Contact: Michael W. Sprague, Senior Pastor, Trinity Evangelical Free Church, 985-893-0218
COVINGTON, Louisiana, Sept. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- The real story of relief efforts along the Gulf Coast in response to Hurricane Katrina has not made the headlines, but it has been faithfully recorded by a local pastor on his website. Now Michael Sprague’s open letters chronicling the relief efforts headquartered at Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana, where Sprague serves as senior pastor, have been published in printed form in the new 153-page book "Stories from Katrinaland: God Responds to Disaster in New Orleans."
The church’s own compassionate service to the community has been augmented by the work of more than 5,000 volunteers from 36 states and six countries, to date, through the coordination efforts of the Evangelical Free Church of America, which established Trinity as its regional response hub early last September.
Sprague’s letters tell stories brought back by volunteer teams who camp out at the church and spread out to various areas of the Northshore as well as in the City of New Orleans, working in the city with Urban Impact and Castle Rock ministries. While clearing brush and cleaning out houses, the teams have ministered to the spirit of people who have lost everything, by worldly standards, and have brought the gospel alive by showing the love of Christ in deed as well as word.
The church converts its worship center each week into both a campground for volunteers and a “free store,” offering bottled water, ice, food, and a variety of other necessities with the help of donations from across the country. The congregation also operated a free daycare center to ease the burden of local business people in the weeks immediately following the devastating storm.
The soft-cover book published by Mall Publishing, Highland Park, Illinois, is available for a suggested donation of $15, plus $5 shipping/handling. Mail checks/money orders to Trinity Church, P.O. Box 351, Prospect Heights IL 60070-0351. All proceeds will be used to support the continuing compassion ministries underway at Trinity Church.
Michael W. Sprague is senior pastor at Trinity Evangelical Free Church, Covington, Louisiana, on the Northshore of Lake Portchartrain, Pastor Sprague leads a staff of 12 and found himself at the helm of a massive relief effort following the devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina in the greater New Orleans region. Pastor Sprague has served Trinity for seven years, holds a Master of Divinity degree from Capitol Bible Seminary (Lanham, Maryland) and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and is married to Donna. The couple sent their son to Baylor University in Texas immediately prior to the arrival of the hurricane that turned their lives and their ministries upside down. Trinity Church can be reached at 985.893.0218.
