Hope in New Orleans Recalled, Aired
A Billy Graham television special currently airing until June 11 is showing Billy and Franklin Graham's Celebration of Hope in New Orleans that drew more than 30,000 people and brought hope and strength to the fatigued in March.
New data released by the Census Bureau on Wednesday reported that more than 400,000 people from the New Orleans area and the Mississippi Gulf Coast were displaced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The population in New Orleans is believed to have grown in recent months with many speculated to return to the city next year. In the meantime, recovery has been slower than many had expected and hundreds of thousands of former residents remain scattered across the states.
In a Billy Graham television special currently airing until June 11, one pastor recalls the night the hurricane made havoc across the Gulf Coast.
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"I didn't know how to play that thing (Hurricane Katrina)," said Pastor James Nelson Brown, who relied on Scripture while Katrina winds blew neighborhoods into piles of debris. Brown associated the disaster with the "twilight zone."
The Graham telecast, which began June 3, is a showing of Billy and Franklin Graham's Celebration of Hope in New Orleans that drew more than 30,000 people and brought hope and strength to the fatigued in March.
"I want you to know – this whole Gulf Region – God loves you and God has not abandoned you," Franklin Graham says from the New Orleans Arena in the focal point of the television event, according to a news release.
Also featured in the special is the 87-year-old Billy Graham, who offered his own words of encouragement and comfort to the pastors and people in the devastated area.
Graham was recently presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Bible Society. The Bible organization recognized Graham's five and a half decades of proclaiming the Word of God to millions of people around the world. This was ABS's first presentation of the Heroes of the Faith Lifetime Achievement Award.
Upon receiving the honor, the renowned evangelist responded, "I am honored and overwhelmed, and I feel hope that not long from now I can present this to Jesus. It is His Spirit that takes that Word and applies it to our hearts."
When the Word came to New Orleans in March, many saw its spiritual implication of God turning the disaster around for good.
"He's (Jesus) alive," Franklin Graham emphatically told the arena crowd. "He's here tonight."
Spiritual healing by the evangelistic team was preceded by immediate physical aid when the hurricane hit. Within 48 hours of Katrina's landfall, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's Rapid Response Team of trained chaplains and Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse were on-site in the Gulf Coast region. Their ongoing efforts are highlighted in the television program.
For television listings, visit www.bgea.org.
