April 4, 2006
~Real Story~
I arrived in Dallas this weekend to speak at the BattleCry for Parents. I was one of five speakers: Ron Luce (Teen Mania and BattleCry), myself, Eva Marie Everson and her daughter, Jessica, and Dr. Chuck Stecker (Chosen Generation).
While the other speakers were amazing (I’ll share more about this in tomorrow’s post), it was a story from one of the women who was in the audience that inspired me the most.
Julie and a group of friends traveled 250 miles to be at the conference. It seemed like a long way to travel to me, but she said that long journeys were a part of her life now.
Julie was originally from Louisianna.
Twenty four hours before Hurricane Katrina hit, the pastor called the members of his congregation.
“Meet me at the church,” he said. “We’ll leave together.”
One member, a teen named Simeon, said that they looked like a funeral procession, lining up and leaving the church parking lot in a convoy.
They thought they would leave for 2-3 days and then come home. But the reality is that their journey had just begun.
They’ve been traveling together ever since.
Until last November, this group of 45 has lived in 10 different cities. They stayed one week at one hotel, two months in a temporary shelter, staying here and there in hotels and busses.
But always together.
One weekend a few members were finally were able to go back home. They walked past the National Guard to check the damage, to see what remained of 
their church and their homes, and their lives.
Nothing.
Their church was black with mold. Their homes either destroyed or so filled with bacteria and mold that they can never live in them again.
It was disappointing. They felt like transients, living from one week to the next, their kids out of school, without jobs or a place to call home. They discussed splitting up, trying to find permanent shelter, but in the end they decided to stay together.
After all, they’re a family. A church family.
Last November a man in Texas who was building an apartment building talked with them. He had no tenants. He wondered if they would sign a lease.
Now they have a home. They all live in the same building.
I asked them why they traveled so far to come to the BattleCry event and they said, “250 miles isn’t anything. We wanted to know how to save our kids, so we all loaded up and came together. That’s what families do.”
Pretty powerful.
There are a thousand different things that touched my heart about this story: courage, tenacity, strength in the face of opposition, faith, and more. But it was that one word — family — that kept coming back.
I think about how so many believers try to walk alone through the hard times. How we often give up on our church family when things are tough.
It made me realize all over again the strength that we can find when we come together as people of faith?
Do you trust people in your church family? Do you know what the words “body of Christ” really mean? It’s so much deeper than hanging on a pew. God truly intended us to bond together as family.
It also reminded me that family should do what it takes to protect each other — not in a Sopranoes “take ‘em out” kind of way, but going the extra mile. How often do we spend the time in prayer when a friend is in trouble? How often do we inconvenience ourselves as friends or family to help another person grow in their faith or walk through their circumstances?
Julie’s story is still haunting me, but in a good way. God is teaching me through this story of a church who learned what it meant to walk together through good and bad times. He’s reminding me that the words “church family” mean something so powerful.
Jade says:
WOW! That’s an AMAZING story. I’ll think about that tonight as I curl up in my warm bed.
I’m the girl Jade that asked you for advice about being lonely. You may not even remember me, but I think Real Teen Faith is a really cool blog that God will use to help a lot of hurting people.
God bless you! Have a great day!
Your Sister in Christ,
Jade