|
To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE
"God Wrapped His Arms Around Me": How a Terrifying Tornado Experience Led This Man to ChristPlease pray for the New Orleans East community (and now the San Antonio, TX community too), for faith and finances as the rebuilding process begins. It's a long road ahead—emotionally and financially—for many.
No lives were lost, but many, it seems, were impacted in a mighty way. Al New, chaplain coordinator with the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, recently met with one such gentleman personally affected by the natural disaster. Crisis-trained chaplains deployed to New Orleans East in the aftermath of the storm and are offering emotional and spiritual care alongside sister ministry Samaritan's Purse. On that particular Thursday, New was serving in the Mobile Ministry Center and was outside when the gentleman pulled up in a new white van. "He proceeded to tell me that he was in the tornado area in his personal van working when the tornado came and picked him up in his van, spun him around and slammed him about 15 feet away," New said. "It totaled the van, and he said, 'Bless God. I didn't have an injury nowhere.'" The man, sharing from the driver's seat of his rental van, was thankful to be alive, and New began to help the New Orleans East resident dig deeper into that blessing. Soon, the man realized that beyond thanking God for safety, he wanted to know Him personally. When New asked if he wanted to have a relationship with the Lord, the man responded, "I sure would. Now would be a good time." They continued the conversation inside the Mobile Ministry Center, and the man decided to accept Christ as his Savior. Roots run deep in this community and New soon learned this man was related to a pastor in the area. "He said, 'I am going to go to church Sunday at my cousin's church, and I am going to testify to what happened to me in the storm and to what God has just done for me here,'" New recalled. "I got a call from them [the church] on Sunday saying he came to church. He not only came to church, he testified, and he joined the church. Now he's got a home church where they're going to continue discipling him and mentoring him. We're praying that he'll continue to go." Testimonies abound in this tight-knit community, particularly in a six-mile stretch where houses stand near one another and the residents draw even closer. Newcomers can give rise to suspicion, yet the residents have found a comfort with the chaplains and Samaritan's Purse volunteers. That has helped open doors for even more sharing.
"He said, 'I know God wrapped His arms around me because the whole house was up and gone, but nothing touched me,'" New said. Many homes in the area sustained heavy damage, and these residents who climbed back from flooded homes after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 are wondering how they'll rebuild again. As of Tuesday, Samaritan's Purse had received 100 work orders for primary residences. New said sometimes it's hard to find the right words, but his goal–as well as that of the chaplains–is to continually point to the hope that only Jesus Christ offers. "You just try to bring them hope and comfort and tell them that they've been through this before; you know that you came through that," New said. "And with God's help and with hope in Him, they're going to come through it again. "We encourage them to stay strong and trust in the Lord."
To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE
Other Recent Articles from Breaking Christian News America of 1976 Would Not Recognize Herself in Our 250th Year Baseball Players Refuse to Wear Pride Uniforms, Forced to Forfeit Canada: Carney Liberals Move to 'Force' Radical Internet Surveillance Bill through House Belfast Is Burning, and the Media Won't Say Why Israel, Hezbollah Agree to New Ceasefire after Conflict Delayed US-Iran Talks Report: Biden-Era FDA Spun Autopsy Results to Downplay COVID Vaccine Deaths in Kids, Letter Shows From Pulisic's 'Bible Time' to Team Prayer on the Field, US Gives 'Glory to God' at World Cup Good News: Gasoline Drops Below $4 A Gallon Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro Abandoning 30,000 Children as Democrats Push to Strip School Choice Canada's Parliament Officially Passes 'Bible Ban' Bill C-9 Occupied Britain: Muslim Rape Gang Report Warns against Dangers of Mass Immigration (Part 1) Obama Center Contractors Say Millions Are Owed VP Vance Defends Iran Deal, Says It Will Benefit Both America and Israel President Trump Signs MOU with Iran During Dinner at Palace of Versailles (VIDEO) [Watch] JD Vance Ventures Onto 'The View,' Serves Up an Unforgettable Schooling School District Pays $95K to Settle Lawsuit After Painting Over Bible Verse Tribute to Charlie Kirk Is MLB Treating Christians Differently? Senator Hawley Demands Answers Hundreds of Thousands of Antidepressants Recalled Over Potential Cancer Risk Search the Articles Archives |
All articles on this site and emails from BCN are copyrighted property of Breaking Christian News. Permission is given to link to, or share a BCN story if proper attribution is given to both the original writer and summarizer of the story. Breaking Christian News 2005-2019. All Rights Reserved.
Breaking Christian News is a division of Elijah List Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: Articles and links, as well as the source articles linked to; do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Breaking Christian News.
| Home | Store | Subscribe | Facebook | Article Archive |