[LCMSNews] RAI marks Katrina fifth anniversary

["LCMS e-News" <LCMSENEWS@lcms.org>]

>

>8.19.2010
>       LCMS News

>THE LUTHERAN CHURCH Missouri Synod

August 19, 2010 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 75

RAI Ministries marks fifth anniversary of Katrina

>By Linda C. Hoops

Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated more than 90,000 square
miles, killed nearly 2,000 and changed the lives and futures of
countless people along the Gulf Coast, Recovery Assistance Inc.
Ministries (RAI) continues to house and coordinate volunteers coming 
to
New Orleans to help people rebuild their lives, homes, churches and
communities.

RAI operates Camp Restore, located at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
and School in New Orleans East.  In 2006 LCMS World Relief and Human
Care, Laborers For Christ, Orphan Grain Train and the LCMS Southern
District led the effort to establish the camp for "Restoring Faith, 
Home
and Community to Victims of Katrina."

To commemorate five years of restoration since Katrina's landfall on
Aug. 29, 2005, RAI is holding several "K5" events, including a
decommissioning service for Camp Biloxi in Mississippi, a sister camp 
to
Camp Restore.  The service will be led by LCMS President Dr. Gerald B.
Kieschnick at 10:30 a.m. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, where he
served in his first call as pastor from 1970 to 1973.

Camp Biloxi, which began as a "tent city" to house thousands of
volunteers eager to help immediately following Katrina, is located on
the grounds of the church and adjoining land west of the property.  
The
city of Biloxi, which twice named the camp its  "Nonprofit Volunteer
Organization of the Year," has asked that it discontinue its operation
and return the church grounds to their pre-Katrina condition as part 
of
the city's efforts to bring Biloxi "back to some semblance of normal."

Kieschnick also will lead a 7 p.m. worship service at Prince of Peace
Lutheran Church and Camp Restore in New Orleans later that day.

"As a result of Hurricane Katrina, the nation's economic recession, 
and
the recent oil debacle, residents of the Gulf Coast have experienced
more than their share of difficulty and disaster," he said.  "So I 
want
to do anything I can to help restore a sense of hope that the
providential care of our gracious God will bring better days and that,
in spite of the turmoil and trouble of their lives, they are able to 
see
the peace of God that passes all understanding, through Christ our
Lord."

>A Chicago connection

Some 950 miles to the north, a group of churches in the northwest
suburbs of Chicago who have formed the Chicago Area Mission 
Partnership
will gather to hold a K5 fundraising event for the restoration of
Trinity Lutheran Church in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward.

Trinity is the last LCMS church still standing that has not been 
rebuilt
since Katrina. Located just blocks from the levee that failed, the
church filled with more than 12 feet of water. Its members were
displaced throughout the country and the decision was made to disband
the congregation. The goal of the partnership is to restore Trinity 
as a
place of worship and a community center focused on youth by Easter 
2012.

The Aug. 29 event, which includes food and activities for children, 
will
take place at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Barrington, Ill., from 2 
to 5
p.m. At 4 p.m., a prayer service will be held to remember those who
continue to struggle in the aftermath of Katrina.

Dave Moll, a member of St. Matthew who has served as leader of two
volunteer teams from various Chicago churches to Camp Restore,
emphasized the goal of the event is threefold:

*       "To remember what happened in August 2005 and continue to keep
the people of this area in our prayers.

*       "To reunite our mission teams of past years, as it's been 
great
getting to know brothers and sisters in Christ from other 
congregations.

*       "To restore Trinity Lutheran Church by fundraising, inviting
people to actively take part in a mission trip to the area and by
becoming prayer warriors for this effort," he wrote in an e-mail.

Besides the decommissioning of Camp Biloxi, RAI is undergoing other
changes as well.  Rev. Dave Buss, who served as RAI's executive 
director
for the past four years, is returning to parish ministry.  His 
successor
is Rev. David Goodine, who also was installed as pastor of Prince of
Peace Lutheran Church Aug. 15.

Also this summer, the Capital One--University of New Orleans Charter
School Network approached Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and RAI
Ministries about housing Pierre A. Capdau Elementary School in the
former Prince of Peace Lutheran School Building, which has been home 
to
Camp Restore since 2006.

