Almost four years after Hurricane Katrina brought New Orleans to its knees Aug. 29, 2005, Southern Baptists continue to spend a week or so in the Big Easy, volunteering their time and skills to rebuild or refurbish homes devastated by the deadly storm.
But the number of Baptists who are volunteering is no longer enough.
Since May 1, 2006, under Operation NOAH (New Orleans Area Hope) Rebuild — a cooperative ministry of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) — more than 25,000 Southern Baptist volunteers have assisted in rebuilding 1,801 flood-damaged homes. These volunteers represent some 1,530 Southern Baptist Convention churches from every state convention in the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii. Operation NOAH also has assisted in the recovery of 32 churches and 15 other ministry centers or schools damaged by Katrina.
And as a direct result of Operation NOAH, more than 400 professions of faith have been recorded, according to the latest available statistics.
According to Mickey Caison, NAMB’s team leader for adult volunteer mobilization, 70 more homes remain in the Operation NOAH pipeline for reconstruction or renovation.
“We want to complete every one of them,” he said. “Some of the folks we still want to help have not received any assistance at all from their insurance companies or the federal government and are the folks who’ve fallen through the cracks,” Caison said, noting that only 60 percent of the residents displaced by Katrina have moved back home.
“We desperately need Southern Baptists who are skilled as drywall workers, plumbers, electricians, framing carpenters and finishing carpenters to volunteer to help us,” he said.
“We can house up to 145 volunteers a week, but we’re not averaging 145 a week. We only had 66 volunteers during May.”
Caison said volunteers are housed in a volunteer “village” at Hopeview Baptist Church in nearby St. Bernard Parish.
For volunteer opportunities with Operation NOAH, e-mail noah@namb.net or call 1-877-934-0808. (BP)
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