Stories of Response

Canadians Lend a hand, Bring the Gospel in Alabama...

(BAYOU LA BATRE, AL) Before Hurricane Katrina, this Gulf Coast village's population was estimated at around 2300. But exact casualty counts are still uncertain. And since some residents who abandoned their homes have not yet returned to the structures that abandoned the very foundations on which they had been built, no one knows the full extent of the storm's impact in terms of lives lost.

What is known, however, is that Christians across the country have not forgotten the tragedy that occurred here in 2005. Such is evidenced in the hundreds of volunteers who have passed through this community in the last four months. Such is evidenced by the countless crisis care kits that have been freely distributed. Help has come from Ohio and Oregon, Indiana and Illinois, from large churches and small. And because it is God's love that drives such compassion, we know it extends well beyond our nation's boarders.

Pastor Jerry Visser, a broad-shouldered and fuzzy-bearded fellow, leads a crew of 58 volunteers from Ontario Canada. Their main goal may appear to be simply repairing damaged buildings. But moreover, they have become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to a people in desperate need of hope.

Ranging in ages from 10 to 76 years old, Visser's volunteers are spending the first week of 2006 atop damaged roofs and inside mold-infested homes. They swing hammers, and run wiring; they rip out and replace rotting floors and drywall. They sing praises to the Lord and preach the Good News.

Visser leads a multi-denominational adventure retreat ministry in Dunville, Ontario. But after viewing the all too familiar television images of hurricane destruction in the United States, he sensed God's calling to apply his skills and organization to relief efforts. It was then Pastor Jerry telephoned his cousin who attends the First Church of the Nazarene in Mobile, Alabama. Such Churches in the Gulf Coast, during the last few months, have naturally shifted much of their focus, energy, and resources to aiding their ailing neighbors. So Jerry Visser and his busload of volunteers arrived in Alabama with a list of job locations and assignments waiting for them.

Before heading back north to Ontario, Pastor Jerry's crew (which included professional and amateur roofers, framers, electricians, cooks, and even a worship team) will have completed projects at more than fifteen locations in and around Bayou La Batre. Among the worksites is the local Church of the Nazarene where services have not yet resumed now four months after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. But the majority of projects are in uninsured homes that, before the floods receded, were filled with (and sometimes completely covered by) thousands of gallons of water.

For generations, men here made a living working on shrimp boats. But many of the vessels were damaged or destroyed during the hurricane. Now, most local residents (including children) are holed up in small camping trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). From these cramped quarter each family will attempt to salvage what they can of their previous homes, of their previous lives and begin again. Most have little; others have nothing. All need hope.

Pastor Jerry Visser plans to return to the Gulf Region with another work and witness team in March 2006. But he won't require that all his volunteers are Christians before they board his travel bus. In fact, at least one of his workers on this current trip came to accept Christ during the course the week's work. So it is evident that God's work is being done not only in the hurricane damaged churches and homes, and not only in the hearts and minds of those who worship and live in this community, but also in the hearts of those who come to serve. Indeed all things (even a destructive hurricane) work together for good for those who love the Lord.

For more information contact George Sisler at 1-866-485-4483