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By Gary D. Myers
NEW ORLEANS --Immediately following Hurricane
Katrina, certified arborist Jim Breaux offered a week of tree
service to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. But the
onslaught of flooding across the city put his trip on hold.
When Breaux’s crew arrived two months later, one week of work
stretched to three once they saw the extent of the tree damage on
the campus. Breaux, his son Austin and two other employees removed
broken limbs and dead wood. They also pruned the trees and
completed stump grinding for the many downed trees. All this at no
cost to the seminary.
Breaux, owner of Personal Touch Tree Service in Dallas, lived in
New Orleans for 10 years. During that time, he developed a
friendship with a young couple at FirstBaptistChurch in New Orleans
-- Chuck and Rhonda Kelley. Chuck Kelley was still an NOBTS student
when Breaux met the future seminary faculty member and
president.
Breaux left New Orleans 18 years ago, but he continued his
friendship with the Kelleys and serves on the board of Kelley’s
personal ministry -– Innovative Evangelism. That friendship with
the Kelleys, his connections to the city and a love for the
seminary motivated Breaux to volunteer his time.
“The most compelling aspect of the Hurricane Katrina story is not
the unprecedented destruction, it is the great sacrifices being
made by those participating in the recovery efforts,” Kelley said.
“I find myself thanking God every day for people like Jim Breaux
who came to help a friend and do something for Jesus.”
The seminary received the greatest tree damage and loss in the
school’s history, so the crew’s job was not easy. Breaux said it
took his crew one and a half to two hours to cut down some of the
larger stumps to prepare for grinding.
“Cutting tree limbs is a small piece [of the seminary’s recovery],”
Breaux said. “That’s what we know and that’s what we are
doing.”
“To me, casting a crown at the feet of Jesus is taking what you do
best and doing it for Jesus,” Kelley said. “That is what these men
have done.”
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