.abro.org online.

*Vernon is a freelance producer in Cary, N.C.

Volunteers Needed for 61st Avenue UMC Children’s After School Program

Volunteers are needed to work with the 61st Avenue United Methodist Church after school program. The program runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:15 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.

To volunteer or to find out additional conformation contact:
Nita Haywood
Children and Youth Director
61st Avenue UMC
292-7184 or 61aveumc@bellsouth.net

New Yorkers to help rebuild church as part of 9/11 payback

A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom*

A church building that was the focal point of a small Indiana town is being rebuilt - with a special boost from New York area volunteers wanting to give back after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Last Nov. 6, a tornado took 25 lives in the DeGonia Springs community in southwest Indiana and damaged or destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and Baker Chapel United Methodist Church.

This year, Sept. 8-10, at least 40 New York volunteers - including 20 firefighters - will help raise the walls of the new Baker Chapel. The volunteer work is part of an annual 9/11 remembrance sponsored by the New York Says Thank You Foundation.

"You get a cross-section of people who were personally affected by it (9/11) one way or another," Jeff Parness, founder and chairman of the foundation, said about the participants.

The foundation's mission, according to its Web site, is to send volunteers each year "on the 9/11 anniversary to help rebuild communities around the country affected by natural or man-made disasters as our way of commemorating the extraordinary love and generosity extended to New Yorkers by Americans from all across the United States" after the terrorist attacks.

Parness expects a few volunteers from the foundation's previous projects to show up, along with a couple hundred local volunteers and at least 100 from the area's Amish and Mennonite communities.

A Sept. 8 prayer breakfast at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, featuring Bishop Mike Coyner, will kick off the week's volunteer activities. St. Luke's also will provide food services during that time.

The building project is being coordinated through the United Methodist South Indiana Annual (regional) Conference office in Bloomington.

The volunteer crews are expected to work all day Friday and Saturday, with breaks for a barbecue or two and a softball game. The closing ceremony will include a march, complete with bagpipes, down a country road.

Another part of the project involves planting some 400 trees along the path of the tornado to honor both those lost in the tornado and the first responders killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Parness said he started to consider southwest Indiana as the site for the foundation's 2006 project after seeing news about the tornado on television. "It seemed like every cable network had reporters on the ground talking about the total devastation," he added.

He was impressed by the "immediate resilience" of the people there and contacted the Rev. Randy Anderson, the United Methodist disaster coordinator for the Evansville District, about assistance that was needed. "The first thing on his list was Baker Chapel," he recalled.

Parness hopes the weekend project will result in about $300,000 of free labor. "It's a real symbolic event to focus on one building that was really the center of the whole community," he added.

Ground was broken July 30 for the new building. More than 120 members and friends of Baker Chapel United Methodist Church gathered at the "once and future site" of the church to turn dirt at the east edge of DeGonia Springs.

The Rev. Mike Shelton, on the job for just a month, told those gathered, "It's time to say 'good-bye' to the building that was here and 'welcome' to the building that is coming."

Earlier in the day, during Baker Chapel's worship service, the congregation sang "I'll Fly Away" - the same song it had planned to sing the day the tornado struck. Currently, the congregation worships at Boonville Junior High School, about 10 miles west of the church's permanent site.

The Baker Chapel site was first dedicated in the 1840s, when local resident Thomas Baker prayed on the land where residents later built a small log building. That building was replaced in 1861 with a framed, never-painted building. With a growing congregation, the second building was replaced in 1903 with a larger framed building. In 1985, the congregation built a fellowship hall and class rooms.

More information about the New York Says Thank You Foundation and the Baker Chapel rebuilding project can be found at www.NewYorkSaysThankYou.org and www.inareaumc.org on the Web.

Contributions to the Baker Chapel Conference Advanced Special can be sent to South Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 2267, Bloomington, IN 47402-2267.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York. Daniel Gangler, director of communications for the Indiana Area, United Methodist Church, contributed to this report.

Commentary: 'Standing in the gap' in New Orleans

A UMNS Commentary By Carolyn Dandridge*

Less than a year ago, the world watched as generations of Gulf Coast residents - the poor, the physically challenged or mentally impaired, infants, families, community leaders, preachers, gang members, immigrants, seekers and good old-fashioned God-fearing people - struggled against a powerful act of nature called Hurricane Katrina.

Recently, nearly three dozen African Americans formed the first all-black United Methodist team to go into New Orleans and Waveland, Miss. The visit was arranged and funded by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in collaboration with other churchwide agencies, jurisdictional offices, annual conferences and the denomination's black church initiatives.

Our team spent two and a half days in dialogue with African-American pastors, relief workers and survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Then we left the comfort of the InterContinental New Orleans Hotel on fire and ready to do the work of "agents standing in the gap."

A caravan of four vehicles traveled first to Waveland. The 60-minute drive went through a wonderland of brown grass and broken trees still leaning from the weight of the hurricane devastation. Huge trees had been uprooted, the tips of those roots appearing as if they were reaching out to touch something. They seemed to symbolize the lost and uprooted lives in the wake of the storm. This now vast wilderness continues to reach out for hands to help build, restore and create a community that can be called home again.

It had just rained, and God wanted us to feel a sample of what it must have been like on that day Katrina came ashore. As we drove farther into Waveland, we could see empty foundations that called to mind a cemetery with no headstones. We saw tangled piles of wood that once were homes, waiting for attention from anyone or anything - even a bulldozer.

We began to see those famous white trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some trailers stood alone, and others were in front of homes where the occupants were trying to rebuild.

In the midst of it all, I could clearly sense God watching and waiting. It seemed as though God was yearning to see who he could use to build new relationships, rekindle spirits of fire, and create in his people clean hearts, willing to stand on tiptoes and ready to labor in the vineyards again.

Devastation at Gulfside
The journey carried us to Gulfside Assembly - or what used to be Gulfside, one of the United Methodist Church's historic retreat and assembly centers. We saw more of the same kind of destruction we had already observed, yet it was worse than before because many of the team members remembered what Gulfside used to look like.

What was left of the beachside was full of debris and displaced signs. The sand that once was white was now brown, and the only thing left of the pier were the poles that once supported the boardwalk. As we reached our worksite, mosquitoes swarmed the vehicles.

We left Gulfside speechless, emotionally charged, and puzzled that almost a year later, after so much money had been spent, so little was visibly accomplished in this area.

By the time the team returned to New Orleans, I thought I was ready to view the Lower Ninth Ward. We were going to see Brooks United Methodist Church, where members of our group would be doing cleanup work, and then drive by one of the Louisiana Conference's storm recovery centers, where we would help with administrative tasks.

Most of the roads were clear for passage. I have to admit I had no idea what I was going to find in this most devastated area of New Orleans. I was not prepared for what I observed.

Most of the homes we saw were brick. If a home's structure was laid with bricks, it was still standing. If a home was made of wood or had shingles, it was gone, caved in or just rearranged in another location. Marks clearly highlighted the water levels that stood for days in some homes after the city's levees broke. The number of boats that were washed into the Ninth Ward from the more affluent areas of New Orleans was almost comical. There were cars in houses, under houses and smashed beyond recognition.

Spiritual fix needed
What I saw in New Orleans was not about material things. They come and go. I saw God destroying something old so the people can build something new. I talked with pastors, social workers, relief administrators and storm victims, many of whom were trying to rebuild without proper knowledge of the system.

I heard about contractors stealing from survivors and trying to make a dollar by performing unsafe renovations. Many homes, unless they are elevated by an Aug. 29 deadline, face possible seizure by the city under eminent domain. The victims left in those storm areas are searching through rules, regulations and red tape and are running on empty.

They need a great spiritual fix. They need someone to tell their story.

They also want to see black people that look like them down in the trenches getting their hands dirty. They want to see minority-owned contractors gutting homes in the not-so- fashionable space suits and masks. They want to feel the victory of re-establishing their communities, reuniting with lost family members, and overcoming the obstacles in front of them.

Storm victims are calling on senators, civil liberties unions, the NAACP, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, commentators Tavis Smiley, Michael Bason and Tom Joyner, 100 Black Women and Men groups, black fraternities and sororities, black leaders, the Supreme Court and anyone ready to lend a helping hand to bring light to the darkness in New Orleans a year after Katrina and Rita.

We need these citizens to be an active part of society again. They need people marching beside them in the fight to recover their lives despite racism, classism, ignorance, broken families and lost loved ones. There is a war going on in New Orleans as this effort continues.

