I went down to New Orleans with six other pastors and one elder on a preaching mission, March 27th through 30th. I went prepared to talk about perception versus reality. I was going to cite our experiences with flooding in Kingfisher last August.

The perception, fueled by TV, was that all of Kingfisher had flooded and that no one had emerged unscathed. The reality was that up the hill from the creeks and in other places-our town emerged from the flooding largely untouched. After two days in New Orleans I came to realize that reality there was far worse than my mind had perceived from my Kingfisher home.

One of the overriding impressions of our weekend is that no one-and nowhere-in New Orleans were spared in August and September of 2005. The Rev. Jean Marie Peacock, director of "Project Homecoming," the disaster recovery effort in South Louisiana Presbytery, says: "Now we're rebuilding, and the church has a major role to play in helping to shape a new life-one where all people are cared for, poor and rich alike, black and white. Where old barriers are broken down and the welfare of all is uplifted. That is one of the major roles the church must play at this time."

On March 30, I preached to about 12 people in a Presbyterian church designed for some 800. On a regular Sunday the people listen to a Baptist preacher, a choir of seven, and an organist — all of whom are Roman Catholics. The church is basically kept afloat by the rent and utilities paid by a Catholic school that uses the facilities through the week. My perception of this church was that it is dying.

During our weekend visit, the Cimarron visitors took part in the dedication of a home rebuilt by Project Homecoming. The grateful homeowner was presented with a Bible, a quilt stitched together with panels made by each of the participating work crews, and a loaf of bread. An accompanying worship service – filled with tears – was capped by the reading of Zephaniah 3:14-20. It's a song of hope and joy, including the wonderful image of God singing!

The passage has this promise: "I will remove disaster from you ... I will bring your scattered people home ...  " There is a deliberate decision in New Orleans that the future will be different from the past. The future is not located solely in getting back what was lost, but in changed relationships. In New Orleans' and Zephaniah's prophecies is a challenge to all groups, races, religions and ideologies-to preach not separation but unity. That is the reality I saw.

The Rev. Charles C. Smith is pastor of The Federated Church, Kingfisher, Oklahoma.

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