Yesterday I heard from three friends from different areas of the South Louisiana coast. While miles apart, the homes of all three friends are likely to receive potentially devastating wind, rain and storm surge damage. One friend reported that computer models had shown his area under 10 feet of water. He came to worship with us in Shreveport on Saturday night and brought digital video of boarding up the church before he left. A second friend sent an email reflecting on walking around her church before she left the city, reflecting on the beauty of the facility and the holiness of the time she has spent with the community during the years of recovery, reconstruction, and restoration which was completed just last week. She was preparing to power down and leave the city in response to the approaching storm and the Mayor Naigin's warning. My third friend told me that most of her family was panning to evacuate, but that her brother would be staying with an elderly uncle in a recently completed home. The home was built to replace one destroyed during the 2005 hurricane season.
I understand the importance of place. I understand the courage to trust God in the face of terrible difficulty, but I encourage everyone who has a friend or relative in the path of this storm to encourage them to evacuate. If needed, we will help them find a place to stay. In 2005 I drove all across the devastated regions after Katrina and Rita. The power of Hurricanes is beyond belief. I was in New Orleans shortly after Katrina with the Red Cross before the city was drained and before Rita hit. I saw body bags filled in the completion of their grim purpose. If you have loved ones in the path of the storm, please encourage them to evacuate.
A grim warning for a grim time, yet we continue to pray, to prepare, and to trust God for strength.
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