The response to the two disastrous hurricanes last fall was remarkable. Everyone has personal stories of generosity and goodwill from that experience. One of our own members answered a food bank's call for 150 volunteers to cook for evacuees during the first weekend after Katrina. When he got there, more than 400 would-be chefs were ready to pitch in.
    It was like that everywhere.
    One pastor described an experience at his church in Houston. A family brought a mentally ill man with them from New Orleans. "We thought the whole family would be staying with us," he explained, his voice choked with emotion. "They left him. Now he is part of us. He is our brother."
    Wherever evacuees ended up, churches were in the forefront of relief efforts.
    The New York Times quoted Commissioner W. Todd Bassett, the Salvation Army's national commander: "Certainly, in my history of 41 years as a Salvation Army officer, this is the greatest mobilization of churches in general, but definitely the Christian churches, who in my mind have come to truly realize what Jesus said in Matthew in the 25th chapter: 'Inasmuch as you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me.' "
    Bishop T. D. Jakes of The Potter's House in Dallas stepped in to help organize relief and support services, and commented, "I've never seen government and faith-based groups work together as effectively as they have here."
    Of course, many churches have long been active in ministries to the needy. But in America, it's hard to resist the pull of worldly success. It's easy to justify pouring money and time into building mega-sanctuaries, launching promotional campaigns, running private schools and landscaping insulated campuses.
    Even the promise of government funding for "faith-based" ministries has been unable to draw the majority of Christians into associating more closely with the poor.
    But now I have to bite my tongue and ask forgiveness.
    The exhausted, filth-covered folks who landed literally on our doorstep after these disasters have accomplished something that government policy decisions and "points of light" campaigns have not been able to do.
    They have broken our hearts.
    Thank God.
    Almost every church in Dallas took in some of the displaced. Many had hundreds sleeping in their "gymatoriums" and fellowship halls. Normal schedules were interrupted. Chores previously at the top of church office "to do" lists were neglected. Members were spending sleepless nights, taking down information and making phone calls for people they normally wouldn't choose to associate with. They learned their stories and found common ground, often sharing a common faith.
    And in the process, they changed.
    For years, Trinity Foundation has been trying to convince churches of the benefits and wisdom of families taking the needy into their homes. We've told anyone who would listen that if every church, synagogue and mosque took in one family, the homeless problem in America could be solved.
    Some did respond over the years, but for the most part our pitch just wasn't selling. The response, we found, really has to originate within the individual heart. And only God can do that.
    And now, it seems, He has.
    Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, noted, "long after the Red Cross pulls out and FEMA pulls out, the churches are still going to be there."
    I pray he's right.
    Now that almost all the evacuees have moved to apartments or other permanent homes, the churches are still engaged. The Baptists in Dallas, for example, placed 1,500 people in apartments, and since then have furnished those apartments through donations from church members.
    There is more hard work ahead. Congregations are coming together to "adopt" apartment complexes that have taken in hurricane victims, to help provide transportation and emotional and spiritual support. This could mean the difference between a solid new start for people who lost everything, or a cry of despair a few months down the road.
    But there is a troubling statistic haunting this encouraging scene.
    Giving for Katrina relief exceeded $602 million only 10 days after the hurricane hit, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and then passed the $1 billion mark. But giving to ongoing human service causes—like legal and mental health services, food pantries, homeless shelters and ex-convict rehabilitation—has declined every year from 2001 to 2004.
    According to Giving USA 2005, small organizations received 3.4 percent less from private donors in 2004 than in 2003. If that trend continues, support for our new displaced neighbors—and other needy groups—could dry up.
    It's not a question of "What Would Jesus Do?" We already know.
    Now that almost every congregation has had a taste of what it's like to pour themselves out for the needy, we pray that it will become a habit, and then a lifestyle.
    In the words of St. Augustine, "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men."
    If disasters like these can bring us more into line with that vision, then we will have redeemed this time of trouble, and our unintended guests will have blessed us beyond measure.

Ole's morning bible study is available here.