When Reverend Hadley returned to New Orleans, he was thankful to discover that he could move back into his house after minor repairs. Bethany has been sitting under 9 to 11 feet of water for three weeks, and everything short of the walls, roof, foundation, Bible, and altar cross has been lost to the storm. There was also talk of his reassignment to a church in Houston. He truly hoped to stay with Bethany and bring it back from the ashes, but he also understood the realities of how pastoral delegation works. He prayed about it, at the same time working out a plan to bring Bethany back.
The call from the church in Houston never came, and Reverend Hadley began holding small services in the unrestored shell of Bethany, not dissimilar from the project sites that we have been working on the past few days. They met in the corner by the door, hoping to catch some breeze. Electricity, water, and sewage all remain absent in the area, but a generous contractor agreed to rebuild little by little, keeping a clean space open from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon so that the people could gather to worship. Following the renovation of the buildings, the church became a comfortable gathering place in the neighborhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment