what's better than elvis on the way to new orleans?

Hearing about Mayor Ray Nagin’s reelection should remind us that there is still much to be done in the city that is anything but the Big Easy these days. Two free churches in and near New Orleans continue to meet the physical and spiritual needs of their neighbors in the midst of the reconstruction process, and other churches are joining them by sending laborers and other gifts. Still another church is serving the New Orleans community mission field by offering their hospitality to those short-term teams who are providing post-Katrina relief.

The June newsletter for the Southeast Central District of the EFCA announces:

Grace Evangelical Free Church, Memphis, Tennessee is serving the Gulf Coast in an innovative way: Agape Hospitality Ministry is open for business to house, feed, and pray over those traveling south for EFCA gulf-coast ministries, primarily Covington/Urban Impact. They have had over 100 come through so far and have 4 more groups scheduled in June. Larry Hughes, team leader at Grace says, “It has been a blessing to the workers and to us, especially when we can worship together before they depart. One thing that the elders are praying about is the possibility of getting two showers hooked up with hot water for our guests. We solicit your prayers for this.”

It was a joy to meet, pray, and spend time with Larry and other members of Grace EFC (Memphis, Tennessee) when our first physical labor team from Louisville (also Grace EFC) stopped in Graceland on the way to Louisiana. Indeed there are few pleasures in life greater than being received by complete strangers as brothers and sisters in Christ, and this was the case when we arrived in Memphis.