Holding their keys high for all to see, 30 New Orleans families celebrated the joy of home ownership Aug. 19.
The brightly painted new homes in the Upper Ninth Ward — part of the Baptist Crossroads Project — and the smiles of the new owners offered a message of hope in the battered city just days before the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Habitat for Humanity and Southern Baptists in New Orleans teamed up to make the statement — “New Orleans is coming back.”
“This is … an investment of our blood, our sweat and our tears as an endowment to hard-working families in this community to lift them to a new level of economic stability and give them a stake in the community,” said David Crosby, pastor of First Baptist Church, New Orleans.
Along with the homes, each new homeowner received a new washer and dryer from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s office. Landscaping and road repaving grants have also been secured to begin developing the new community.
The dedication ceremony was the culmination of a two-year journey. The idea of building homes in the city’s Upper Ninth Ward first came to Crosby in 2004 — long before Katrina.
During a 2004 prayer breakfast, Crosby heard Mayor Ray Nagin say that “home ownership is the most important factor in lifting a family out of poverty.” The idea rang true to Crosby. Crosby prayed for God’s guidance on addressing the issue.
With God’s leading, Crosby and First, New Orleans, pursued the idea of building 40 new homes in the name of Christ.
First, New Orleans, teamed up with Baptist Community Ministries and the local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. The joint effort — known as the Baptist Crossroads — called for the construction of 40 homes during the summer of 2006. The Baptist Crossroads Foundation planned to announce the plan in a press conference with Nagin in September 2005. Katrina hit just weeks before that announcement could be made. The city suddenly faced even more housing needs. First, New Orleans, immediately began ministering to the needs of the city — providing food and gutting homes.
But instead of putting the Baptist Crossroads Project off, Crosby and Jim Pate of New Orleans Habitat continued with the plan. On June 5 of this year, construction began. Over the summer, some 2,500 volunteers — mostly Baptist, mostly teenagers — created a new community of bright blue, pink, green, purple and orange houses.
While each of the new homeowners worked on houses at the site — something Habitat calls “sweat equity” — volunteer labor was essential to the project. Inman Houston, associate pastor of community ministries and single adults at First, New Orleans, said close to 1,000 of the volunteers came to the site through the North American Mission Board’s World Changers program. Youth on Mission sent more than 200 teens to the site.
When Windell Ricard accepted the keys to his family’s new home Aug. 19, he thanked all the volunteers who came.
Ricard said he was impressed by the actions of the many “15- and 16-year-olds” who worked at the site. He thanked these “young adults” for giving their time to help his community.
Crosby calls the Baptist Crossroads site, located at the corner of Alvar and North Roman streets, “the most hopeful place in New Orleans.” He has good reason, too — in that general area, at least 26 people have accepted Christ since the ground-breaking ceremony.
As a lone worker prepared the site this summer with a bulldozer, Crosby arrived to pray that God would use the project as a witness to the city. The operator of the bulldozer — a man named Gary — came to speak with Crosby.
Gary shared his Katrina story. It had been difficult for him. Crosby sensed the man’s spiritual need and shared the gospel. There on-site, before one nail was driven, before one foundation was poured, Gary prayed to receive Christ.
The Baptist Crossroads Project did not meet the goal of building 40 homes in the summer of 2006 but the project will continue.
The remaining 10 homes scheduled for this summer will be completed during the 2007 spring break. And the Baptist Crossroads Foundation plans to make homebuilding an annual affair. Their goal: 160 additional homes by 2008 — a strong witness to a hurting city. (BP)
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