The Quiet After the Storm

NEW ORLEANS, LA (September 28, 2005) - (Editor's note: Following is a special report from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast where a delegation from the Evangelical Covenant Church is surveying the damage to better direct relief efforts and resources.)

It is the shock of silence.

Only weeks ago, waters raged through a New Orleans neighborhood, ripping houses from their foundations and even carrying one residence an entire block before leaving it shattered. Sea shells were left scattered among the bricks that are the only visible reminder of another house that once stood. Cars were backed up onto trees. A large recreational vehicle was pushed the distance of several lots and is now parked neatly in a front yard.

Down another block, holes in three neighboring roofs are testimony to the struggle for life by those who were trapped in their homes - forced into attics before escaping. Large orange markings on the sides of the homes are reminders of the military's hunt for survivors and the dead. It's all quiet now.

Images in the print and broadcast media document the physical destruction left by Hurricane Katrina, but they cannot adequately convey the stillness. The silence becomes even more apparent when it is broken.

A single helicopter works nearby to continue strengthening the levee that broke and allowed the water to surge into the residential area. There are the footsteps of a few former residents who hope to find at least family photographs amid the ruins. CNN journalist Anderson Cooper and his crew are set up on one street corner and are discussing with a couple the loss of their home.

The silence impressed itself on the delegation traveling through the area on a fact-finding trip. Leading the delegation are Jim Sundholm, director of Covenant World Relief (CWR), and Kurt Miericke, superintendent of the Southeast Conference, who are meeting with area leaders to determine how the denomination can best help with reconstruction efforts. Today, the group is expected to travel through areas of Mississippi affected by Katrina, including Natchez, where Covenanters are offering shelter to victims of the storm.

Planning for the future is important, says Sundholm, because organizations such as the Red Cross provide immediate relief over the first several weeks of the disaster, but do not help with reconstruction. That will be a costly process taking several years, he adds.

By making contacts now, Sundholm believes CWR can better help direct Covenant churches on how best to help with the work that needs to be done, whether it is cleanup, restoration or reconstruction. Of particular importance, Sundholm stresses, is identifying and responding to the needs of people who otherwise might "fall through the cracks."

People want to get on with their lives and they are moving in different directions. Some want to return; others already have decided they won't return, even to see their homes, says Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship. "You're a pastor one day, and the next day your flock is all over the country," he notes.

Shanks and others continue to care for those in their community. The first stop Tuesday was at the East Jefferson Community Health Center, which the parish (regional government) closed prior to Katrina's arrival. The government did not have funds available to continue operating the facility afterwards, so it gave permission to Shanks and others to run the center. A team of physicians from the northeastern United States is scheduled to arrive this weekend so the clinic can reopen on Monday.

Jack Andonie is serving as the medical director. He is a physician who has delivered more than 10,000 babies in the parish and who also serves on the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors. Joe Aidoo, the center's executive director, says medicines are needed as are vaccines because school also is scheduled to reopen Monday.

Helping to organize food relief outside the center was Corbett Group, who had once attended Redeemer Evangelical Covenant Church in Liverpool, New York. He had driven south days earlier to help.

Clothes and food are in plentiful supply currently, he said. He and Shanks say they are praying for mobile homes or recreational vehicles in which teams of physicians and other workers can stay when they volunteer. Also needed are vehicles to transport people, Group added.

There is a sense of hope among the volunteers, who say they have been able to share the gospel with storm victims in many different ways. "This is a great opportunity for the Lord Jesus Christ," said Shanks. Many of the people receiving assistance appreciate being prayed for, he added.

Amid destroyed residences, four members of the Oklahoma National Guard surveyed the neighborhood they first saw submerged beneath the flood waters when they arrived several weeks earlier. Robert Owens, Southeast Conference associate superintendent, spoke with one individual and then prayed. The Guardsman was preparing to leave for Oklahoma, but soon will likely return to Iraq for his third tour of duty.

The top photo shows Robert Owens praying with a member of the Oklahoma National Guard. In the center photo, CNN reporter Anderson Cooper and his producer listen to a woman express her anger at the lack of government response. The lower photo shows Corbett Group, who once attended Redeemer Covenant Church in Liverpool, New York, telling Covenant World Relief Director Jim Sundholm that housing for volunteers is in short supply. To see additional photos, please see Images of Stillness.

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