Project: Church Welcome

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katrina aftermath

North Carolina Churches Meet Needs of Katrina Homeless

By Gailon Totheroh
CBN News Science and Medical Reporter

CBN.com – FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina - Victims of Hurricane Katrina have been scattered across America. But now churches and Operation Blessing are coming together to help these people who have lost so much.

On Wednesday, folks were eating lunch at Highland Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Meals at churches are not unusual. But what makes these lunch guests unique is that, a week ago, they were families escaping their homes after Katrina flooded New Orleans.

John Lowery declared, "We just had to leave. You know, my daughters were constantly crying. And they were real scared. So we had to get out of there. Me and my wife made up our mind. We can't swim, neither one of us can swim. That was our main concern, and the water was going to get too high, and we were going to drown."

John and Tasha Lowery trekked out through the flood waters. Tasha recalled, "It smelled like the sewer had actually -- the sewer had came instead of a hurricane. It smelled like a sewer outbreak."

How did the Lowerys get from Louisiana to North Carolina? Well, it is a tale of how God weaves together the lives of many people to make a difference. In fact, these families are pioneers in a new program to connect local churches with evacuees. That program is called Operation Church Welcome -- sponsored by CBN's Operation Blessing.

The idea for the program was hatched five days ago. Last week, Dr. Mark Miller, who has worked with Operation Blessing in Iraq, wanted to go to Louisiana to do trauma surgery.

"So we compiled a surgical team, a six-man surgical team to go down -- four doctors and two assistants -- and then we needed a way down," he remarked.

Miller called some friends in the stock car racing business. "And they made some calls, and I got a call from the Joe Gibbs Racing Team,” Miller said, “and what they did was say, 'We'll be glad to help,' and they stepped up to the plate and flew us down in one of their jets."

That was barely a week ago. Before Miller left, he contacted Operation Blessing to say he was going down to help. Over the next days, that initial contact sparked a web of contacts in the devastation zones.

By Monday, Project Church Welcome was underway, with Louisiana-based Healing Place ministries looking for sheltered families. The Lowerys were among them.

Miller commented. "They were able to identify five families, 21 people, who were ready to leave New Orleans, leave Louisiana to a better life."

That is, Fayetteville - again with the help of the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Miller explained, "They said, 'What do you need?' and I told them what we had, and they said, 'We'll send out a 40-passenger jet, and we'll bring them all back to North Carolina.’"

Wednesday, the families were housed at an Extended Stay America, and an official from the Cumberland County schools worked to enroll the kids in class. They all got a ride to Fayetteville Urban Ministries to start fulfilling their clothing needs.

Another angel at work is Paul Lawing. He's a businessman leading the effort to get the families established in the community as quickly as possible.

And the Lowerys consider all of this miraculous. They say they started seeing miracles even as they struggled to walk through the sludge to freedom.

Despite bad knees, Tasha said, "I was walking in these slippers that I have on my feet, I didn't have any tennis shoes, I didn't have any support, any brace on my knee. I was fine, I was fine, I was saying, 'This is not my work, this is the Lord's work.'"

Ernie Johnson pastors one of the churches adopting the families. He says his congregation is looking forward to hearing those miracle stories.

"And then also, about their fears and anxieties and their worries,” remarked Johnson. “We can only begin to imagine what it would be like if we lost everything. And these people did lose everything. And they'll probably be --- North Carolinians.”

More pastors are getting involved -- a local youth pastor heard a news report about the evacuees Tuesday night. Youth Pastor David Murphy showed up Wednesday just to see how he and his congregation could help:

"It's going to take a lot of dedication. It's not something we're going to be able to do today and stop tomorrow. It's got to be something we're consistent at -- and we're just going to have to keep working, keep working until it's done,” Murphy said. “And I believe we have enough strength here to do what needs to be done."

Miller says he is seeing that dedication arise as the community overwhelms him with phone call offers of housing, food, jobs, prayers -- all manner of hospitality.

Tasha said, "You know, in New Orleans they may give you some things or whatever like that, but not the kind of hospitality they've been giving us -- it's awesome, it is awesome, and I am truly thankful."

"Things happen for a reason. I always heard about it, but I feel it now. I say my prayers every night and thank God that we are here," John said.

What does it take to restore the lives of the hurricane homeless? Communities are finding that churches like this one are a crucial foundation in solving the crisis – one family at a time.

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