Normally I search the news to find the Church. Today, however, I'm searching the Church to find the news. I saw a CNN report Sept. 5, showing Rev. T.D. Jakes with President George W. Bush in a tour of a Hurricane Katrina evacuee shelter in Baton Rouge, La. That made me wonder, as I have since the devastation began, what church leaders are saying and doing about the mess in the South.

Rebecca Barnes, editor

Like many organizations, the Church has been slow to react. When speed is measured in the time between drinks of water, meals and a place to rest, efforts to help must seem painstakingly slow. But from what I can gather, congregations around the country are now adopting evacuees, providing temporary housing for them, food, water, clothing and more.

USA Today reports that of about 500,000 people evacuated from New Orleans, an estimated 250,000 evacuees arrived in Texas, another 200,000 in Baton Rouge, La., doubling that city's population in one day. But thousands are moving elsewhere.

USA Today calls the relocation efforts an American "exodus." Some 7,000 evacuees will spend their proverbial wanderings in a Carnival Cruise ship, one of three offered in a humanitarian gesture. The paper reports that the Red Cross is caring for 142,000 storm victims at 487 shelters in at least 12 states. The spread of evacuees continues to disperse across the country, following a trail of compassion, that I hope ends in the Church and the Koinonia of Christians.

As wonderful as the Astrodome and other gigantic buildings are for housing thousands of suddenly displaced people, and as generous as the offers are from state governments and private corporations, I must say I am overwhelmed with relief that churches have also stepped up to offer their sanctuaries as sanctuary, their gyms as shelter, the homes of their congregants as homes for the homeless. This is the Church's business.

The Florida-Baptist Witness announced the call from the Southern Baptist Convention Sept. 5, that churches within the denomination should convert their own facilities into shelters as well as commit to restore churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that suffered damage. An estimated 300 SBC churches in the area were affected.

The Dallas Morning News reported that thousands of cots at Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center went unused on Monday, Sept. 5, thanks to churches, suburban cities and individuals who made better offers.

The downtown Dallas shelters reportedly served about 10,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees dinner Sunday evening, but fewer than 1,800 of the 8,200 beds were occupied.

The crowds dispersed to places such as the First Baptist Church in Keller, Texas, that had 128 evacuees by midafternoon Sunday, Sept. 4.

The New York Times also reports that "the numbers being officially housed in shelters are vastly overshadowed by those being put up by hotels, relatives and friends, churches and private organizations."

The Leadership Network has created a Web page listing churches who are involved in relief efforts for church leaders who want to be involved in church-to-church work.

And a half a dozen other Web sites have sprung up to coordinate private housing family to family. USA Today published this story with a sidebar of urls listing houses from volunteers to evacuees.