Navigation Back Search
Search

Katrina work crew remembers 100 trips

By Lilla Marigza
Aug. 1, 2025 | TIPP CITY, Ohio (UM News)

Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, volunteers recall how “being the hands and feet of Christ” affected their lives while rebuilding homes in Louisiana. Video by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

E. Dwight Franklin helps with the gutting of his parents’ home in New Orleans six months after Hurricane Katrina. Virginia Tech student Ivy Gorman (background) was part of a team from her school working through the Louisiana United Methodist Storm Recovery Center during their spring vacation. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.

All eyes were on the Louisiana Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. In the months and years following the Category 3 hurricane, the destruction faded from the headlines. But some United Methodist Volunteers in Mission teams didn’t stop going back to help.

For over a decade, Ginghamsburg United Methodist in Ohio was one of those churches still helping people put their lives and their homes back together.

Learn more about Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio.

Watch video documentary, “Mission Slidell,” produced by Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church.

Marigza is a multimedia producer for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.

Related Tags

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Social Concerns
The Rev. Will Ed Green (right), senior pastor of Silver Spring United Methodist Church in Silver Spring, Md., shows part of the church’s facility to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Moore visited the church Feb. 23 as part of efforts to promote affordable housing. Photo by Alison Burdett, Baltimore-Washington Conference.

State gives big boost to church housing plan
Maryland is providing crucial tax credits for Silver Spring United Methodist Church’s $88.2 million affordable-housing initiative. The growing church is among many U.S. congregations repurposing property for good.
Church Leadership
The Rev. Dr. Darryl W. Stephens. Photo by Brian Tolbert.

Deacons serve diverse, specialized roles
The role of the deacon is gaining visibility and importance, but what do we really know about this ministry?
Disaster Relief
Members of Floris United Methodist Church help Barbara Douglas remove debris from her home in Spruce Pine, N.C., following Hurricane Helene. Video image by Lilla Marigza, UM News.

Volunteers still rebuilding 1 year after Helene
Natural disasters fade quickly from the headlines, but recovery often takes years.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved