Anabaptist leaders visit New Orleans.

Leaders of five Anabaptist denominations who are part of the Council of Moderators and Secretaries visited New Orleans and other communities in Louisiana in late 2006. The group was there to support communities in an ongoing struggle following hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Belita D. Mitchell, moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, and Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the Church of the Brethren General Board, are part of the nine-member council that traveled to Louisiana from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, 2006. The council is a gathering of the leaders of the Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Brethren, Brethren in Christ, and Conservative Mennonite Conference. They meet annually to discuss common concerns among Anabaptist denominations.

The council visited devastated New Orleans neighborhoods, worshiped with an Anabaptist congregation in nearby Metairie, and attended the dedication of a house built by Mennonite Disaster Service in the southern Louisiana community of Pointe-aux-Chenes. They also heard from Roy Winter, director of Emergency Response for the Church of the Brethren General Board, and met with local pastors and aid workers.

Enormous challenges still facing Gulf Coast communities as a result of the hurricanes, the group learned. Among the challenges, hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated have not returned. In many cases, they continue to live in trailers or other temporary housing arrangements in unfamiliar communities far from family, churches, and jobs.

Delays in restoring city services have slowed the return of evacuees, according to Tim Barr, Gulf Coast disaster response coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee. Additionally, many evacuees lack the basic resources they need to make the transition home. "The hope is that a lot of people are going to come back to New Orleans, but the reality is that many people can't," Barr said.

Bob Zehr, a retired Mennonite pastor, thanked aid agencies for their assistance to churches and communities in the Gulf Coast, but added that many needs remain. He said many members of his congregation, Lighthouse Fellowship in Plaquemines Parish, have not yet qualified for housing assistance for various reasons. He fears that some people, such as those in his congregation, are "falling through the cracks."

Source: 1/3/2007 Newsline