Despite the best efforts of the news media, it's impossible to sense the confusion, observe the destruction, smell the stench, hear the cries, dry the tears, clothe the threadbare, as well as hug and feed the hurting and hungry unless you're here,

It's one thing to send construction teams -- and that's great -- but it's quite another to ask these crippled churches, 'Can we come back next year and help with Vacation Bible School?'

Praise God for those humble, generous folks. However, we need many, many more people and churches responding like this than we've got right now.

Despite this horrific tragedy and temporary setback, Southern Baptists in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have the most wonderful opportunity they've ever had to catapult the Gospel of Jesus Christ and God's Kingdom work ahead 50 years, ... if we will but seize the day.

We already know how to recover from all kinds of disasters. And I thank God for that. But we need to move to the next level. We need to recover from this disaster in a manner that goes well beyond our kinfolks' sake, and moves even closer to the Kingdom's sake. I hope ... that the foundation of our past relief efforts provide that building site where we can help more people recover from disasters of the soul that sin brings to their lives.

This is a golden opportunity for us to show our Baptist distinctives of believing the Bible and lifting up the Lord Jesus in ministry and reaching people for Jesus Christ.