HOUMA, La. (BP) -- Despite humidity levels beyond stifling....

Despite delays in the arrival of food and the insulated Cambros for taking it to American Red Cross distribution sites....

Despite sleeping in less than ideal conditions....

And despite various other inconveniences....

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief-trained volunteers labored, laughed and joked and never once complained -- within earshot of a reporter, at least -- as Hurricane Isaac left southeast Louisiana and moved north.

SBDR volunteers -- and church volunteers -- had given up their Labor Day weekend to move into action in Covington, Madisonville, Poydras, New Orleans and Houma.

"The eye of the storm was directly over us and hovered over us for 10 hours," said Randall Gill, leader of a chainsaw unit stationed at Coteau Baptist Church in Houma. He's also pastor of Little Caillou Baptist Church in Chauvin. "We had 70 mph sustained winds, and gusts to 110....

"A lot of people are still really distraught, under duress," Gill reported. "When we're talking to people now, we're simply sharing with them that, even in the midst of the storm, the anchor still holds firm because Jesus is our rock. That's what we're sharing when we go out."

That's why Joe Arnold, another DR leader who also is director of missions for the local Bayou Baptist Association, wants a chaplain to go out on every work assignment to share God's love with people who are hurting.


"This [hurricane recovery] is rekindling a lot of relationships for us from Katrina," Arnold said. "We're seeing very little resistance in an area that's 90 percent Catholic."

James Irvine, a DR-trained chaplain and member of Pine Ridge Baptist Church in Melder, La., sat reading his Bible between assignments in Houma. "I'm just trying to learn more," Irvine said. "The more I know, the more I can share." Read More