Bible Baptist Blessings
By Pastor Jim Stady

On Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina launched a devastating attack on the Gulf Coast. Bible Baptist Church in Gulfport, Mississippi, was one of multiple churches receiving damage from the storm. All five buildings on our campus received damage in some form. Our bus barn/utility building was completely destroyed. Nearly 30 percent of the roof of the sanctuary building was torn off resulting in wind and rain damage to over 70 percent of the building. The glass front of our school building completely blew in causing tremendous water damage. Our gym building had damage to its side and roof. Our multi-purpose building received so much damage it required complete demolition.

God is so good though. Even in the aftermath of a horrible storm like Katrina we have been able to see how God can use what we consider evil for our good. To date our main school building has been completely restored. Our school of 300 students grades K-12 is 100 percent functional again. Our gym has received an entire new roof and is beginning to be renovated on the interior. The sanctuary building has been almost completely refurbished and is again being used for services. Work on our new bus barn/utility building is now underway. We are using temporary trailers for our church nurseries and five of our school classes. Our church offices are temporarily in classrooms. We are excited to say that construction plans are nearing completion on a new multi-purpose educational building which will replace the one lost in the storm. The money collected from our insurance has paid for the repairs to our other buildings. At the present, $500,000 has been raised for the multi-purpose building. We stlil need around 1.5 million to complete this project. The new building will be used for our nursery, daycare, staff offices, Sunday school classrooms and school classrooms. Lord willing, we hope to begin construction on March 1, 2007. God has so faithfully provided and we are confident that He will continue to provide.