Louisiana pastor visits Northwest with prayerful plea to churches to respond

By JOHN FORTMEYER
CNNW publisher
     BEAVERTON — What happened in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast three months ago was, without a doubt, a disaster unprecedented in American history.
     But it is also a tremendous opportunity waiting for a prompt and solid response from God’s people here in the Northwest and elsewhere, insists Rev. Anthony Marquize.
     Marquize, a Louisiana native who visited Oregon in late November with his wife, Jeannette, is more than a little familiar with the unimaginable devastation created by Hurricane Katrina. The two New Orleans-area residents not only lost their home, but also one of two small churches he had been pastoring in the communities of Metairie and Luling.
     Yet Marquize, with a take-lemons-and-turn-them-into-lemonade attitude, believes the disaster could be the start of a revival that touches all of America.
     But the involvement of churches throughout the United States is absolutely essential, he adds.
    “This is the biggest opportunity that God has given us, in this nation, to be Christians,” Marquize said during a Beaverton luncheon with several Oregon Christian leaders. “We need to get the churches in there, operational and ready, when the people come back.”
     Specifically, Marquize calls for individual churches in the Northwest to step in and “adopt” one of the remaining New Orleans-area churches by sending support and relief teams, by conducting prayer walks through the devastated area, and by giving concentrated and loving attention to the churches’ needs.
     And it must happen as soon as possible, because the largest flow of New Orleans refugees back to their home area will likely take place within the next year, he says.
     Although the devastation was such that New Orleans will not soon see its former population base, about 60 percent of those who lived there will come back, Marquize estimates. If the churches there are up and running and ready to minister with integrity to the returnees, the change in the spiritual climate there could be unlike anything ever seen in a city known for its longstanding moral challenges.
    “I believe we have a window to jump in and have the churches ready when the people start returning,” Marquize said.
     What makes Marquize so certain of the spiritual potential there is what he has already observed since the storm unleashed havoc.
    “The presence of God is there,” he said. “People drive through the area and they are moved with compassion.”
     He pointed out that ‘katrina,” in the Greek language, means purity, or cleansing. The storm brought at least a short-term disruption to the sinful culture that existed in New Orleans, but unless those who follow Christ act to fill the “spiritual void” there, the licentious behavior will turn, Marquize believes.
    “We’re trying to make sure that the Church is a beachhead there before the other strongholds come back,’ he said.
     Marquize added that what happens spiritually at the mouth of the Mississsippi River could influence the entire nation.
    “I believe we can open a (spiritual) gateway to America,” he said.
     Echoing Marquize’s description of his home area was Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Clergy Council. Schenck issuesd a statement in early December after touring the stricken area: “No one can imagine the depth and breadth of devastation in the New Orleans area until you have seen it for yourself. News reports just can’t do justice to the extent of this kind of destruction. Every-thing is worse than even the most creative person could ever imagine.
    “Yet, in the midst of this catastrophe, the churches of New Orleans are shining lights of hope, help and healing. In many cases, the churches were the first, if not the only, responders to the crisis. But, they need the assistance of fellow churches across the country who will partner with them to continue caring for victims and rebuilding their congregations and communities.”
     The Beaverton luncheon was arranged by Rev. Dennis Dickson, pastor of Southside Assembly of God in Bend and himself a native of Venice, La., which was also devastated by the hurricane. Dickson once served as a youth pastor under Marquize, who has been in full-time ministry for 27 years — 20 of them with the Assemblies of God — but who is now aligned with a group of independent churches.
     Dickson, who coordinated the Prayer Mountain Northwest event last year that drew hundreds to Mount Bachelor in Central Oregon, agrees with Marquize on the great potential for a positive spiritual outcome from the hurricane — if Christians will respond now.
    “It’s not the magnitude of what we can do, but the fact that we can do something strategic,” said Dickson. “We need a continual flow of encouragement and assistant to the churches there.”
     Overall, the process of restoring New Orleans will take five to 10 years, said Marquize. That’s why establishing a strong spiritual base right now is so important, he said.
     While in the Portland area, Marquize also spoke at the Agape Romanian Church on Glisan Street. The Marquizes have also been involved, since 1993, in church planting efforts in the former Soviet Union and planned to visit Russia this month.