By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Trinity Baptist Church senior pastor Steve James calls it “Lake Charles grit,” an ability to persevere during hardship on top of hardship. “Grit up” is the local rallying cry after Hurricanes Laura and Delta hit western Louisiana just weeks apart.
“We had one hand tied behind our back, and now somebody blindsided us,” James said on Oct. 12 after Hurricane Delta, a Category 2 storm, hit Louisiana’s western Gulf coast Oct. 9, compounding damage wrought six weeks earlier by Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) and Send Relief are coordinating responses from several state disaster relief teams. In coordination with Southern Baptist partners, local churches and associations, they are repairing homes, clearing debris, serving meals and sharing the Gospel. While numbers vary, SBDR has reported more than 400 salvation decisions since Laura’s cleanup began, with more than 300 of those at Trinity.
One death has been attributed to Hurricane Delta, an 86-year-old man in St. Martin Parish who died while refueling a generator in his shed, Louisiana officials said Sunday. [Read more…]