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NEW ORLEANS – Experiencing tremendous loss is a common theme to many New Orleans residents, but for Doris Cousin the string of tragedy started long before the storm ravaged the city. Within a year she lost family members, then her home and hope.
The bleak situation surrounding her intensified her downward emotional spiral into depression.
A foot and a half of water stood in her home for two weeks after the flooding of Hurricane Katrina. Few items escaped the mold that filled her house.
“Everything had to be taken out; it was heartbreaking,” Cousin said.
And then, things started to change.
Cousin applied to have her home rebuilt by Southern Baptist volunteers involved in the SBC’s Operation NOAH Rebuild.
Last April, Don Snipes, a NOAH zone coordinator for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, arrived at Cousins’ FEMA trailer with plans to begin the process of helping her return to her home.
As the zone two area manager for NOAH, Snipes is committed to seeing this section of the city spiritually and visually transformed.
“I’m in a position where I can share and touch people’s lives. I want to make sure they know where they?re going to be for eternity,” Snipes said.
Shortly after Snipes entered Cousin’s home to assess it, he noticed her need for prayer. He listened as she shared her series of losses, and offered to pray for her grief. As her tears flowed he shared the gospel with her.
Returning for the second assessment Snipes shared the gospel, prayed with Cousin and encouraged her to pray through her grief. Through their conversations Snipes discovered she was raised as a Catholic, and she mentioned that the prayers were helping her.
“God began to break down barriers,” Snipes said.
About two weeks after Snipes witnessed to Cousin, a team of Canadian volunteers finished the gutting in her home. Cousin soon became friends with one woman from the team.
“She told me to go directly to Jesus,” Cousin said. The woman walked her through the process of receiving Christ, and “I prayed that prayer and began to see things differently,” she said.
“I noticed the change that took place in Doris,” Snipes said.
“In trusting in God we learn to forgive and learn to let go. I’m trusting in God,” Cousin said.
Soon, her family would follow her lead as she shared with them the hope she received. Her daughter and granddaughter both made professions of faith. The home that once held grief and despair is now a beacon of hope to the community.
“I felt like I had been given so much by the Lord, I wanted to give back,” Cousin said. So she did. As a grandparent of children and youth in the neighborhood she wanted to reach out to the young generation. “[There is] so much out there that they could get into,” Cousin said.
Snipes initiated a meeting between himself, Cousin, and David Rhymes, to discuss how the local Baptist association, NOAH volunteers and Cousin could work together to reach her neighborhood. Rhymes is a North American Mission Board missionary serving as the evangelism strategist for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans (BAGNO).
Rhymes tapped into the network of volunteers to find a team who could help start the evangelism work at her home. A team already scheduled to arrive June 18-22 “jumped at the opportunity to help,” Rhymes said.
The team prayer-walked the neighborhood, making contacts with 15 individuals and families, and provided a free lunch of hot dogs and burgers for about 50 neighbors.
“The events allowed us to begin building relationships in the neighborhood and connect Doris’ home to the evangelical work in her community,” Rhymes said.
The week ended with a two-day backyard Bible club at Doris’ property. A tent was set up, games were played and Bible stories were taught to the 12 children who attended.
“God clearly has a plan for Doris and her home. We look forward to moving forward with a Bible study at her residence once repairs to her home are complete,” Rhymes said.
Not far from her home is the property where Elysian Fields Baptist Church once stood. The building was bulldozed after receiving substantial damage from the storm. The church is merging with Gentilly Baptist Church.
Ken Taylor, pastor of the two merging congregations, said, “It is a positive experience seeing two congregations come together; seeing new people at our church.” As residents gradually come back to their homes, BAGNO research indicates 40-50 percent of the residents in the Elysian Fields neighborhood have returned.
“Within 10 blocks of Doris’ home 10-15 homes are being worked on in some way,” Snipes said.
“We wanted to make sure ministry continued on that property,” Taylor said.
Research and the recent profession of faith indicate a potential for church planting initiatives to take place in the neighborhood.
“There is a potential for the work there to be established before the community is back,” Rhymes said.
“[People in the neighborhood] have seen the work and the impact it’s had in the area; ?they are very open and friendly – a lot of this neighborhood has been touched,” Snipes said.
Nine people are reported to have made professions of faith in zone two, thanks to additional NOAH evangelism efforts in the area.
Cousin’s home is nearing completion. As volunteers are placing the finishing touches on her home, “I have brighter days now,” she said. “Thank you, NOAH, and to everyone who came through NOAH. You will always have a special place in my heart,” Cousin said.
Snipes added: “We need everybody to realize that here we are, two years have passed and there are still 140,000-150,000 homes still unoccupied. There is still a need for evangelism in the area.” Ms. Cousin’s story can be replicated all across New Orleans. “What is needed are soldiers of the cross volunteering their time and talents to touch the lives of people in the name of Jesus,” said John L. Yeats, communications director at the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
To volunteer with Operation NOAH Rebuild, call 504-362-4604. To learn more about evangelism efforts in New Orleans, contact Keith Manuel, LBC evangelism associate at Keith.Manuel@LBC.org or call 318-448-3402.
