Nazarene Theological Seminary

The NTS Community is coming together to offer help and hope to individuals whose lives have been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. NTS students, staff, faculty and friends are getting involved—in many different ways.

Initially, a team of nearly 50 NTS students and faculty worked for several hours in the warehouse of a local humanitarian organization just days after the hurricane hit, sorting disaster relief products and packaging them for immediate shipment to disaster sites on the gulf coast.

Since that initial effort, many more projects have been planned and are underway. Projects currently underway to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina include a financial/coin collection, tool drive and a work and witness trip to the gulf coast.

YOU are invited to join with us in our relief efforts—here are a few ways to get involved:

1. Make a tax deductible donation to NTS to help hurricane victims. Your donation will aid the construction projects our team will be involved with in October on the gulf coast. Make a gift online (designate your gift at Hurricane Relief) or call 800.831.3011, ext.218 to make a donation over the phone using your credit card.
2. Consider joining our work and witness team! For more information, email Tim Dawson, NTS Student Body President, at timstruckin62@aol.com. A team of NTS friends, faculty, staff and students will travel to the Gulf Coast the week of October 17 to provide hope to area residents via a construction project. The team is also working to find out more tangible ways they can assist area residents, such as providing times of worship, counseling services and ministry to children. More information will be posted about this project soon.
3. Contribute to the tool drive we are sponsoring for Mississippi pastor Don Lambert (read more about this effort below).
4. PRAY! Pray for the victims still in need of help and hope. Also, be in prayer for our team of faculty, staff and students who will travel to the gulf coast in October. Pray for their safety and for the individuals they will impact while there.

NTS Sponsors Tool Drive for Nazarene Pastor in Mississippi

A week before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Kathryn Lambert walked into the den of her Long Beach, MS home where her husband Don, pastor of the Long Beach Church of the Nazarene, was preparing his Sunday sermon. Looking around she said, "You know, we really do need to think about what we should do with all this stuff we have.” Sadly, this was decided for them. Less than a week later, Don and Kathryn lost all of their possessions, their home and their church, as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Don has pastored the Long Beach Church of the Nazarene for nearly 20 years. Not only is he is a beloved pastor, but he is also a skilled carpenter who has a history of donating construction labor to anyone who needs it—leading several district work and witness trips and assisting with church building projects all over Mississippi. As a “volunteer builder,” Don had accumulated more than $4,000 worth of tools over the years—most of which were washed away by the hurricane.

So now, when his construction skills are needed most, he is without the tools he needs to be most effective in the rebuilding efforts—efforts needed by his own family, his church, and individuals in the surrounding area.

Hearing about this need, the NTS community came up with an idea. They are sponsoring a tool drive to help Don, knowing that giving him tools helps not only him and his church, but will ultimately also be a help for the surrounding area.

To participate in the tool drive, go to HomeDepot.com and follow the links from the Gift Center to the Online Registry. Enter Lambert, Mississippi and September 2005 into the online form to find the registry of Donald Lambert. You may also give to the tool drive by sending a tax-deductible donation to NTS. Please mark your donation as Katrina Tool Drive.

Though the Lamberts are weary, they are grateful that they still have each other and their church family to help them through this difficult time. A friend from California drove a mobile home to them last week so they would have a place to lay their heads at night. This generous gift came to them through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. Don lost his work pick-up truck in the disaster as well. He would be grateful for a donation such as this as well.