Lessons from Katrina :: Deeper Devotion

By Tim Wade

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life… (2 Corinthians 1: 8 NASB)

When Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC announced in September the formation of Operation G.R.A.C.E. to assist the victims of hurricane Katrina, I knew immediately that the Lord wanted me to go. Three weeks and seven-hundred miles later on a Sunday morning I’m sitting in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church, North Mobile, Alabama with 127 other students from Southeastern listening to Dr. Ed Litton preached his second sermon of the day.

Almost five weeks after hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico, southern Alabama didn’t look too bad, but Dr. Litton painted a different picture. He told the story of people who no longer have homes and people who have lost an entire life’s worth of property.

”I learned a lot when I was in school,” said the pastor, “but they don’t teach you how to deal with this in the seminary.”

In his sermon Dr. Litton told the story of a friend of his, who is a veteran pastor whose church lost everything. Their building was destroyed, most of the families are homeless, and several have lost their lives. Dr. Litton said his friend turned to him, and with tears streaming down his face told him that he was leaving the ministry. ”I learned a lot when I was in school,” said the pastor, “but they don’t teach you how to deal with this in the seminary.”

After the service the church fed us and Dr. Litton addressed our group before we caravaned forty-five minutes across the state line to Temple Baptist Church in Moss Point Mississippi, six miles from Pascagoula.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB)

Temple Baptist Church in Moss Point does not have a pastor, at least not the type they teach you to be in seminary. Temple’s pastor is Reverend David Williams, and, like many other pastors in the area, his church, both people and buildings, was hit hard by Katrina. His own home had as much four feet of water in it. The story is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as the man telling it.

Pastor David, in addition to pastoring his own flock in Moss Point, is also coordinating disaster relief efforts with the Jackson County Baptist Association in Pascagoula. He works as many as 18 hours a day or more in an attempt to help meet the needs, not just of his flock, or the needs of other Southern Baptists, but the needs of any and all who can not help themselves and need outside support.

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10 NASB)

On the third day of our journey we finally saw the war zone. My team of eight went to the home of Luna Turner, an elderly woman who was two months shy of her eightieth birthday.

Standing barely five feet tall Mrs. Turner, along with her son, waded in a mixture of salt water and human waste for four hours as hurricane Katrina blew in tidal surge and backed up sewage lines. Neither one of them could swim, so the fear of drowning became very real. Five weeks later our team arrived at her home to find it filled with mold and covered in a thin layer of human excrement. For two days one of the girls on our team thought it was mud.

“This all happened because of you,” she said nodding toward our team of eight seminary students.

One day when I talked with Mrs. Turner she looked down the street that has been her home for forty-two years. “This all happened because of you,” she said nodding toward our team of eight seminary students.

I can see in her eyes that her words contain a twofold meaning. She meant that she believed that God allowed hurricane Katrina to come so that the church, the body of Christ, could show to the world a massive display of unity.

I am convinced that if Southern Baptists did not play a role in the disaster relief efforts it would be at least a decade or more until Mississippi and Louisiana would begin to see recovery.

Mrs. Turner words, however, have another meaning. Like everyone in Jackson County, and the Gulf Coast, she is trying to make sense of what has happened. When she says “This all happened because of you people,” she is really asking a question. None of the devastation, none of the destruction, nothing within the context of the pain of losing everything you own makes any sense!

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. (Hebrews 6:10 NASB)

On Saturday October 8th, 2005 my team and I came home and left Ed Litton, David Williams, and Luna Turner miles away in world that few will ever experience. I want to remember what it smells like to lay on the floor of a mold infested house and get splashed in the face with sewage after removing a drain pipe for an eighty year-old woman. I want to remember what it is like to mourn the loss of brothers in the ministry who can no longer bear the weight of the cross. Most of all, I want to remember what it means to be a servant like Pastor David Williams. I want to remember all these things because these are things that they can’t teach you in the seminary.

It's so easy to crush. But is it right? Jeremy Smith shares about his high school crush and what he's learned.

From the Archives

Trial Marriages?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 06:01 am
10 Comments

What if I am Being Abused?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 11:34 am
18 Comments

Being Honest with Others
Aug 31, 2008 @ 09:59 pm
11 Comments

What’s Your Excuse?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 01:32 pm
5 Comments

What Does the Bible Say About Sex?
Aug 31, 2008 @ 06:57 am
67 Comments