New Covenant helps Louisiana church

The Daily Inter Lake

A small church with a big heart in Louisiana has found an ally in New Covenant Fellowship of Kalispell.

New Covenant chose at random to "adopt" Joy Fellowship of Slidell, La., after Hurricane Katrina.

"Our philosophy is not just to throw money at them, but to build a relationship," said the Rev. Don Burleson, pastor of New Covenant.

A work crew from New Covenant is traveling to Slidell in March, helping to remodel the church's kitchen. At one time the church was serving meals to around 300 families a week and is still offering food and other relief services to many in need.

"Slidell has become a bit of a refugee center," Burleson said. "The population has grown from 150,000 to almost 500,000, with many from New Orleans. It's quite a situation."

Burleson said New Covenant, a church of about 600, decided to become involved right after the hurricane in August, but wanted to do more than provide immediate aid, knowing there would be long-term need.

Joy Fellowship's first request was for bleach and rubber gloves. New Covenant shipped seven pallets loaded with bleach and 3,500 pairs of rubber gloves, used for disinfecting and cleanup, to Louisiana.

New Covenant has been working to raise about $13,000 for the purchase of a large commercial cooler, a gas range and other high-grade kitchen equipment. The volunteer work crew traveling to Louisiana March 1-8 will do kitchen construction as well as home remodeling and food distribution work.

In December, Burleson and a church elder visited the Slidell area, located about five miles from Lake Pontchartrain.

"The magnitude of the disaster was difficult to get your brain around without seeing it," Burleson said. "The impression is that it is getting better, but there's still a 150-mile swath of destruction. When we were there in December, it looked like it could have happened yesterday."

Much of Joy Fellowship's membership, which stood between 40 and 60, was displaced by the hurricane, so New Covenant also decided to subsidize the salary of the pastor for a year.

The pastor of Joy Fellowship and his wife have been doing the lion's share of the relief work from the church.

"It's a very small church doing very large work, which is why we got so excited about helping," Burleson said. "The pastor and his wife have thrown themselves into this. They adopted almost 700 families for Christmas with gifts and Christmas meals. God has provided for them in miraculous ways."

In April, New Covenant is flying the pastor and his family to the Flathead Valley for a "well-deserved rest," Burleson said.

New Covenant is still raising money for the kitchen project. Burleson said every penny is going toward the project with no administration overhead.

To make donations or for more information, call New Covenant at 257-7112.