GOD'S GRAND DIVERSION

A Report from a Church of God Pastor

God’s Grand Diversion to Grand Isle, Louisiana

Forty-four thousand pounds of meat – and nowhere to put it! That’s what our Hurricane Katrina food relief convoy faced while sitting in the parking lot of the North ParkChurch of God in Meridian Mississippi.

Just three days prior, confirmed arrangements were made with the Red Cross to deliver an 18-wheeler packed with donated pre-cooked meat products and another truck packed with non-perishables. But upon arrival of our convoy (Monday, September 12) from the Winton Road First Church of God (Fairfield, OH) the best of plans quickly began to unravel. Because the emergency needs and relief efforts in this disaster are fluid and daily changing, the Red Cross had just received unexpected shipments that had packed their cold storage facilities to capacity. After hastily placing phone calls, we found that this was also the situation with other major relief organizations in immediate region – even as far as Jackson, Mississippi.

With the help of Pastor Earl Wheatley, we were fortunate to at least make small food drops off at the Aldersgate Retirement Community and the Poplar Springs Nursing Center – both sheltering elderly hurricane victims who had been transported from flooded nursing homes. We also packed a church van full of boxed frozen meat to be delivered to Love’s Kitchen – a charity organization in Meridian, MS. However we were still desperate to make a drop of the remaining 43,500 pounds of meat.

Then someone from Ohio called who had learned of our plight. Through a remote connection, she forwarded a phone number that linked us a councilman from to Grand Isle, Louisiana. Grand Isle is a poor fishing community on the southern most tip of Louisiana, a few hours south of New Orleans – six hours south of where we were. That Monday morning, the army corp of Engineers informed Grand Isle that on Wednesday the severely damaged bridge (their only land link) would be closed for three weeks for repair. Officials were scrambling and praying about how their relief workers would survive – their provisions inadequate. Then came our phone call . . . and they said “come!”

God’s grand food diversion to Grand Isle, Louisiana was now in progress. We were concerned about how we’d get through the roadblocks, but the police and National Guard freely granted us passage.

On our last stop for diesel fuel before going any deeper into the destruction area, our situation became increasingly urgent. Something was terribly wrong with our refrigerated trailer. The temperature gauge showed a severe increase inside. It had soared to 37 degrees. There was now no turning back. Our shipment had to arrive and get unloaded quickly.

En route, Pastor Earl Wheatley stayed in contact to monitor our progress. He also passed along the news that the food we loaded in his church van was gratefully received by Love’s Kitchen and that it filled their eight empty freezers perfectly with no room to spare. It was just the right amount.

Upon arriving at the damaged bridge we unloaded half of the 18-wheeler by hand. A portable cold storage unit was waiting for us. We wondered why they didn’t first take the entire 44,000 load over to Grand Isle, but that question was answered half way across the bridge. The national guard took the lead as they gave us an escort and recommended we go very slow and keep at least one concrete span of bridge distance between each of our trucks and vehicles. A paramedic unit took up the rear – just in case.

The bridge we were now crossing was in fact severely damaged. Breathlessly, we cringed at the sight of the double yellow centerline painted on the concrete spans had shifted in some sections as far as 4 feet – zigzagging its way for about 150 feet. Adrenaline surged as we noticed that some sections were tilted up or down as much as 12 inches due to the powerful hurricane surge.

Planks of wood were used to ramp us up and down from one concrete span to the next in our crossing. Needless to say, we all unbuckled our seat belts as we crept across, just in case a sudden swim would be required. In hindsight, we feel that surely the officials and Army Corp. of Engineers would not have put us in immediate danger, however it was rather disconcerting.

On the other side we first unloaded five pallets of food at the fire station where a crew of guardsmen were waiting. Then the officials cried out instructions – “take the rest to the church.” I found my spirit warmed as I pondered the fact that in the midst of catastrophic devastation, the two strongholds of this island community were the fire station and the church. What denomination was it? At that moment we didn’t ask and it didn’t matter . . . it was just there and serving as a central emergency facility for the guardsmen and relief workers – the church doing what the church does best in a time of storm.

At the church, the National Guard swarmed our trucks and quickly unloaded everything. As the last pallet of frozen meat was loaded into their refrigerated unit, it barely squeezed in. Like the shipment to Love’s Kitchen earlier that day, this shipment to Grand Isle was just the right amount. They couldn’t have handled one pallet more. We came to learn that in the mist of crisis and unexpected diversions, God’s plans are perfect and His provision is perfect.

That night, the grateful officials and guardsmen allowed us to bunk down with them at their small town hall – one of just a few structures that was not destroyed and that had generator power. We slept on army cots with army sleeping bags just outside the door of the major’s office. They kindly gave us some food and allowed us to eat breakfast with them the next morning before making what would likely be the last passage of civilians back across the damaged bridge.

Two days later, a city council member, expressed his ongoing appreciation. “Thank you so much! You fixed us up real good,” he said in his deep Cajun accent. “We didn’t know what we were going to do. But now we have enough for a whole month!”

-- Pastor Brian Buriff / Winton Road First Church of God / Fairfield, OH. Relief Team: Brian and Amber Buriff, John Lansdale, Donna Hamblin, Scott Witsken, and John Tilton.