By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor
POINTE-AUX-CHENE – Tom Bellon, pastor for the last two and a half years at Live Oak Baptist Church in Pointe-Aux-Chene, tells a similar story as that of Barataria Baptist.
“It’s funny how God opens doors,” Bellon said with peace rather than laughter in his voice. “It [the oil spill] is good in that the Lord has opened doors for us to speak with people about Christ and share our faith in Christ, so it’s been very good in that respect. There are people we’ve been able to interact with and share Jesus with that we wouldn’t have been able to, otherwise.
“Right now there’s a lot of money because we’re working for BP,” Bellon said, identifying himself with the town because this is where he was reared. His father was pastor of the church years ago. “One of the tribal chiefs – we’re a tribal town – wrote a letter to BP and BP came down here to see what they could do. They didn’t have any facilities available so we opened the church to them.”
BP set up a temporary office in the church, and uses the church for Hazwoper training and 6 a.m. daily safety meetings, which the pastor opens with scripture and prayer.
“That’s a huge thing,” Bellon said. “There’s over 100 people there. It’s not something I would be able to put together. It’s something God put together.
“We’ve been able to have more contact with a larger percentage of our community, plus people from out of state: California, Chicago, Vermont, all over,” the pastor continued. “It gives us a chance to share Christ with them. I’ve been able to counsel with people and people are responding in a positive manner.”
Pointe-Aux-Chene lies in marshland, an estuary – where the river’s current meets the sea’s tide – south of Houma.
“We’ve had a little bit of oil; it was kind of like grease got up on some of the marshlands,” Bellon said. “I don’t know how to tell you what we’re feeling. The erosion of our land has been continuous” since levees were built after the 1927 flooding of the Mississippi River.
“The floodwaters used to keep our lands built up,” Bellon said. “South of here they used to grow sugar cane and raise cattle. Now it’s marshes and open water. … The people don’t want to see the oil come, but at least BP is helping us clean up, and they’re paying us.”
People in Pointe-Aux-Chene earn their living off the water, the pastor said – Shrimp, crab, oysters – and when need be, they work in the oil fields. All that is gone; replaced by oil spill clean-up jobs.
“There’s the anxiety of not knowing what’s going to come that gets the people down,” Bellon said. “If we get a hurricane, in addition to water and mud, we’ll have oil, and if we have oil, we’ll have a massive clean-up and that’s distressful. Anytime there’s a storm in the Gulf, the tension rises.
“But they’re working hard and we’re doing what we can, and asking God to intervene,” the pastor said, “because we can’t succeed unless God intervenes.”