A little faith can go far in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — Carolyn Campbell lifted her hands toward the sky, belting out the words that strengthen her: “When the storm of life is raging, stand by me. When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea, thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me.”

The old gospel tune by Charles A. Tindley has been more than a metaphor for Ms. Campbell, who was rendered homeless by Hurricane Katrina. The song kept her afloat as a flood of biblical proportions destroyed her home. In the months since, amid the rubble of what was once a neighborhood in the Lower 9th Ward, its message keeps her spirit alive.

“I’m OK because I believe in God,” she said.

Many here have kept the faith in nontraditional ways — an offering left next to a woodpile that was once a church, a tribute to a ceramic Jesus figurine that survived against all odds.

“A lot of people think New Orleans is all Bourbon Street, but that’s not the people that live here,” said Elaine Coulon, a 66-year-old great-grandmother. “These are very spiritual, religious people, and that’s what will rebuild New Orleans and get it back.”

She is among those coming home to sift through and clean the wreckage, even though fewer than half of the city’s 500,000 residents have returned.

“We’re not where we all need to be, but some of us have been very blessed. I really feel blessed, but it’s still rough,” she said.

She spends her days in a trailer next to the skeleton of her home, quietly praying for her native city. Others are more vocal in their spiritual journey.

Teenage preacher Najee Johnson delivers sermons on a traffic island downtown, surrounded by abandoned buildings with blown-out windows, his oration aided by an amplifier.

“We must be saved by Jesus Christ,” the 17-year-old boomed into the microphone Saturday afternoon.

Some passers-by turned away; others nodded or honked. Dorothy Lemon, 68, stared, then joined in, shouting “Hallelujah” by his side.

Later, breathless from the impromptu revival, Mrs. Lemon said prayer pulled her through the dark months after Katrina hit.

“I lost all I had, but I kept the faith,” she said.

Street preacher John Raphael III said adequate federal disaster funding won’t lead to salvation.

“If we have the levees, but we don’t have God on our side, there are a million ways this city could be destroyed.”

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