alive

Fifty years ago this week, I was working as a lifeguard at Gulfshore Baptist Assembly in Pass Christian, MS.  We had received warnings of a hurricane developing in the Gulf of Mexico, and by Thursday, we sent all the campers home early.  We then worked the rest of the weekend boarding up the entire camp and moving anything of value to second floor.

When we finished on Sunday afternoon, August 17th, I called my mom and dad. I told them that we were staying in the Crow’s nest, the highest point of the administration building of the camp, so we’d be safe. I told them not to worry, because the people who lived here had been through many hurricanes before and they told me that there was nothing to worry about.

Later that night, just before midnight, Hurricane Camille slammed into Pass Christian. Before Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Camille was the strongest and most powerful hurricane to ever hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, devastated everything in her path, including Gulfshore Baptist Assembly. A 26 foot tidal surge - a 26 foot wall of water hit the administration building and the Crow’s Nest. There was nothing left. The next morning, a News helicopter flew over Pass Christian. It showed what little was left of Gulfshore Baptist Assembly.  

My mom and dad feared the worst, but they had faith that God was watching over me and protecting me. They didn’t know we had moved inland in the last few hours before the hurricane hit. They didn’t know we had made it safely through the night because the phones had been dead all Sunday afternoon. All my mother knew was that somehow, she had to try to reach me. That was all that mattered to her. She called the operator for help.

The operator told my mother that calls were not going through and that trying to call was useless. My mother prayed and then she dialed the only number that the operator would give her out of 18 possible numbers.

Never doubt the power of a mother’s prayer for her son. My mother’s call was one of only a very, very few non-emergency calls that went through on that Monday afternoon. We were outside the house cleaning up and I was the closest person to the phone. When I answered the phone, all I could hear was my mother screaming my name. 

When my mother got off the phone, she called everybody she knew and told them the good news."He’s Alive - He’s Alive!  She wanted to drive all over town and tell everyone she knew, "He’s Alive. My son is alive."   That day, my mother and father wanted everyone to know that their son was alive. 

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and our Heavenly Father wanted the whole world to know that His Son was risen from the dead and that "He's Alive!".  Two thousand years later, The Heavenly Father still wants everyone, everywhere to know...   "He's Alive!  He's Alive!  Jesus Christ has defeated sin and death and He is risen from the dead.   He offers eternal life to everyone who will trust in him for salvation and forgiveness of sins to those who will confess them." (John 3:16; 1 John 1:9)   God wants everyone, everywhere to know that one day soon, His Son is coming back for all of those who have placed their faith and trust in Him. 

What about you? Have you told everyone you know? Have you told everybody Good News?   Have you told everyone, everywhere that...  "He’s Alive.  Jesus is Alive!  He is risen from the dead and He's Alive!" 

"He's Alive!"

-david langerfeld