Lois Rost Message 1
Greetings to all of you.
I am the principal of Prince of Peace in New Orleans East. We were hit extremely hard
when part of the levee broke. The school is totally under water. We minister to 170
African American students in the area. Ours was a unique ministry where the parents
would work 2, maybe 3, jobs in order to pay tuition. They are hard-working, mainly
blue-collar workers. We will need so much help to rebuild that the task is daunting. I
have now located 6 of our 10 teachers. We are scattered throughout the country...I am in
Cincinnati (my home is gone), others in Alabama, Texas, and Florida. Cell phones do
not work (towers and power down) other than text messages and those can take a long
time to get it through.
I saw one of our students, Zhane, at the Superdome on CNN as she was waiting for help.
She has epilepsy and I pray that she is being looked after. It is heartbreaking. The
violence you see on television is not typical of the population we serve, but many of our
kids were probably not able to get out...they ride the public bus to school. Our families
probably do not have the ability to travel anywhere.
So, why didn't we get out and why are we so desperate even when we did. Take my
case. We left school on Friday with a Catagory 2 hurricane out in the Gulf. By the time
we woke up on Sunday, it was a cat 5 and headed straight for New Orleans. You pack up
and throw whatever you can into the car and get on the road as soon as possible. You are
in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 100 miles and you are averaging 16 miles/hour. You are
getting hit by flying branches and pounding rain as a feeder band goes through. You
clutch the wheel and pray. You are driving late into the night. You don't know where
you are going or where you will stay. You just want out.
The next morning you breath a sign of relief that you got out, and then the levee
breaks. Not in one spot, but actually in 4. You see your neighborhood and it is just
rooftops. You email and text message and hear reports from friends who have family still
in town. You hear of people you know who stayed and are now missing. You know
policemen who are out there trying to help and getting shot at. They tell you of the
bodies floating in the water and no one has time to get them out. It is a horror. And you
pray for them and you thank God that so many people got out and you pray for those who
remain. And even though you have very little left, you have your life. And others ask
what to pray for. You pray that God will give us the strength to go on. You pray that He
will open the hearts of people to pull together. You pray for those who will try to
rebuild.
How do you rebuild after such a tragedy? You see the Mission. You ask for help and
hope and pray that people respond. You call Concordia Plans and ask them to keep your
staff on the Plans even though you will not be able to pay the premium. You call FEMA,
because normal house insurance doesn't cover flooding. You pray that somehow you will
be able to provide for you staff. Like most Lutheran schools, we don't pay a lot and our
teachers give generously from their own pockets for "the kids." You pray for those in
other areas of the city and all along the Gulf Coast. Our lives have been turned upside
down but God will give strength and comfort.
In His Service,
Lois Rost, Principal
Prince of Peace Lutheran School
New Orleans