Pray for the saints in New Orleans紐奧良(美國城市)

Dear Brothers and Sisters –

We are indeed touched by the outpouring流露of concern and prayers for the churches and the saints in Louisiana美國路易斯安那州. We have heard from many of you and we know that so many others are concerned about us. We wanted to get this email to you in time for your individual prayer, your home meetings and many of your prayer meetings tonight.

By the Lord's mercy, Baton Rouge was to the west side of the storm暴風雨and from what we hear, that is the side you want to be on if you have to be in such a storm at all. The full fury猛烈of the storm's wind, rain and storm surge波濤is to the south and east of the storm's eye. We had significant顯著的wind and rain here. Huge trees were blown down all over the city; electricity was knocked out for most and is still out for many, including some of the saints. We incurred遭受very little flood水災damage.

To the best of our knowledge, the saints in Baton Rouge are all OK, though, as mentioned previously, some are still experiencing power outages (水、電等的)中斷供應, and various degrees of debris破瓦殘礫and damage.

As you might guess, the situation in New Orleans is another matter entirely. Prior to the hurricane's颶風landfall登陸, we heard from a few of the saints there and we know that they evacuated撤離the city and are safe. There are several, however, that we have not heard from. It is virtually事實上impossible to make a call into the 504 Area Code. We just do not know. No one is allowed into the area and probably no one could get in if they wanted to. We are sure that you have seen the pictures from the city and know the devastation荒廢that has occurred there, so there is no need for us to describe it. It may be several weeks before these saints are even allowed to return home, and months before they could actually live there. We know that the saints who are there will have suffered loss, partial or entire. We know that there will be many needs and many of you have already asked how you can help. We do not have those details worked out, but we hope that we can send out another email soon when we know more.

Obviously, in addition to the saints in the church in New Orleans, there are so many that have been completely wiped out精疲力竭的. The deaths死亡in LA美國路易斯安那州, MS美國密西西比州and AL美國阿拉巴馬州are estimated估計to be as great or greater than 9/11 and the extent of damage across the Gulf海灣Coast沿海地區 is far, far greater. Because of the petrol汽油-chemical plants throughout the area, the effect on the nation's economy is expected to be far greater. There have been estimates that 100,000 persons will permanently永久地relocate重新安置 to Baton Rouge and have to completely start over. We hope that the saints in the churches will pray for us, specifically, how to respond to this crisis危機, both humanly and spiritually.

The saints in Jackson傑克遜(美國密西西比州之首府), MS were also battered搗毀by the wind and rain of this hurricane颶風, but we believe that their plight困境was similar to that of Baton Rouge. We hope to be able to communicate more over time. Several saints have asked about the saints living in Houma, LA (Paul and Kay Lynn Cox). They appear to be fine. We have not yet made contact with the saints in Birmingham伯明罕市, AL(美國阿拉巴馬州) so we cannot report on them.

Please pass this email on to the churches and saints in your area. This was sent to whoever happened to be in our email address book and we know that there are many others who may be concerned for us.
    Grace to all the saints.

The church in Baton Rouge巴頓魯治(美國路易西安那州之首府)

Fred Koch、Randy Smith、Mike Redmond