Dear Seminary Family,

This is the second and final update on Hurricane Ike. Classes will resume and offices reopen on Tuesday, September 9. We anticipate no interruptions at all from Hurricane Ike. Forecasters continue to see a westward track that is most likely to take the storm into the western Gulf of Mexico towards the Texas or Mexico coasts. Having had an evacuation experience ourselves, we know how to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ to the west of us who will probably be asked to evacuate in the near future. We need to also pray for our students in South Florida who have faced Fay and Gustav even before Ike, along with our students in Orlando, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and Alexandria, LA. We are in partnerships to provide some ministry training in Haiti and Cuba as well. These students and their churches are facing great devastation in the aftermath of this most unusual train of storms. We will continue to watch Ike carefully, but there will be no further updates unless it does something unexpected. Keep reading!

Those of us who live and study on the campus of NOBTS have so much to be grateful for. God preserved our city and campus. The new design of our hurricane protection was tested and held firm. As the projects currently under way move toward completion, New Orleans will have the best protection it has ever had. We also have been reminded to cherish the "normal" rhythms of our weeks at Seminary. The promise of this week's classes and chapel services is encouraging indeed!

Now for a final personal reflection. Perhaps most important is the opportunity we have to learn some things you cannot get in a classroom. Why does God lead us to one seminary and not another? You get the same degree and the same kind of education whichever seminary you attend. What is different and distinctive are the experiences you have along the way. It is in the fire of life that God does most of the shaping of our souls. Jeremiah tells us that God is like a potter shaping and reshaping our lives (Jeremiah 18:1-10). It is the choice of trust in the fire of doubt that roots the habit of trust in our soul. The lessons of this week and other lessons like living in a very non-Baptist environment, participating in the rebuilding of a city, and so forth are the things that make an NOBTS degree unlike any other. It is why we are more than students and teachers. We are a family in which ALL of us, faculty, staff, students, and president, are being shaped and molded by the Potter's hand. The touch of our Potter can feel heavy and rough at times, but He assures us the vessel that emerges will be beautiful (Psalm 143)!

Yours & His,
Chuck Kelley

Dear Seminary Family,

This is the first update concerning Hurricane Ike. It will not effect the schedule previously announced. Offices will reopen on Tuesday and we will resume our normal class schedule on Tuesday. Hurricane Ike appears to be moving on a track farther and farther to the west of New Orleans. It is still too early to know with certainty, but most models now show it making landfall south and west of Houston, TX. Our area forecasters appear to be encouraged. We will continue watching it carefully. Another update, hopefully our last, will be posted Monday evening.

Do what you need to do on Blackboard tonight. We plan to make our technology move back to New Orleans tomorrow. The website will remain up, but access to Blackboard and NOBTS.edu Mail will be unavailable until Tuesday.

We are going to have a great time of worship in chapel on Tuesday with Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. Many are the reasons we have to come into God’s presence as a seminary family and express our gratitude and praise. Bring your own seatbelt! I hope to see you there.

Yours and His,

Chuck Kelley

Dear Seminary Family,
This is the eighth update following Hurricane Gustav.
First a word about New Orleans. The city and our area are improving steadily. As I drove in this afternoon I noticed Winn-Dixie is operating normally but busier than usual. Walgreens has opened and is operating normally. All of our fast food places except Sonic are back, as is the gas station across the street. Still not normal, but getting there. It appears each 24 hour period is bringing improvement. The all clear for all families remains in place. We will reopen offices and resume our normal class schedule on Tuesday.

Now a word about Hurricane Ike. Most of you should know that a Hurricane named Ike is in the Atlantic and could be headed for the Gulf of Mexico. We are watching the storm very carefully. It is still too early to tell if it will threaten New Orleans. City and state officials are monitoring the storm carefully. All agree it is too early to make a reasonable assumption about where this storm will go. As I write this update all Orleans and Jefferson Parish schools, public and private, are scheduled to open on Monday. I have just watched a review of all the parishes (counties) in our area. Not even the ones on the Gulf are sounding an alert at this time. The other schools in New Orleans will open on Monday; we will open Tuesday. As always, the website will keep you up to date. A Sunday update will be posted Sunday evening.

What’s the deal with all these storms? Is it always like this? The simple answer is no. The more complete answer is occasionally. Here is the full explanation. I have lived in New Orleans continuously since 1975. For all but five years of my life prior to 1975, I lived on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Most of those years hurricane season went by without a single storm threatening my home---either New Orleans or my boyhood home in Beaumont, Texas. Some times a storm would threaten but not hit. Occasionally a hurricane would hit. Now and then there would be more than one threat in a season. Very rarely would there be more than one hit in any given season. To plug some number into that statement here’s what I can recall of my record: 51 hurricane seasons on the Gulf Coast; about 10-12 hits where I was living; number of personal evacuations, 2. In the history of New Orleans there have been only 2 mandatory evacuations of all citizens. In my 33 hurricane seasons in New Orleans, I can only recall five or six times the campus was closed. In other words, this is not a typical year, but it is not a historic year either. It happens now and then but not often. This happens to be an unusually active year in the tropics. Read a little further for a personal reflection.

