FEMA Absent, Pastor Offers Katrina's Neediest Refuge With Red Beans and Rice

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 13, 2005 — -- Even before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, parts of the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans had already been devastated by man-made disasters -- poverty, crime and indifference.

Though Algiers managed to avoid flooding, the mass destruction and power outages left in Katrina's wake made some already trying conditions in the neighborhood much worse.

But on Sunday, amid the ruins, we heard gospel -- and not just any gospel -- the music of gratitude.

"Count your many blessings," they sang at the Greater St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church, the only house of worship open for business in the area.

Sunday marked the Rev. J. Nelson Brown's 22nd anniversary as the shepherd of this flock. He sent his family out of town before the storm. "I believe the captain stays on the ship," he told ABC News.

"Our loved ones, our relatives … and we're wondering, when they coming back? But God left you and I here for a divine purpose," Brown told his congregation. "God left you here that you might appreciate when the lights do come back on."

Two dozen or so came to worship Sunday morning, including soldiers from the 1st Calvary Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, and even a minister from a rival church.

"You can feed the physical man with substance, like red beans and rice and stuff like that," said the Rev. Mike Marshall, assistant minister at Philadelphia Baptist Church.

"But there's a part of us in humans that needs, the spirit must be feed, you must feed that part of you."

But actually, it's the red beans and rice that has this neighborhood singing Brown's praises.

Algiers is isolated, cut off from the rest of the city by the Mississippi River. Brown was already providing three meals a week to locals in need, but since the storm, operations have continued every day from morning until curfew.

"I was eating here before the storm," said Algiers resident Anishka Degruy, "but I mean, since the storm, he's the only, the only reverend around that's, you know, providing meals … hot meals, ice water, canned goods. I come every day."

Degruy is one of more than 150 locals who come every day for hot meals, and hundreds more who come for hot meals, supplies, water and ice.

"Ice was like gold," said resident Jessie Stanley Jr., "because everybody wanted some ice."

The 1st Calvary Division soon heard of Brown's work and donated a generator and two cooks.

Brown a 'True Hero'

"The story is all Pastor Brown," said Lt. Col. Mike Tarsa. "He's the gentleman that had the courage and the leadership to take care of families, and alls we did but just help his operation. It's been an honor for us to meet a true hero like Pastor Brown."

Brown has filled a hole that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other supposed safety nets have yet to fill.

"We did not see FEMA," Brown said. "We have yet to see FEMA. We have not seen FEMA, and the Red Cross came Friday. [It] was the first time we ever seen a Red Cross truck or personnel."

That's not entirely true. Sunday, while ABC News spent time with Brown at his shelter, Caesar Castro, a contractor who works for FEMA, stopped by. But he didn't come to bring supplies; he came to get water for himself and his co-workers.

"We work -- come through every day, and I see a lot of people drinking water," Castro said. "I'm bringing this to my co-workers."

A New Orleans cop stocked up on water, too. But mostly it's civilians seeking help, many of whom have not received assistance from FEMA or the Red Cross.

"They keep saying they coming, but they not coming," said one woman.

It is worth noting that Brown believes God sent Katrina to the Delta.

"There are some people saying, 'Why Katrina came to New Orleans?' The wickedness of New Orleans," Brown said. "Just last week, Labor Day weekend, the Decadence Festival [the annual gay and lesbian pride parade] was to be held in New Orleans. How our elected officials could allow such wickedness, such lewdness, to carry on. They don't do anything. But when God says, 'Enough has gone far enough. You've overstepped your bounds,' then God steps in."

But Brown is far more accepting when it comes to who is able to partake of his cold water and hot meals. Everyone is welcome.