The team members were from the United Methodist Boards of Global Ministries, Discipleship, Higher Education and Ministry, as well as United Methodist Communications, the Commission on Religion and Race, the Southeastern Jurisdiction Office, Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, and the North Carolina, California-Pacific and the North Georgia annual conferences.

We all went to work and to make a difference. We all left searching, praying, praising the mysterious works of the Almighty Father, and asking for directions.

We can't rest until all of the people of the Gulf Coast see other teams that look like them. We are calling all black Americans, Africans and those from the African Diaspora to take your time, talents, and tactics and use them to help save the people of the Gulf Coast region. It affects us because next time it could be your city, state or region.

*Dandridge is communications project coordinator for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.

Church World Service works on recovery in Indonesia

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Indonesia is recovering from the 2004 tsunami, although at a slower pace than first expected, according to the regional director for Church World Service there.
Problems slowing the process include difficulties in tracing land ownership, securing of proper materials and a lack of trained builders.

"These are all slowing down the building of the houses," said Maurice Bloem, who is based in Jakarta and has led CWS work in Indonesia and Timor Leste for nearly seven years. Bloem and Yasmin Kapitan, communication and information coordinator for CWS Indonesia, spent Aug. 7-8 at CWS headquarters in New York.

On the island of Nias, for example, "we work with the people themselves," he said. "The local carpenters are building our houses." But because of a lack of skilled carpenters, training is needed for additional builders.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief - which has its own tsunami recovery operations - is among the funding partners for the CWS tsunami work. Both are members of Action by Churches Together, and CWS Indonesia is an implementing partner of the ACT tsunami appeal.

The CWS Indonesia response to the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami is focused on Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, Nias and Meulaboh. Projects include programs to rebuild livelihoods, provision of water and sanitation facilities, housing construction, distribution of various supplies, health and nutrition activities, and programs of psychosocial support.

The activities include:
+Forming 18 farming groups, 14 animal husbandry groups, six paddy farmer groups and one fishermen's group on Nias to provide livelihood assistance to 516 households.
+Producing and supplying clean water to 7,328 people daily in the Meulaboh area.
+Offering educational and creative play activities to nearly 600 children in seven villages in the Banda Aceh area.
+Completing 23 of 84 houses to be built in Madula village, Gunung Siotoli, and beginning construction on a children's playground there.

CWS has been in Indonesia since the 1960s, working in partnership with local organizations, and currently has a staff of 308. Many other organizations have come in to do tsunami work, some less successfully than others, according to Bloem.

"We had to face the difficulty of new NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) flying in and not being committed to staying five or 10 years," he explained. "And it will take five or 10 years of work."

Much of the CWS focus is on strengthening and monitoring local NGOs and community organizations "so they can continue our work," Bloem said.

The tsunami recovery and other disasters, including the recent earthquake and tsunami on the southern coast of Java and the earthquake in central Java, are only a part of CWS work with community organizations and vulnerable populations in Indonesia. Overall priorities include improved child nutrition, improved access to water and sanitation, and strengthening the country's civil society.

Indonesia has a "huge, hidden hunger problem," Bloem reported. It also has a growing HIV infection rate that could affect the general population within five to seven years.

For the most part, day-to-day relations between Muslims and the minority Christians in Indonesia are good, and religious groups play a crucial role in HIV/AIDS education, he said.

"Faith-based leaders are an important element in the society of Indonesia."

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

African-American leaders hear needs of damaged churches

By Jeneane Jones*

NEW ORLEANS (UMNS) - The wish list for United Methodist churches damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is a long one.

"If you have it in your church, we will need it in our churches to be vital," the Rev. Martha Orphe told a group of the denomination's African-American staff. The needs cover everything from Bibles and hymnals and computers and printers to refrigerators, furniture, silverware and drywall.

Orphe, the United Methodist mission zone director for the greater New Orleans area, is in charge of helping some 45 churches in the area redefine their ministry. That effort is occurring in a post-hurricane world where - 11 months after the hurricanes - 80 percent of the citizens have lost homes, many churches remain mired in muck and mold, and pastors are relearning that the church is about community-building.

Nearly three dozen African-American staff from churchwide boards, agencies, commissions, conferences and districts gathered July 20-22 in New Orleans under the auspices of National Black Staff Forum for a "Rebuild Our Churches" summit. Afterward, they participated in two days of recovery work in the city and in Mississippi.

During the summit, the black staff members heard from Orphe and others who have been in the trenches since Aug. 29, 2005.

The pastors and lay leaders were emotionally spent, though spiritually strong. "We can't do this kind of living without God," was a refrain the staff members heard from summit participants, who described the loss of homes, church members and belongings with the rhythmic repetition of a sad song, sung too often.

Responding to the question, "What is the state of United Methodist ministry in New Orleans?" Orphe said, "Like everything else, it is hurt, broken and rebuilding."

The Rev. Andrew J. Douglas, a towering, silver-haired pastor working with the St. Matthews, Algiers and Boise United Methodist churches, answered another way.

Rising, he spoke about losing two of his best church members, of living 19 days in a shelter to escape the hurricane's violence, and traveling to Texas with a borrowed shirt and tie to deliver their eulogies. He lightly touched the shoulder of one from his congregation and added, "The district superintendent offered me a church in Shreveport, but I wasn't going anywhere."

His bass voice changed to a preaching timbre as he recalled the 14 members he had in church after the evacuation of New Orleans ended. "I told them to start calling. We would have church on that next Sunday. We had 300 when I got back. Nurture, outreach and worship is vital. When our churches are back, the people will come back."

New mission frontier
Across town in Mission Zone Six, the Rev. James Haynes said the floodwaters brought a sense of renewal to his community. He spoke with pride of the former white and black churches, once separated in worship, which have now, post-Katrina, become a symbol of connectionalism. "We indicated we wanted our churches to worship together. Now it's one of the strengths we have, that we all worship at the same time," he said.

In addition, Haynes' mission zone is setting aside Arabi United Methodist Church for housing work team volunteers. The church, nicknamed the "Arabi Hilton," can house 85 people.

At neighboring Hartzell United Methodist Church in the Lower Ninth Ward, flood damage has prevented worship services, but people want to maintain the church's presence in the community. Soon it will be available to host up to 125 volunteers.

"This is our new frontier of mission. We are rebuilding from the ground up," Orphe said. "And it is not just the structures that need rebuilding. We need help bringing our people back. We need churches to partner with us. We need people to come down to do vacation Bible school, discipleship training."

Orphe pointed out that damaged churches cannot look to the United Methodist Committee on Relief for assistance with rebuilding because the agency's mandate does not include repairing churches. Instead, the agency provides services to Katrina survivors. In response, the United Methodist Council of Bishops has launched the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal to help rebuild the storm-stricken churches. Information is available at http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=11099.

Participants at the two-day session divided their time between strategizing in small groups and hearing from pastors and lay people from around the state. They discussed ways to reconnect churches in the region with the denomination's resources. They listened as pastors shared their needs, including expertise to strengthen their congregations and help finding their church members.

Churches of color needed
The summit grew out of a challenge made at last March's national meeting of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, according to 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. "We wanted to encourage African Americans to be a more visible presence among the countless volunteers that are helping rebuild the region." The summit and relief effort were organized by the board.

The Rev. Connie Thomas heads the Louisiana Conference volunteer effort. "We need partnership churches of color to be on the list," she said. "We are grateful to all who come to work with us, but we need to see the faces that look like us too. They represent our strength and a unique understanding of what we are going through."

Volunteer work teams can partner with the mission zone churches and learn more about the relief effort by visiting www.laumcstormrelief.com. They may also sign up to partner by calling (877) 345-5193.

Thomas noted that the conference's volunteer effort focuses on the people and the churches.

"There are less than 50 churches that need to be rebuilt and repaired. We have more than 200,000 families that need our help. They need a home to come back to before they can go to church. We need volunteers who can rebuild homes, as well as help to rebuild lives."

Listening and acting
At the start of the summit, the Rev. Kelvin Sauls told participants "we're here to listen and take action." The newly appointed national director of congregational development at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship led two work groups to the Gulf Coast earlier this year and helped facilitate the gathering of pastors and agency leaders at the summit.

By the end of the summit, the power of water, its capability for destruction, also came to symbolize the power of unity and rebirth.

Sauls recalled a South African proverb in urging participants to share the information they had learned as widely as possible. "'Any waterfall starts with one drop.' Our work is but one drop in a waterfall for justice and God's righteousness."

The 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.

*Jones is director of communications for the California-Nevada Annual Conference.