Feb. 25, 2008 issue
Church enlarges its vision after Hurricane Katrina
By Hannah Heinzekehr Mennonite Mission NetworkPage:
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GULFPORT, Miss. — None of Gulfhaven Mennonite Church’s 106 families escaped the effects of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The church roof was badly damaged, causing the interior to become waterlogged.
Gulfhaven Mennonite Church members helped rebuild this house, flooded during Hurricane Katrina. — Photo by Nelson Roth/Gulfhaven
But instead of closing their doors or leaving Gulfport, members engaged in all-out relief-and-rebuild ministry.
Their efforts brought new members into the congregation and strengthened their connections with the national and global Mennonite community.
“You don’t want to plan for a relief-and-rebuild ministry, but it was just there before us, so it was a response we had to make,” Pastor Nelson Roth said. “And it just turned out to be a real blessing.”
In the two and a half years since Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi, Gulfhaven members have hosted more than 1,300 volunteers, cleaned up more than 200 properties, helped to re-build more than 82 structures, including the church building, and welcomed 35 new members.
The congregation also increased its giving to mission work.
“When the church called me here, they wanted to be a Great Commission church and reach out,” Roth said. “Those are things that we’ve preached and taught, and it’s in the heart of the people.”
Gulfhaven’s giving to missions “has increased by six times in the last two years,” Roth said.
For Hazel Hunsberger, a member at Gulfhaven, supporting mission workers abroad was a way of life since childhood. But it hit home even more after her own grandchildren participated in mission trips.
“My granddaughter went on a mission trip to China, and I was just so encouraged that she had done that,” Hunsberger said.
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