Sonia St. Cyr, middle, will soon return to her New Orleans home thanks to numerous volunteers, including (left to right) Eva Alito of Rebuilding Together, Monte Vista Baptist Church member Sue Wyatt, CBF of Louisiana disaster response coordinator Reid Doster, and Monte Vista Church pastor Jerry Mantooth

ATLANTA – When Sonia St. Cyr rode out Hurricane Katrina and survived, she called it lucky. When she was flown out of the city before the chaotic aftermath began, she called it unbelievable. But when she arrived at a Maryville, Tenn., evacuee shelter and befriended members of Monte Vista Baptist Church – the church that would eventually restore her New Orleans home – she ran out of words.

"The church is like God’s gift to the world," she said. "Words cannot even begin to say."

But somewhere St. Cyr finds the words to say that this Cooperative Baptist Fellowship partner church has been life-giving to her and her family, many who still live in Maryville.

"Not only have they helped my family, they’ve helped me," she said. "More than that, they’ve given me back life."

St. Cyr has multiple sclerosis, which makes it nearly impossible for her to repair her house that flooded during Katrina. She paid a contractor who never delivered services. She didn’t know how long she’d be living in a FEMA trailer in her front yard. But when church members learned she was having trouble rebuilding her New Orleans homes, they stepped in to help.

"We feel that when God places people in our path that we want to be responsive to that," said church member Sue Wyatt.

In six disaster relief trips church members have taken to New Orleans, two have been to help St. Cyr and her family. Now other Fellowship Baptists are helping complete repairs to the house. A $3,000 donation from another Tennessee church – First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro – has also helped in the rebuilding process.

"The need was so great," Wyatt said. "Their resources were drained. We felt these are our neighbors and we’re able to help."

"This is a beautiful story about CBF remaining the presence of Christ, long after the flood-waters have receded and the first responders have moved out to the next disaster scene," said Reid Doster, CBF of Louisiana’s disaster response coordinator.

The St. Cyr house is one of 100 New Orleans homes the Fellowship has committed to helping rebuild over the next three years with an organization called Rebuilding Together. And New Orleans is just one area that is in crucial need of Fellowship Baptists to help in the rebuilding effort.

According to Doster, more than 1,500 Fellowship Baptists have participated in Katrina relief work in Louisiana, and the need continues, particularly in Pearlington, Miss., where more than 80 percent of the community was destroyed. Fellowship Baptists were among the first to respond in Pearlington, and "I would hope we would be one of the last to leave," said Charles Ray, the Fellowship’s disaster response coordinator.

Since fall 2005, Fellowship Baptists have helped clean debris, strip mold from flooded houses, rebuild houses and help families in other ways.

"We do everything without expecting anything in return," Ray said. "We believe this is what Christ would do."

While the Fellowship responded to disasters prior to Katrina, the severity of destruction and need prompted CBF to expand its disaster response program. State CBF organizations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida now have an inventory of response equipment, including trailers for communication and showering volunteers, and tools for clean up and rebuilding.

State and regional CBF organizations also now designate disaster response coordinators, and Ray hopes many churches will name their own disaster response coordinator. What will also make future response efforts effective is commitment to work with other organizations – American Baptist Churches USA, Volunteers of America and the American Baptist Association.

Meanwhile, both Ray and Doster anticipate Katrina recovery extending through the summer and perhaps years to come.

"[Katrina victims] need to know they haven’t been forgotten," Wyatt said. "It’s not a time to give up on them."

For more information on volunteer opportunities, contact CBF of Louisiana’s disaster response coordinator, Reid Doster at (986) 778-6049 or reid_doster@hotmail.com. Visit www.cbfresponds.com for more on how your church can be involved in disaster response efforts.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.