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God is Still Speaking To Us*:

Hurricane Victims and Relief Workers

by Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane

February/March 2006

*Carolyn Mains, a lay leader at the Good Shepherd UCC in Metairie, Louisiana, is both a

victim of the hurricane and a

volunteer. Good Shepherd, one of the least damaged of the UCC churches in greater New Orleans, has committed itself to become a base from which they and members of the MACUCC – as well as other UCC members from all over the country – can reach out to churches and individuals as they struggle to rebuild.

Mains offers her thoughts about how God is Still Speaking to her and other victims of the hurricane.

“You can’t imagine how alone we felt after the hurricane.  No one came for so very long.  It leaves an emotional scar on people.  Then volunteers from the MACUCC came, and embraced us and let us feel we were important. They have made a real connection with us here, showing that we are a presence and helping us to heal.  It’s not just the physical presence and manual help that the volunteers are providing.  It’s the idea that people here now feel they are important, that they are part of a community, that they are being embraced.  Yet when the teams have finished building the houses, there are still church communities that need ministering.” 

“We will continue to need help.  The churches here – even

though many of their members are gone, because they have

perished or they have moved – need help.  And we as members of the United Church of Christ, need to help sustain them through this time and assure them that God is Still Speaking.”

*Shantia Wright-Gray, Mission Educator for the Worcester Area Mission Society, UCC, has been involved in two New Orleans visits and is keeping the MACUCC apprised of the progress being made. Wright-Gray offers her thoughts:

“God has been speaking to me through the strength of the community of the United Church of Christ.  My dad was a UCC pastor and being a member of the greater community was important to him.  I have grown up knowing the importance of the UCC but I have never felt the incredible ties, or felt the power of those ties, like I have now. When teams from the Massachusetts Conference arrived, the people here said ‘it’s like we now know we are part of a whole family and we don’t have to do this alone.’”

“I was overwhelmed by the commitment and spirit of those that have been affected. The fabric of the church weaves everyone together and holds the church up.  God is still speaking to me incredibly powerfully, through churches who are reaching out across race, culture, and geography, to be the body of Christ, to bring the light of God to the darkness that has befallen these people.”

The Rev. Shantia Wright-Gray is usually found organizing work camps for the Worcester Area Mission Society (WAMS), United Church of Christ, which is the designated social ministry arm of the Central Association of the Massachusetts Conference. The Society works with congregations and other institutions to renew struggling communities both in Massachusetts and abroad.

Notes:

The Massachusetts Conference UCC has committed to seeking out partnerships within our congregations for Good Shepherd UCC. For more information about partnerships, workcamp trips, and how you can help “Offer Light and Life to New Orleans,” visit the macucc website at www.macucc.org/goodshepherd.

A Journal Entry from Holly Ault, a member of the First Church of Templeton

(submitted by Shantia Wright-Gray)

Today, as we rounded the corner from the business-lined street into the residential neighborhood, there were no people in sight, no cars parked in the driveways, and no trailers. Homes were empty. No sounds, no children playing, no dogs barking, no stereos blaring, not even a bird singing.

The watermarks on the outside were clear to see on all the houses. We suited up in our protective gear and although the sun shone brightly outside, the house was dark. But before our eyes could adjust to the gloomy interior, the stench of mold consumed us. The contents of the house were strewn about, wherever the water had placed them.

Fourteen of us set about our task of emptying the house. We created a pile at the curb that extended the entire length of the lot, about ten feet wide and five feet tall. It was heart wrenching to find the photo albums that would not smile again. Beautiful clothes, a music collection, stuffed animals, computers and televisions, carpeting, and sheetrock – everything went to the curb.  In a few short hours, fourteen people had taken what had once been the beautiful home of a cozy family out to the street to be hauled away in three truckloads of soggy, smelly debris.

It sounds so depressing. And not just for this family, but there are thousands and thousands of homes, and lives, and families that have been devastated. But amidst all of this indescribable loss, the people here are infused with a remarkable spirit and determination. These are their homes. They will do whatever it takes to come back to this place. They are frustrated by the lack of government assistance, the slow response and the limited funding for reconstruction. They say that it will take at least five years to recover. Almost everyone we have talked to has lost his or her job. Businesses cannot find workers because no one is actually living in their homes.

So our small band of missionaries has come to do what little we can to help out. And wherever we have been in the last three days, people have heartily thanked us for coming. From the moment we arrived - at the rental car counter, in the host church, at the supermarket, on the work sites, everywhere we meet people, they sincerely and repeatedly thank us for being here. They do not know who we are, or where we are from, or exactly what we are doing, but just that we have come to help.

And so we are blessed to learn from them the enormous power of faith and hope and love.