It was an answer to prayer.
CHALMETTE – It was an answer to prayer.
Three years after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, the rebuilding continues in St. Bernard Parish and especially at First Baptist Church, Chalmette.
Progress on rebuilding First Chalmette appeared to be doing well as the church was nearly 65 percent complete. But then news came that the last volunteer team scheduled for the summer was departing, and there were no others scheduled.
“We do not have any volunteer teams scheduled for September, October, November or December of ’08,” FBC Chalmette Pastor John Jeffries said. “And there were no teams scheduled for 2009.”
Even though, hundreds of volunteers from across the U.S. had come to assist First Chalmette in its rebuilding efforts, the pool of volunteers had finally begun to dry up. Jeffries asked people to pray that God would help them find enough volunteers to complete the project.
He did.
On the day the church’s steeple was being put into place, Tommy Puckett, Director of the Office of Men’s Ministries and Disaster Relief for the Alabama State Board of Missions, informed Jefferies, and project manager Gary Morrow, that Alabama Baptist were adopting First Chalmette as a target project and would stay with the project until its completion.
“This is huge,” Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Mission Builder Director/Strategist Jeff Woodrich said, “because it provides Chalmette with the necessary manpower to help finish the work left on the facility. First Chalmette was basically out of volunteers, and now they [Alabama Baptist] have committed to stay until they finish.”
“We had been praying for volunteers and God has answered our prayers,” Jefferies said.
The Alabama Baptists are no strangers to state as they have been working with NAMB’s NOAH Rebuild.
“Our work in Zone 6 in New Orleans was pretty much wrapped up,” Puckett said. “But we wanted to stay involved in helping with the rebuilding process. Therefore, we are shifting our efforts to St. Bernard Parish.”
And they have adopted First Chalmette as the first major project there to be targeted for completion.
“We are excited to put this project on the front burners, because we have been impressed with the optimism there and the church’s vision. It has become a lighthouse in the community and I expect it will see a phenomenal leap in ministry to families with children, which is why we need to help complete this project.
“We feel privileged to come alongside and continue what Builders in Christ has been doing for the past two years,” Puckett said. “They have truly been an inspiration to all of us.”
The project, which was begun in the summer of ’07 by Builders in Christ, is in need of skilled electricians, plumbers and carpenters.
“I understand their most important need is for electricians as they have to finish the conduit work, so they can hang sheet rock,” Puckett said. “We are in the process of putting out the call for volunteers, and we should be back in Chalmette by the end of August.
“While we are gathering volunteers from our state that is not to say other groups that want to respond can’t. I don’t believe Gary [Morrow] would turn away any assistance, especially if it is a group of electricians,” Puckett said.
Puckett hopes to be able to send over teams of five to 10 men at a time. Some may be able to stay a week or more at a time, but most will be for a long weekend – Thursday through Saturday.
“We are hoping enough volunteers will sign up to help them finish well,” Puckett said. “I really won’t know how many we can send to Chalmette until we get the word out and see who signs up. I expect we will have a good response.”
Mickey Caison, adult volunteer mobilization team leader with NAMB, has no doubt Alabamians will respond well.
“Alabama has been in the thick of it from the start. The state has really done a great job supporting the construction and rebuilding efforts in Louisiana,” Caison said. “Tommy and all of the Alabama volunteers have been just super in helping whenever and wherever they are needed.”