The camp has been relocated to bunkhouses on the back lot of the 
Prince
of Peace campus as well as the church building and a portion of the
school building.

During the transition, Camp Restore continued to feed, house and equip
volunteers each week, including more than 500 youth who stayed there 
for
the weeks immediately before and after July's National LCMS Youth
Gathering. In addition, 600 more youth worked on restoration projects
throughout the city, including homes, churches, parks, schools, youth
centers and homeless shelters for two days prior to the July 17-21 
Youth
Gathering.

At its Gathering booth, the camp offered youth the opportunity to
practice their drywall mudding and taping skills -- one of many 
projects
volunteers regularly engage in through Camp Restore.

>'Fun Camp' for kids

Also in July, the camp co-sponsored a three-day "Down 'Da Road Fun 
Camp"
for about 100 children of fishermen whose daily work schedule was
curtailed by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The oil spill hadn't just affected the employment of the father or 
the
mother, but for many it had affected the whole family's way of life,"
Michael Pieper, a Camp Restore intern and event organizer, wrote in a
blog on the camp's website.  "I also learned that since the main or 
only
source of income had recently slowed or ceased, some of these families
were now living without electricity. With no electricity indoors, it
being in the heat of the summer outdoors, and, ultimately, without the
routine activities of participating in fishing, children had ended up
with no other option than to stay indoors with little or no activity."

Volunteers from Camp Restore played games with the children, led art
projects and "were absolutely incredible with the kids, nothing short 
of
blessings, straight from God, into the hearts and smiles of these
children.

"Every single child," Pieper added, "experienced the gift of fun and
joy, but gave it back tenfold to us 'grown-ups.' Throughout the three
days, I heard a number of kids say how much fun they were having,
especially compared to how boring most days have been this summer."

The co-sponsoring of the children's camp with the St. Bernard Project,
which helps families in the Orleans and St. Bernard parishes to 
rebuild
their homes, is representative of the more than 60 churches, schools 
and
nonprofit organizations RAI has partnered with in the New Orleans 
area.

"In addition to restoring homes, volunteers are equipped to use their
diverse gifts on a wide range of projects that reach far beyond
brick-and-mortar," said Kurt Jostes, RAI's director of advancement.
"Many volunteers have been inspired to engage in similar efforts in
their hometowns and around the world in partnership with LCMS World
Mission."

Lessons learned from RAI's volunteer camps have also been included in
congregational disaster-response training provided by LCMS World 
Relief
and Human Care (WR-HC), as part of the organizations' continued
partnership.

"Camp Restore and RAI have rebuilt, rehabbed or repaired well over 
6,000
homes," said WR-HC Executive Director and Synod President-elect Rev.
Matthew C. Harrison.  "There's a lot of work yet to do, and RAI and 
Camp
Restore have the capacity to do it."

WR-HC Director of Disaster Response Rev. Glenn Merritt said he can
testify to the care shown by RAI for the people affected by Katrina.

"For the staff and thousands of volunteers at Camp Restore and Camp
Biloxi over the past five years "Restoring Faith, Home and Community" 
is
more than just a slogan, it is a commitment to compassion," he said.

"Through Camp Biloxi and Camp Restore, over 33,000 volunteers have
changed the lives of those in the community," noted Buss in a
newsletter.  "Romans 8:28 says that God works for the good of those 
who
love Him, in all things.  This has certainly been true -- even in
something as devastating as Katrina.

"Here along the Gulf Coast, He has worked good for His people through
His people: those who prayed, volunteered, encouraged and gave of 
their
time, talents and treasure.  To be part of this 'Good Work' has been
both humbling and exhilarating."

For more information about Camp Restore,  click here
<http://www.camprestore.org>  or call 888-248-2636.  For information
about the restoration of Trinity Lutheran Church,  click here
<http://www.restoretrinity.org> .

Linda C. Hoops is a freelance writer and a member of Lutheran Church 
of
the Resurrection, Sunset Hills, Mo.

>****************************************

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<mailto:joe.isenhower@lcms.org>  or (314) 996-1231, or Paula Schlueter
Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org <mailto:paula.ross@lcms.org>  or (314)
996-1230.

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