The tired grandfather walked defeated from his home that had once been filled with laughter, but now was filled with sounds of demolition. Volunteers had spent the last day and a half gutting his flooded house to a mere skeleton. He walked to the end of his property where mountains of debris lined the road of his neighborhood not far from I-12 in Southeast Louisiana. Dejectedly, he kicked at the pile until he spotted something of sentimental value. He scooped out a toy that his children had once played with. Several moments later he sadly placed the toy on top of the pile of junk knowing that it was going to be hauled off and disposed of along with the rest of his ruined belongings. Sagemont member, Greg Blanchard, described watching this scene during the first trip of Sagemont’s Louisiana Flood Relief. “We prayed with him and the other homeowners we helped before we left each work site. We prayed that God was going to use this terrible thing for a greater purpose than we can understand.”
On August 12-14, 2016 rain fell over Southern Louisiana and parts of Southern Mississippi that was reported to be equivalent to more than four trillion gallons of water which would fill over six million Olympic-sized swimming pools. It would have supplied enough indoor water for the population of New Orleans for 320 years. The heavy rain, much like a slow-moving inland tropical depression, led to many new record levels for rivers which overflowed their banks, leaving more than two feet of water in its wake. Baton Rouge alone recorded 19.14 inches of rain (https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/rain-flood-threat-south-mississippi-ohio-valley).
Greg and wife, Susanna, headed up the coordination of Sagemont’s three Disaster Relief Response teams to the Baton Rouge area that was devastated by the historic flooding. Greg, born and raised south of New Orleans, moved to Baton Rouge in 1996 in order to attend Louisiana State University (LSU). That is where he fell in love with a Texan, Susanna. Military orders changed their wedding plans when Greg, a member of the Louisiana National Guard, was called up for an eighteen month deployment to Iraq. Susanna explained, “We were planning our big church wedding when Greg got his orders and decided to move up our wedding date before he left for Iraq. We called our pastor, Stuart Rothberg, and the first date he had open was April 2, 2004, so we were married then at Istrouma Baptist Church in a small ceremony.”
As the executive officer of a company within one of the Army’s newly formed Brigade Combat Teams, Greg coordinated deployment preparations in Kuwait prior to his ensuing convoy into Baghdad, Iraq. He returned home a year and a half later in September 2005 when his unit demobilized. The following April, 2006, the Blanchards finally celebrated their marriage with a “big” wedding they had initially started planning two years earlier. Once again, Brother Stuart happily agreed to marry them!
Greg and Susanna moved to the Houston area in 2007 and joined Sagemont Church because they had always heard how wonderful it was from Stuart who had also returned to Sagemont after several years of pastoring at Istrouma Baptist. Greg is a deacon and served several years on the Personnel Team. Susanna facilitated Mothering Matters Bible Study and Women’s Ministry Counsel. Together they have been Co-Directors at Amazing gRace iCONNECT for the past seven years. The Blanchards have three daughters, Kailey (9), Anna Grace (7) and Emily (9 months). It is no surprise that when the two older girls accepted Jesus, it was Brother Stuart who baptized them.
In August of 2005, eleven years earlier, Sagemont’s Teaching Pastor, Stuart Rothberg, was the senior pastor at Istrouma Baptist when Hurricane Katrina devastated that same area. Fortunately, the Baton Rouge campus was not touched by the high water so the church became a disaster relief headquarters for their church members as well as those who lived nearby. Stuart explained, “After Hurricane Katrina, a lumberyard right on the border of the church’s property was put up for sale. We purchased it, thinking that its warehouses could serve as a great disaster relief center if needed at some time in the future. That’s exactly what it is being used for now for tools, wheelbarrows, etc. Some of the very things Sagemont donated are being stored in these buildings. God is so good to have provided it.”
Greg was not surprised to receive a call from Brother Stuart on Saturday, August 20, not long after the news began reporting the devastation of the historic flooding in Southern Louisiana. Stuart felt we urgently needed to help the members of his former congregation. Greg recalled that conversation, “He said, ‘Greg, we have to do something!’ and I responded, ‘Susanna and I had been saying that to each other all week.’ Stuart said, “Look, I need help planning it.”
The Blanchards immediately went into action and fewer than 24 hours later they were extending an invitation everyone to “Give” or “Go” to help with Flood Relief. Susanna explained, “Everything happened very quickly. The first big invite was Sunday, August 21. We spoke in church worship services, we had fliers in the bins at iCONNECT classes, we created a Facebook page and an email address posted on Sagemont’s church website.” Within hours the emails started coming in from people who wanted to help.
From Sunday night to late Thursday night, Susanna worked closely with Sagemont’s Helping Hands Ministry to coordinate the “Give” aspect of the disaster relief. She smiled as she shared, “We are also extremely grateful for those who gave financially. We know that is a sacrifice. Without their financial donations we would not have had the tools to tear down the homes and treat the mold growing inside.” Sagemont members gave over $53,000 which was used to purchase equipment as well as 3,000 gallons of the mold abatement treatment that was shipped and waiting for the volunteers’ arrival.
At the same time, Greg focused on coordinating the “Go” part of the relief effort. He worked closely with Istrouma Baptist to ensure that each volunteer from Sagemont had a place to sleep and meals to eat as well as travel there and back safely. The Baton Rouge church processed local needs, sent out an assessor, prioritized who they would be able to help and created work orders for the volunteers. Istrouma Baptist also hosted all of the volunteers by providing a cooking team, a shower trailer, and laundry services.
Now a full civilian who works for a chemical company, Greg, who was in the U.S. Army from 1995 to 2006 chuckled as he stated, “I’ll put it this way. Since God has given me the ability to coordinate the mobilization of an Army unit during the war in Iraq, I can certainly coordinate volunteers to go to Louisiana for flood relief. Everybody has different talents and gifts. Mine is not so much standing behind a pulpit like Brother Stuart can do. Both Susanna and I have a gift of administration. We just want to use the talents that God has blessed us with.”
Just five days after the initial call to action, Greg led a group of volunteers to Baton Rouge, August 26 through 28, for the first of three disaster relief trips! Greg was quick to point out that it was NOT convenient for those who volunteered. “Every volunteer had to sacrifice something. Some took vacation time from work or time away from school. Some of them could hardly afford to go. It was certainly a sacrifice and I am extremely grateful for the people that volunteered. I was going back home to help friends but most of the volunteers were going to help strangers. That says a tremendous amount about their character!”
Greg put things in perspective for the magnitude of the situation, “There were 100,000 homes in need. We went to about 30 homes over the three weekends in a row. The first weekend we probably gutted five houses. These were some of the worst because they had taken in as much as six feet of water. Things were still soaking wet and mold was everywhere! We had to remove everything up to the ceiling, in the end, it was a skeleton of a house. It took about 15 people 12 hours! It was 180 hours for just one house.”
Sagemont Church’s response was as epic as the record-breaking flooding. We not only prayed for our Louisiana neighbors in their great time of need but also answered the call to “Give” and “Go.” Sagemont’s core values Each Individual Matters and Relevance was evident to that discouraged man whose home was destroyed along with everything he owned. Thank you to all the men and women, like the Blanchards, who not only said, “We have to do something!” but also stepped out in faith to go beyond our campus to do just that.
Susanna looked at Greg next to her and then said hopefully, “This might be a tipping point for our church in disaster relief. Not that we can be everything for everyone, but more disasters are going to happen. We know now that we can facilitate and organize things to aid in relief efforts. For those who missed the opportunity to assist with this disaster, there will certainly be more opportunities to get plugged in and be Living Proof next time.”