By Mark Regier, Stewardship Investing Services Manager, MMA Praxis Mutual Funds

The nation held its breath on Labor Day weekend as Hurricane Gustav barreled down an all-too-familiar path, aimed directly at New  Orleans and the still-recovering Gulf Coast. Public officials altered itineraries, nearly 1.9 million people heeded mandatory evacuation orders, picnics became fund-raisers, and Republicans chose to shorten their national convention to focus on “being Americans first.”

While we issued a collective sigh of relief when Gustav struck as a much weaker storm than predicted, we all viewed the waves lapping over the sides of the Industrial Canal with renewed apprehension as hundreds of thousands of people were dislocated again – the second time in just three years.

With only 25 percent of New Orleans’ levees strengthened to the prescribed “100 year” standard and more than 30 percent of Katrina-flooded neighborhoods yet to reclaim even half of their 2005 households, we are reminded in 2008 that much work remains undone. It is not surprising that many of those neighborhoods at risk and still struggling to rebuild are middle- to low-income communities. These are the families most challenged by the dramatically increased costs of living in the Crescent City and the hurdles they face when attempting to access the necessary resources to rebuild their homes and businesses.

A new report, Faith in the Gulf: Lessons from the Religious Response to Katrina, from the Institute  of Southern Studies, highlights efforts being made to respond to these concerns by an important segment of American society. The study documents the faith community’s fundamental contributions to Gulf  Coast relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts after Katrina and Rita and highlights the fact that faith-based organizations, nationally and locally, were among the first, most reliable, and most effective sources of aid for many devastated communities.

Religious organizations play a vital role as first responders in these kinds of crisis situations. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has the capacity to produce more than 500,000 meals a day through its mobile kitchens and was on call and in position for Gustav, just like they were for Katrina and Rita.

Religious groups are also among the first to engage in reconstruction and recovery, with Mennonite Disaster Service teams arriving quickly in the ravaged rural Gulf Coast communities. Many remain in place today. National religious organizations, such as the Jewish Funds for Justice, continue to play a vital role in advocating for the needs of the disadvantaged with city, state, and national governments. Local religious groups (including churches, mosques, and synagogues) served as a rallying point for their communities. Many linked their members with resources, spoke out on local concerns, identified partners for recovery, and organized efforts to return to and restore their neighborhoods.

But, in perhaps their most important contribution (according to the report), faith-based organizations are a vital source of innovation in seeking ways to bridge efforts of immediate relief and recovery with the need for long-term economic redevelopment. For instance, the recently launched Isaiah Funds is an interfaith partnership focusing on making targeted investments to spur economic redevelopment in disadvantaged communities following natural disasters. The Funds’ efforts represent a unique opportunity to harness capital from faith-based organizations to develop sustainable solutions that will ensure lasting economic hope follows hand-in-hand with the restoration of homes and neighborhoods.

While government and other national institutions deal with bureaucracies, wait on studies, and constantly revise plans, the faith community reacts – responding to the universal call to put one’s values into action. In testimony to the convictions of their faith, these groups pick up a hammer, a pen, or a new investment tool and help shoulder the burdens of others, becoming a “shelter from the storm” (Isaiah 25:4), like the God they serve.