By Hannah Heinzekehr
Mennonite Mission Network

	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.

Newly inspired, Hunsberger began to find new ways to connect with Phil and Christine Lindell Detweiler and their family, who work through Mennonite Mission Network in South Africa.

Hunsberger began to send them letters of encouragement and birthday cards and share information about their work in South Africa with her congregation in Mississippi. The Lindell Detweilers surprised her with a phone call.

The increased support from Gulfhaven and Hunsberger encouraged the Lindell Detweilers.

“These are the kinds of divine connections that make our church contacts really meaningful for us,” Phil Lindell Detweiler said.

Gulfhaven now displays prayer requests and updates from the Lindell Detweilers on a bulletin board, and the congregation prays for their work regularly.

Gulfhaven’s ministry within its home community and abroad has continued to grow.

Barbara Rippy is one of Gulfhaven’s new members. When Katrina hit Mississippi, Rippy and her family fled to Arkansas. When they returned, their home had sustained thousands of dollars worth of damage, and they were without power.

The church the Rippys had been attending was badly damaged and unable to hold worship services. So they decided to visit Gulfhaven Mennonite Church and found a warm welcome.

“The storm took us to Gulfhaven, and that was the best thing that came out of the storm,” Rippy said. “The people there embraced us with love.”

The church helped the Rippys clean up debris around their home. On March 12, 2006, after attending a membership class that covered Anabaptist theology, Barbara Rippy was rebaptized by Roth.

“We just felt surrounded by a group of loving, caring people, and we decided to stay,” she said. “I felt like being baptized was an important part of being accepted into the church and confessing my faith.”

Since Katrina, 18 new adult members have been baptized.