rebuilding lakeshore

so let me kinda give u a rundown on lakeshore baptist church and the devastation they faced after katrina and the role they played in rebuilding themselves and, more importantly, the community. lakeshore baptist was a little church before the storm, with several dozen members. they had a little sanctuary and fellowship hall located on a small piece of land. the hurricane devastated the entire town and left it in shambles. pastor don elbourne of lakeshore baptist lost his home in the hurricane and he said it took months before he heard from every church member to see if they had survived the storm. when people were finally able to go back into the town after the storm, almost every house was destroyed. the church was just a pile of debris...all that remained intact was the steeple and the pulpit, which are still used today. the pastor and his family, along with the others who gradually returned, slowly began the long journey of rebuilding.

everyone from the church lost their house in the storm and most of the community did as well. pastor don has already told me countless stories of those who had survived the storm, those who had lost everything, and those who had their houses rebuilt or repaired. at the church, the water level had reached a total of 30 feet. so if houses weren’t destroyed from the actual storm, then they were destroyed due to water damage. 

soon after the hurricane, the pastor was already getting tons of phone calls from people wanting to know how they could help. people wanted to come down and do whatever they possibly could. pastor don told them they would love to have them, but they had to bring their own food and housing because there was absolutely no place for anyone to stay, and certainly no food. so people came bringing their campers, tents, and anything else you could imagine. they made fires on the property to cook food for themselves and for other volunteers. eighteen-wheel trucks were arriving daily filled with clothes and food donated from across the U.S. however, there was no place to put them, so they were dumped on the ground in the church property. soon, quonset huts and shipping containers were sent to hold donations and to house volunteers. over time, more things were put up that would last longer.

after a year or so, money was offered to build a new church building, but the pastor felt this wouldn’t be right…he felt that putting money towards a new church building while there were so many people out there without homes, wasn’t fair. it didn’t sit well with his heart…so instead, he put the money towards helping others rebuild their lives. as for the church, an aluminum quonset hut was put up to hold the church services. the property expanded to include more land and over the years, an office building was built, a kitchen, a bunk house to house more volunteers, and the mercy house (also known as the distribution center). 

currently, volunteers are helping to build pastor don’s house. after building 39 houses from the ground up for those devastated by katrina, the pastor is finally allowing his own home to be rebuilt. however, he is paying for all the materials out of his own pocket. he is allowing volunteers to do the construction tho. the man is so selfless that he has put the needs of everyone else above his own for the past six years, so this house is way overdue.

today, if you were to visit the property, you may think it looks pretty rough, but compared to how it was six years ago, so much has improved. many people who have been coming for years are amazed about how much has changed and how much better it looks. volunteers continue to come as abundant and as regularly as they did six years ago. the help has yet to die down. and as long as they keep coming, the church will keep having them. so far, there has been almost 600 different churches come to lakeshore since katrina.

the church does not require volunteers to pay to stay on the property and work, but they do ask for donations. for each volunteer it costs about 10 dollars a day for them to eat, wash, and sleep, so if people want to pay then that’s how much the church asks. from what i have seen, every single group pays about this rate for each of their group members. also, the few groups that i have seen will go out and buy materials for projects out of their own pockets. everyone is so generous.

still today, people are living in rough conditions from the storm. there are still lots filled with debris or just sitting there empty. many lots have just trailers on them with their yards covered with their junk that was found after the storm. much is still left to do and as long as that’s the case then lakeshore baptist will be here willing to help :)