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"The best gang you can be with is Jesus—that's what we try to tell them," Davenport says. "Jesus had a gang. They were disciples. His gang was to bring relief."

Shortly after Katrina, people living with HIV returned to St. Bernard. Shelters kicked them out as their HIV status became known. Davenport said even before Katrina, his was the only ministry helping people with HIV who live in the community.

Davenport is getting himself and his church members ready as people begin to trickle back to St. Bernard. Christians from Shreveport and Phoenix re-roofed his sanctuary. Other volunteers ripped out ruined walls, furnishings, and equipment. But so far, there is no money for replacement furnishings or equipment.

Church leaders from New Orleans are sending out an sos to Christians across America to partner with New Orleans churches such as Davenport's. "We need help!" declares Leonard Lucas.

That help could transform devastated New Orleans into a place that lives up to the name of Lucas's own church: Light City.

Deann Alford, a CT senior news writer, is based in Austin, Texas.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Our full coverage of Hurricane Katrina includes these reports from Deann Alford:

Word and Deed, Again and Again | Five months later and counting, Katrina continues to change the lives of both victims and volunteers. (Feb. 27, 2006)

I Was a Stranger | Ministry in the Astrodome and beyond. (Sept. 8, 2005)

Amid the Evacuees | How churches in Houston, among other cities, began picking up the pieces. (Sept. 8, 2005)

Houston's Religious Communities Scramble to Help Evacuees | "We're in this thing for the long haul" without government money, church leaders warn. (Sept. 2, 2005)

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May 2006, Vol. 50, No. 5