Louisiana
Katrina Relief Missions Trip Reflections
by Angie Frederick
In past years, every time we had a mission speaker talk about what they were doing and how they were serving the Lord, my heart would desire to go. My response to God was, “Here I am Lord, send me! “, but He clearly said that it was not time yet. With 3, then 4, then 5 children that He was blessing us with, He kept on reminding me that they are my first and foremost mission field at this time. Little did I know that the Lord was preparing my heart to eventually go and serve in missions.
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped through the coast of Louisiana. The following spring our church organized a team to go to Houma, Louisiana to help those in great need of reconstruction. With my parents living in Lafayette, Louisiana and the timing of the trip, all details seem to point to an open door for Kenn, my husband, and I to go on a short-term mission trip. So, down we went with a team of 21 people to help those in need.
Half the Louisiana Team with homeowner Michelle
Nunez and friend in the center.
During the week we were there, the Lord mightily united our team to reconstruct the home we were assigned to. The leaders were expecting to begin some construction right after clean up, but to everyone’s surprise, by Friday the house was ready to be moved into. Praise the Lord for the mighty work He has done.
The damage from the hurricanes was very extensive and need was great. The following spring another team went down to Louisiana. This time we stayed at Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Covington, Louisiana and joined their Disaster Relief Team. It was incredible to see how the Lord was moving and mobilizing individuals to serve on short-term missions. There were numerous families that had been called to stay long-term to help with disaster relief efforts.
The church in Covington was a comfortable church, much like ours, but the Lord literally changed that overnight. Pastor Mike was called by God to transform His church, Trinity Evangelical Free Church, into a crisis response center for the community. I remember one of Kenn’s comments about their stained and worn carpet needing to be replaced. But we both were humbled as the Lord revealed where the stains came from. Since the storm, Trinity has opened its door to teams from all over the world. Up to 200 volunteers per week were flooding in to help the community. The training and activities took place in the church worship center and the volunteers even ate and slept there.
Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana
The training we received emphasized focus on the people and not so much on what work needed to be done. God is after the souls of men and not after how many buildings will be restored. They encouraged us to not work on the houses all the time but deliberately reach out and get to know people around the neighborhood, hear their story, and simply pray with and for them. Well, I know that for most of us we were “doers” and to go and talk to strangers was – well, “My momma taught me not to talk to strangers!” – totally out of our comfort zone. Our team was placed in an isolated and abandoned area. So we were off the hook, right? No, the Lord brought people to us: delivery guys, other workers, plus the families that owned the devastated homes in the area. It was a great privilege to pray with and for them. Among all the fellowshipping, the Lord allowed our team to put some finishing touches on the house we did work on for Nicole Hill. She and her family to be able to move in shortly after our team left.
Our 3rd trip to the Gulf Coast was the most impacting and life-changing for all of us. God placed us in a busy area. He must have thought that we were ready for greater exposure! There much work to be done and it seemed to be coming at us from every direction. We had people come to us with repairs and home restoration which we gave to the Evangelical Free Church response center for the next teams to come help. But, the sheer numbers of people that we were able to minister to was incredible. It’s amazing how God aligns our hearts with His and places that love for His people right in us, and then enables us to do the good work he has set out for us in advance to do.
Team members with a new friend.
I know that we went down to Louisiana to help, but I think God helped us to be more people oriented and focus on what God loves the most – His people. Shortly after we got back home the Lord laid on my heart to connect more boldly with our neighbors and to be intentional about it. It’s amazing what doors He has opened through prayers and little gestures of kindness in our own back yard ministry in our neighborhood.
We learned that God has a mission field for us right here in Grand Island and surrounding areas. If we listen to His call and obey Him it will be amazing to see what He will do right here in our own backyard.
Katrina Relief Mission Trip
by Kenn Frederick
Angie and I have served on Katrina Relief short-term mission teams in Louisiana on three different occasions in the spring of 2006, 2007 and 2008. We viewed these trips as opportunities for two of our oldest sons, Alex and Josh, to experience short-term missions and serve alongside us as well. These trips were not vacations, but active work for the Lord, being the hands and feet of Christ, to serve people whose lives were turned upside down in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Some of our team’s duties included the removal and cutting of trees and timber from houses and properties, gutting houses (removal of belongings, appliances and damaged interior materials that were devastated by floodwaters caused from the storm surge), rebuilding interiors, cleaning up debris, plumbing, electrical, exterior siding, and shingling roofs.
More importantly, God placed us in that region with a mission to simply love on people, care for their hearts, listen to their stories, and to see God’s hand - active and at work. We went to Louisiana with one small step of obedience to help rebuild houses, and we experienced God’s Spirit rebuilding and purifying people’s hearts, God calling and drawing people to Himself, and God building the body of Jesus Christ.
Upon arriving at Trinity Church, we received missionary training. We were viewed as short-term missionaries to their church and the training we received helped us value that our priority. The mission is about the people - not the work. We also experienced something new at Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana, a church known as “the church of the stained carpet”. This church is no longer interested in comfort and looking good, but is one known as a disaster relief center. Week after week since “the storm,” this church has hosted and continues to host teams from all around the world to provide disaster relief to those in need on the Gulf Coast. We experienced that the body of Christ is alive and well and is not concerned with denominational, racial, or skill barriers. God uses us no matter what, if we are simply obedient to His call.
The other half of the 2008 team at the Palencia home.
A completely unexpected result that came about from each of our mission trip experiences was the bonds that were formed between the members of the teams. The fellowship was incredible and we experienced many answered prayers, strong encouragement and edification between team members, and genuine love and care for people. After returning home, team members could not wait to get together again. We were involved in God’s work, a cause much greater than we could have imagined and had zeal to bring this kind of outreach and care right to our own church and community.
While in Louisiana, we also experienced different kinds of foods, geography, weather, insects, cultural norms, fellowship, plus other styles of worship than what we were used to. We saw transformed lives that can only be attributed to God working in lives. I learned that my focus can be too work oriented instead of people oriented, even though the work I do serves people. The trip required me to slow down and not take work so seriously. It was great to focus on relationships and not so much the work. The work is really a by-product of what our daily mission should be.
The mission also helped me understand what it means to just love on people with need. I saw people with tremendous need and they are extremely open to hearing the Gospel. We saw firsthand God’s Spirit moving in a region being purified for His glory. We saw a church really being the hands and feet of Christ mobilized to do kingdom work. The church is universal as we fellowshipped, worshiped and learned from others around the country. There are so many in need of the love of Christ and WE MUST GO do it. People must experience missions to fully understand what the church really is in sharing the Love of Christ with others.
