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By JEFF ODOM
Special to the UMConnection 

Marge and I were asked to represent the Baltimore-Washington Conference and our bishop at a Hurricane Katrina Thank You Celebration in New Orleans Sept. 6-7. The meeting was hosted by the three Gulf Coast Annual Conferences that were most affected by Katrina. The purpose was to thank the entire United Methodist Church for all the help that has been given in the rebuilding efforts. But it also gave us a chance to see how much still needs to be done.

I want to share with you some of what we saw and heard at this meeting.

It was easy to be impressed with what we heard. In Mississippi alone, in the past two years, more than 3,000 volunteer (VIM) teams from more than 1,500 local churches across the country have been at work. More than 50,000 volunteers have worked over 1 million hours. More than 2,700 families have been enabled to return to their homes, and many churches have been repaired as well.

But it is also easy to be almost overwhelmed with what remains to be done.

For example, in Mississippi, there are over 16,990 FEMA trailers still in use by 31,000 people. Major repairs are being made to their homes, including repairing and replacing roofs, walls and floors. In some cases, houses are beginning construction from the ground up.

In New Orleans, we toured three churches and their surrounding neighborhoods. We saw a boarded up drug store with a sign indicating they hoped to begin reconstruction soon, while prescriptions were being handled from a trailer in the parking lot.

We heard about the importance of getting these churches open, not just to serve their members and their communities. This also helps everyone in the vicinity to have a picture of the hope for the future that is a part of our faith. And it's a reminder that God has not abandoned these people who are still so much in need. 

The three churches we visited have all reopened after extensive repairs, but they all struggle with meeting expenses (and paying for their repairs) since less than one-third of their membership before Katrina are now living in the neighborhoods.

Medical care facilities are scarce. Less than one-third of the hospitals and clinics have reopened. One church is planning to open a free clinic this fall, but they are in need of a large amount of financial assistance to be able to do so.

It was often stated after Katrina that it would take five years for rebuilding. We heard that with two years of work already done, there is still five years ? or more ? needed for rebuilding.

We, as United Methodists, can be pleased about what our church has done in this time of great need. It is a powerful picture not only of our compassion, but the connectedness of United Methodist churches and conferences. But we can't 'rest on our laurels.' So much more needs to be done. What can you do to help?

The Rev. Jeffrey Odom, pastor of Bixler-Millers Charge, is the conference Volunteers in Mission coordinator.

How to help To contribute to United Methodist Katrina recovery efforts, give online or through local church offerings to the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal #818-001. Information about how to donate online is available at http://www.umc.org/katrina. To form a Volunteers in Mission team to help in Katrina recovery, contact Odom at or call 410-239-3640.