‘Tidal wave of God’s people’ needed to help New Orleans churches rebuild
NEW ORLEANS — Across the street from the Carrollton Avenue church, flies swirl over a smelly pile of trash, glass shards, crumbled plasterboard and discarded appliances.
Nearby, there’s a gaping hole in the window of an abandoned, mud-covered minivan that belonged to one of a handful of members who sought refuge in the church balcony, rationing communion bread and grape juice until rescue boats came.
Inside the church, remnants of the storm that turned New Orleans into a vast wasteland can be seen in the stripped floors and gutted walls.
Nearby, there’s a gaping hole in the window of an abandoned, mud-covered minivan that belonged to one of a handful of members who sought refuge in the church balcony, rationing communion bread and grape juice until rescue boats came.
Inside the church, remnants of the storm that turned New Orleans into a vast wasteland can be seen in the stripped floors and gutted walls.
They placed amakeshift pulpit under the leaking, yellow-stained ceiling and arranged donatedchairs on the concrete floor.
But nearly fourmonths after Hurricane Katrina, Carrollton Avenue and other New Orleans congregations remain desperatefor financial help and work crews, elder Fred Franke said.
Thechurch of Christcan be rebuilt in New Orleans,Franke said, but it will take “a tidal wave of God’s people.”
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