Baptists launch rebuilding effort in New Orleans

Baptists launch rebuilding effort in New Orleans

Describing a task as “God-sized” has become somewhat clichéd, but Jim Burton of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) can’t think of any other way to portray Southern Baptists’ latest effort to help hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. Afterall, when NAMB, along with Louisiana Baptists, expects to rebuild 1,000 homes and 20 churches in a two-year period, “it is a huge task,” he said.

But Operation NOAH (New Orleans Area Hope) Rebuild — an expected $10 million project — is underway and making a difference in the greater New Orleans area, said Burton, director of volunteer mobilization for NAMB. “We’ve already mobilized 3,500 people.”

But this is just a minor showing of the anticipated 50,000 volunteers coming to New Orleans over the next two years, said Mike Canady, director of the missions and ministries team for the Louisiana Baptist Convention.

Administratively speaking, managing the comings and goings of this many volunteers would be a full-time job in itself, Burton noted. But add to it the organization, processing and managing of the on-site rebuilding efforts and there has to be a team of people dedicated solely to the project, he explained.

“My staff is too small. The Louisiana staff is too small,” Burton said. “There has to be some degree of structure on the ground to pull this off. If I don’t put infrastructure in place, I don’t help the people.”

And so a staff is currently being put into place. So far, two people have been hired for the two-year commitment to work on the team, which will be housed at Calvary Baptist Church, Algiers, in the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, Burton said.

The two, whose names have not yet been released, are a married couple. The husband will serve as the construction coordinator and the wife as the office manager. A project coordinator has not been named yet, but Burton anticipated that to happen soon.

“The couple quit their jobs and are moving to manage this project,” he said, noting they have a background with World Changers and Habitat for Humanity. “They made radical adjustments to their lives to help … and there is no guarantee beyond the two-year commitment.”

The project coordinator will work directly with the project’s overall steering committee, which is made up of representatives of NAMB, the state convention, area associations and local churches, Canady said, noting he will be the state denominational liaison on the committee.

While the final details are still being tweaked as to who actually will have the final call on what takes place, Canady said the steering committee members will work together to determine the priority of projects. “We will make sure we have local input.”

Churches that are affiliated with the Baptist associations in the affected area will be top priority, Canady said, but he did not close the door on help for others if the committee determined a specific situation to be an appropriate project.

“We will work with each church on what they need,” Canady said, noting that the state convention has already been working with church rebuilding efforts.

He said the damage to churches is at varying levels. “Some have repairs going on now; some are just sitting there with nothing being done because there is no congregation or no pastor. “We will probably integrate what we are already doing with NOAH,” Canady said.

Some work will also be done on the Northshore, a section of Louisiana above Lake Pontchartrain that continues to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina’s blow to the state.

When it comes to selection of which homes to rebuild, he said the plans were to try to work with neighborhoods that are connected with local Baptist churches. The homeowners will not have to be Baptist, Canady noted.

“We will help the people whomever they are,” Burton said. “We want the people of New Orleans to see this … as an effort of Southern Baptists reaching out to their community through local churches.”

Canady said he anticipates using some of the Louisiana convention’s disaster relief funds for this project, but the major source of funding — $5 million — came from NAMB.

“We received about $22 million designated for Katrina,” Burton said. While “a great deal” of the money has already been distributed, he said $5 million was recently earmarked for NOAH. “The $5 million will be used as seed money for infrastructure, building materials, etc., to manage the project,” he said.

Anticipating needing another $5 million before the project ends, Burton said a volunteer fee will be charged to help offset the cost. “We want the volunteers to have an investment in the project,” he said, noting the fee has not yet been set but will probably be between $20 and $25 per day.

With the fee, volunteers will receive a prepackaged missions experience, Burton explained. A tent city is being built for housing of volunteers, and all meals will be provided. “This will allow volunteers to be less concerned about logistics and more focused on the project,” he said.

When a group signs up to participate in the project, it will be assigned to a specific place and a task to accomplish according to the time frame requested, Canady said. “Job assignments will be determined by what they can work.

“Volunteers will need to be prepared to work in conditions that will be very challenging,” he said. “In some cases, it will involve skilled workers, but there are so many jobs in terms of cleanup and putting back together that everyone doesn’t have to (be trained in a certain area).”

Canady said one of the greatest needs is for a commitment to long-term work. “This is going to be a long-term process,” he said. “I think we can make a difference in two years. A lot will depend upon local authorities in terms of permits.

“We do have to wait on governmental authorities that tell you what can be done in a particular part of the city,” Canady said.

Tommy Puckett, director of disaster relief for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said chain saw teams from Alabama are scheduled to work in the New Orleans area soon. While the chain saw teams are finishing up work previously started, he said Alabama Baptists will be “ready and willing” to help in other ways.

“This is going to be another opportunity for our people to serve,” Puckett said. “I think [the NOAH project] is going to be an excellent opportunity for Southern Baptists to help people not only from a physical standpoint but also a spiritual standpoint as well.

“They’re going to need massive numbers of groups to come in and work in order for it to take place,” he said.

While NOAH leaders are looking to partner with state conventions and other groups, World Changers will be a vital part of the project, Burton said. World Changers will be in New Orleans for five weeks with about 1,000 students participating, he said.

“Much of the summer is going to be spent tearing out houses and getting ready for rebuild,” Burton said.

Canady said, “I think this is one of the major things taking place for us in terms of Southern Baptist work.”

For more information about Operation NOAH Rebuild, visit www.namb.net or call 1-877-934-0808. (Erin W. Tunnell contributed)