On Friday, August 26, 2005, the city of New Orleans, LA went to sleep not knowing the Hand of GOD was moving. Hurricane Katrina had made a turn in the night and meteorologist had predicted that New Orleans would have a direct hit from this powerful storm.

On Saturday, August 27, 2005, the call went out and people were advised to leave the city, but no mandatory evacuation was called at that time.

On Sunday August 28, 2005, most of the members of Smoking for JESUS Ministry met in the sanctuary to receive instructions from Elder Willie Monnet Sr. An evacuation caravan would leave 8033 Chef Menteur Hwy, in New Orleans, LA. The caravan included about forty cars, consisting of over forty-five families totaling one hundred ninety individuals. It took twelve hours to make the four hour trip to Fletcher Emmanuel’s Church Alive Retreat and Conference Center in Lumberton, TX.

In the small cafeteria of this Retreat Center is where most of the members of Smoking for JESUS Ministry learned of the devastation and realized that they would not be able to go home. But in this time of shock and sorrow, there was still hope. Our lives had been spared, we had been delivered and we were grateful.

Although we brought no extra food, water, or clothing the small community of Lumberton, TX showed just how big their hearts were. There was a overflow of all we needed. During this time the Word of GOD still came forth through the man of GOD. We still had Sunday Service, Monday Night Men's Meeting, Tuesday Morning Women's Bible Study, Discipleship Class, and Corporate Prayer.

After three weeks in Lumberton, TX another hurricane approached the Gulf Coast.  Hurricane Rita was heading toward Lumberton and the Central East Coast of Texas.  It was in the last few hours Pastor Monnet made the decision to evacuate and head further north to another church retreat area, The Lakeview Baptist Assembly in Lone Star, Texas. Our stay lasted about two weeks as we had to find another place to live because the facility had been booked for previous engagements.

Our hopes were to return to Lumberton after the storm but substantial damage was sustained at the Retreat Center and in the surrounding areas in Lumberton. Unfortunately, the only available housing for workers while they repaired heavily damaged parts of the community was this Retreat Center. 

In the meantime The Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] had issued an order that allowed evacuees to find temporary housing in hotels across the nation. Our journey began again as we found hotel space two hours away in Dallas, TX, at the Holiday Inn Select Hotel.  After one week, we were told that we had to leave due to overbooking for the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners of football game.  In a desperate move we started calling hotels leading to Austin, TX, which we thought would be an easy route back to Lumberton. 

After contacting the AmeriSuites Hotel in Austin, we found a group agent that would work with us and keep us in lodging although we would have to travel back and forth from one location to another. In Austin we stayed two days at the AmeriSuites.  After which we went to Burnet, TX where we stayed at The Canyon of the Eagles Retreat Center for five days. 

We then ending up staying at a certain hotel on Woodward Avenue in Austin, TX because they were able to accommodate all the families in our Caravan.  However, this proved to be the worst place we stayed during our journey.  The hotel had been housing New Orleans refugees since the storm (about two months). There were few restrictions at the hotel and many of the people were involved in unlawful activities.  Some of the residents were people smoking illegal drugs, prostituting, selling drugs and drinking alcohol. All of this went on in the hotel's hallways openly.

By Monday, we decided to leave and go back to Burnet, TX where we were able to lodge at The Holiday Inn Express Hotel.  Later, we received information that there were ninety-three brand new vacant apartments available twelve miles away in Marble Falls, TX, at a place called The Vistas Apartments. Thus our exodus was finally coming to an end as each family was qualified and approved to move in within two weeks. 

Marble Falls became a place of rest for us as we were cautiously welcomed by the community. Eventually, many of our members began to get jobs. The children were finally back in school and were overjoyed about their surroundings. The area churches allowed us to have some of our weekly services at their facilities. However, our Sunday Service was moved several times until we rented the Marble Falls High School Cafeteria, which is right next to the Vistas apartment complex. 

We have purchased 56 arces of property at the old Buckner's Boys Home where our church, administrative offices and houses for single women and single men are located. Our members' goal as a congregation is to create the "Land of Promise Subdivision" which we're trusting God to start building by the end of 2009. If you are in New Orleans you can hear our "Daily Radio Broadcast" on 1060AM and no matter where you are, you can go to www.wlno.com and tune in. Visit our Locations page to see our service times and locations. We can fufill the vision that God has given to us by receiving your financial support and prayers. We have all been increased in our faith and look forward to the plans that God will reveal as we continue in His footstep. Make a donation today and be a part of what God is doing in the Hill Country of Central Texas.