From the comfort of their homes more than 1,200
miles away in Minneapolis, all they could do was watch in horror as
Hurricane Katrina wrecked the Mississippi Gulf Coast with its ferocious
winds and relentless water.
They wanted to do something
to show their compassion. But other than writing checks or sending
clothes, they were at a loss as to how to proceed. When their pastor,
Ken Kotzer, sent out a notice recruiting volunteers for Camp Noah, a
faith-based healing project sponsored by Lutheran Social Service of
Minnesota and Lutheran Disaster Response, they all but packed their
bags.
“Sending
money is a very easy thing to do, but this was our chance to really do
something that would make a difference,” said Dawn Kalland, a member of
Mount Olivet Lutheran Church. The ELCA congregation in south
Minneapolis has a long history of community service.
So on
June 24, Dawn, her 15-year-old daughter Maren, Kotzer and two dozen
other Mount Olivet volunteers boarded a bus and made the 25-hour trek
to Pass Christian, Miss., a tiny Gulf Coast community which, like
neighboring Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and New Orleans,
was obliterated by Katrina.
As they rode past piles of debris, Federal Emergency Management Agency
trailers and cement slabs where homes once stood, they knew they were
in the right place—and for the right reason. They were there to help
the children—innocent victims of one of the nation’s most catastrophic
disasters.
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© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
