We came here to try to say thank you,” Lisa Comfort said as she sat in the fellowship hall at Chappell Hill Baptist Church, Gilbertown, in Choctaw Baptist Association.
Sitting beside her 11-year-old daughter Alyssa, Comfort spoke with much emotion about the events of the past year. She wiped away tears as she talked about the storm that devastated their home, the Christian people who gave time and money to help them and the new faith that she found because of it all.
A 26-year resident of Diamondhead, Miss., Comfort and her daughter lived alone in a small, but comfortable, home near the coast, a home that was a source of much pride for a single parent on a low income.
But that was before Hurricane Katrina.
“We had only been in that house for about 15 months,” Comfort said. “I had lived in a small condo before. It was the biggest place I’d ever had. Now I’m living in a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) trailer.”
When Katrina loomed off the Gulf Coast last August, the mother and daughter grabbed a few of their treasured belongings and moved just a few blocks away to Diamondhead Baptist Church. Designated as a shelter for evacuees, the church became a temporary home for the Comforts and about 150 other Diamondhead residents.
When the storm was over, the Comforts’ home was filled with nearly 10 feet of water. All of their belongings were destroyed, and the house was rendered virtually unlivable.
Circumstances looked grim for Comfort. She had no flood insurance, no money and no one to help her repair the home to make it livable again. For the next three and a half weeks, she and Alyssa lived at the church.
“So many times, I wished that it had all been gone so I didn’t have to see it,” Comfort said. “It was hard to go in there and see all of our things destroyed. It was the hardest day of my life. It would have been easier if it had just been gone.”
“I wouldn’t go in there at all for the first three weeks,” Alyssa added.
But in the midst of the tragedy, with no idea where the help would come from, Comfort began to realize that something positive could come from the storm that had so riddled her life. The tragedy and its aftermath changed more than just her home. It changed her heart.
“Even though it was so bad, a lot of good things happened,” she said.
In October 2005, just two months after the hurricane, a group of eight Christian volunteers from Choctaw County, Ala., traveled to Diamondhead to help. It was during this time that Comfort first met Billy May.
“Some people from our church (Chappell Hill) and some from Butler all went down there to see if we could help,” recalled May, who serves as men’s ministry director for Choctaw Association. “We found out about Lisa’s situation, and Bro. Franklin (McLelland) had gone to her house to see what needed to be done. We completely tore the house out that first day and swept it out. That’s how we left it.”
On the way home, May discussed Comfort’s situation with McLelland, director of missions for the association. The next week, the two talked again and decided to rebuild her house.
As the project got underway, churches in Choctaw Association were asked to donate funds for the work that needed to be done. May, along with Chappell Hill Pastor Leon Ross, traveled back to Diamondhead, made a list of needed supplies and set a date to begin the project. Sheetrock and other supplies were transported to Comfort’s home, and a team of about 22 Choctaw Association volunteers got to work. After a short time, the home was almost completely restored.
And through the witness of those who had come to her aid, she came to know Christ.
“Before the storm, I was struggling,” Comfort said. “I had financial problems and had almost lost hope. My neighbor across the street had read me a passage about how even the birds are taken care of by God. Then one day — it was the Wednesday before the storm — I was upset and Alyssa came home and said, ‘Let me read you something.’ She read the same passage.”
In the months following the storm, Comfort began attending church with Alyssa, who had been going to church with some neighbors. Through it all, Comfort said she began to realize that although the storm had devastated her home and community, God had used it for good.
“It really put things in perspective for me,” Comfort said. “So many people have helped me financially and in other ways. I was on the verge of bankruptcy and had lost hope. But now I know I’m going to be OK.”
An emotional Alyssa choked back tears as she talked about her faith and the people who reached out to help her during and after the crisis. “I was so scared during the storm,” Alyssa said. “I was watching out the window, and our neighbor Mr. Royce came and prayed with me. My mom had only gone to church with me maybe one or two times before that.”
Now she goes all the time.
The two were baptized March 12 at Diamondhead Baptist.
The sanctuary was packed for the event, with church family, friends and members of the community turning out to support them.
Recently the Comforts traveled to Choctaw County. It was, they said, a chance to say thank you.
“There’s no way to say it,” Comfort said, smiling tearfully at May. “I am so blessed. I’ve heard about ‘church families’ before. Now I know what that means.”
Share with others: