An Update from Louisiana
Devastation in Cameron Parish, LA, after Hurricane Delta.
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Can you believe it? Just six weeks after Hurricane Laura came through Louisiana bringing flooding and high winds, Hurricane Delta slams the same region! Various news outlets have reported that Hurricane Delta brought more flooding than Hurricane Laura. But as our country steadies itself for the upcoming election, the situation in Louisiana gets little attention.
We are grateful that after Hurricane Laura, we were put in touch with faithful folks serving the people of Lake Charles. For the past several weeks, the Rev. Peter Johnson (Rector of Trinity Anglican, Lafayette, LA and a Dean in the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast) has been coordinating various relief projects. Peter is working with a broad coalition of churches in the Lake Charles area and they have been busy!
After Hurricane Delta, the needs are only growing. Hurricane Delta brought flooding to several communities east of Lake Charles, the same communities that sustained heavy wind damage after Hurricane Laura.
We are continuing to pray especially for the folks we have been serving in the towns east of Lake Charles (Iowa, Lacassine, Bell City, Pump City), which had some significant flooding this time around [due to Hurricane Delta], after the major wind damage with Laura. A lot of those folks evacuated, and will be returning this week to assess damage. We will be following up especially with them this week to see how we might be of help.
- The Rev. Peter Johnson
To date, we have raised more than $17,000 towards Hurricane Laura relief. Here is an update on the specific ways your donations have been used:
Teams from several churches in Texas and Louisiana served Moss Bluff (North of Lake Charles). Volunteers cooked lunch and dinner while others worked on debris removal and roof tarping at local homes.
In Iowa and Bell City, LA, Anglicans partnered with two Catholic churches to bring meals and distribute supplies.
All of this was aided by the support from two ACNA churches: St. Paul's in Conway, South Carolina, and St. Francis in Sanford, North Carolina. They included lots of roofing supplies, which have been in high demand, and also prayer shawls, which are so greatly appreciated, including by this elderly couple in Cameron Parish whose home was all but totally destroyed.
The Rev. Peter Johnson with descendants of freed slave, Lambert, for whom Lambert Chapel in Pump City, LA is named.
Finally, Peter reports:
“We've developed a close relationship with Lambert Chapel, a historically black church in Pump City just south of Lacassine (which you will not find listed on any map). This church, founded 160 years ago by a freed slave (Lambert), remains the chief civic institution for the neighborhood, which consists largely of Lambert descendants. They have not received any institutional support of any kind, so we have taken a specific interest in supporting them with supplies and developing friendship (sixth and seventh photos).”
We are so grateful for the work that these folks are doing to bring physical and spiritual relief to these hardest hit communities. Please join us in praying for them, that they would have continued strength, stamina, and sufficient supplies to continue to meet the existing needs.
If you wish to support this work, you can donate to either Hurricane Laura or Hurricane Delta relief. The Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast, through the work of Rev. Peter Johnson and his teams are using these donations for victims of both storms.
Serving meals in Iowa, LA.
Donated prayer shawls bring comfort to those whose homes have been wrecked.
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