Letter to St. John's Lutheran Church
From Bayou Grace Community Services
June, 2007
Dear St. John La Grange,
I hope this letter finds all of you well and enjoying your summer months.
Life here in the bayous at Bayou Grace continues to be inspirational. We are nearly fully settled into the new office. It is starting to feel like this space has its own Spirit. The focus for all who work here and who enter is to contemplate how to continue to build hope and sustainability into the community. We continue to work with Construction, Family Advocacy and Environmental Outreach. We have also recently started an Adult Literacy Program that focuses on GED preparation and have also hired a Community Wellness Advocate to do medical outreach and advocacy for the five bayou communities.
It was wonderful to live out this Hope of a more sustainable community with Hope Team #14. We are nearing the two year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It has been well over a year now that these storms and God have drawn us together through your Hope Teams.
It was difficult for many of us down here not to get caught up in all the chaos of recovery. No matter how hard many of us try, our physical world is never going to be quite the same. With the experience of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita come new emotions and new realities. Now, nearly two years later, the physical world in front of us seems to appear with a little more focus. There are still many decisions to be made, many homes to rebuild and to build, many connections that need to be made. At the same time, life is moving at such a pace for some of us that we can continue to reflect on what has taken place. What many of us are talking about is something new in our focus. Many of us, yes, talk about the familiar-our families, the natural beauty around us that is ever changing, the ever rising tides..... There is also something new in what comes into focus. We have met so many people from other parts of this country, so many from St. John LaGrange! who live very different physical realities than us, yet have been willing to partner with us in the re-building of our community and to share their lives with us and us with you. The continued presence and partnering with us in a challenging time has for me, and I believe for others, enabled us to take a deep breath, and not only sense our own physical community with all of its beauties and challenges, but even more feel that we here in the bayous are, with you, part of the much larger Spiritual community. In this deep breath, there is a renewed sense of Hope.
Bayou Grace is so appreciative of your continued pressence and partnering. The 2007 Katrina Christmas Cards are beautiful. The Bayou Grace staff and Board is working now to plan and implement the sale of the Christmas Cards not only within the surrounding community, but of course, the much larger community. It is one of the great gifts of this entire experience. Thank God!
Peace be with you all,
Courtney Howell
Bayou Grace Community Services
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