I suppose the kindest and gentlest way I can express my feelings about the possible threat of another storm just as I get to come home after an earlier storm is to say it is highly aggravating. Some might add: and a bit scary. I would not think it inappropriate to wonder, “What is God thinking?” After I kick a towel and mutter to myself for a bit about how unfair it is that other seminary presidents, faculties, and students don’t have to face these circumstances, I find the Lord quietly and gently pulling my attention to two basic facts, and standing by quietly next to me while I stare at them. Fact One: it was His idea and not mine for me to be in New Orleans. If I once accept that fact I must ask, “Did these storms catch God by surprise?” or “Was God unprepared to care for me and my family when these two storms were born?” If my heavenly Father was not caught by surprise and was not unprepared for the problems of two storms in one month for seminary family budgets, then He must have a plan to care for me. For me that fact and its implication are worth holding tight.

Second Fact: Drawing peace from my circumstances in life rather than from my position in Christ is more deeply rooted in my mind and soul than I realized or intended. I am having a WOW! Moment here. Philippians 4:6-7 speaks of God’s peace guarding my heart and not my circumstances. Could I possibly have come this far in the journey of faith and not fully embraced that most basic of lessons? God, and God alone is the only source of the deepest peace. It is only when I am more aware of Him and His glory than I am of my circumstances and trouble that I have a peace that the world cannot shake. I don’t think God designed Ike to be a pop test on the state of God’s peace in my soul, but it is serving that purpose well. I am holding on to that first fact. That second fact is holding on to me. I am praying for you. Please pray for us. Thank goodness Jesus Himself is praying for all of us (John 14-17)!

Yours & His,
Chuck Kelley

Dear NOBTS Family,

This is the seventh and best update following Hurricane Gustav. It is time for all NOBTS saints to make plans for marching in!
We had a great day on campus today. All power is back up for every campus building except the Operations Building at the rear of campus. As of 7am Saturday morning, all students, staff, and faculty, including those in temporary housing, are invited to return at your convenience.

Basic services continue to improve, but are still not normal. More of the businesses in Gentilly are opening each day. The grocery stores, gas stations, and drug stores on Veterans Highway appear to be nearing normal hours and supplies. Cox cable is up. You are likely to experience some inconveniences, but New Orleans is slowly returning to normal. You may need a little more cash than usual, but normal is coming. The Dean of Students will be on campus Saturday to answer any questions and assist as he is able.

Offices will reopen and the normal class schedule will resume on Tuesday. We are staying with this schedule to allow you as much flexibility as possible in planning your return and to give you time to resettle your families, homes, and apartments. God has so blessed us in this experience. We will have a great gathering of worship and praise in Chapel on Tuesday.

I offer this further reflection on my journey through the Gustav event. I have always been inspired by the biblical miracles, but not until my participation in the Katrina and Gustav events did I think about how traumatic it was to be a participant in a miracle. Before the Red Sea parted, parents and children were terrified with the slaughter planned by the war chariots they could see. Fear and not faith filled the hearts of most before the spectacular intervention of God. All were in despair at the foot of the cross. None expected the resurrection. Perhaps the deepest faith cannot come without having real distress, real fear, real despair overcome by the grip of God on your soul. This is the toughest kind of classroom for a soul intent on serving Jesus in the church and the world. The day may come, however, when we look back and realize it has been a necessary classroom. It was those caught between the chariots and the sea who later had to go to bed without food and believe there would be breakfast in the morning. Perhaps our Gustav experience is an ingredient in God’s recipe for biscuits! (Exodus 14:10-31) See you soon!

Yours & His,

Chuck Kelley

Dear NOBTS Family,

This is the sixth update on Hurricane Gustav.

Are you ready for some good news? Please read carefully because this is better news for some families than for others.

Basic services are still minimal and will be for much of the weekend, BUT power has been restored to SOME student housing. The Manor Apartments, Courtyard Apartments, Staff Apartments, Oaks Apartments, Farnsworth Apartments and all townhomes except 4303, 4305, and 4307 Iroquois have power. In addition, power has been turned on for the sewage and water system serving our area. Only two additional faculty homes and some faculty townhomes have power at this time. Don’t’ stop reading yet!

From 12 noon until 6:00pm today, and from 7am forward on Saturday, the campus will be open for students and staff in housing with power. YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED ON CAMPUS IF YOUR APARTMENTS HAVE NO POWER! We are told a curfew is still in effect, so plan to arrive during daylight hours only. If you come, fill up your car with gas before entering New Orleans. Bring groceries with you. We think much of New Orleans will be back to normal by Monday. It is not there yet. If you come, be prepared for inconvenience. For instance, Cox cable is not up as I write this note. The Winn-Dixie is allowing seven customers at a time into the store. The closest open gas station is about mile from the campus. And so on. The playgrounds are ready for use, however, and campus security is back to normal. Those with power are welcome to return at your convenience during daylight hours before the curfew starts. Due to Louisiana safety code, those without power will not be allowed on campus. Keep reading.

What about our other families? I am expecting good news in the near future. I will post an update this evening. Stay tuned! As I said in the last posting, yesterday was a day of little progress but much preparation for progress. I think today and tomorrow will be days of significant progress. We are on track to reopen offices and resume normal classes on Tuesday. Keep up with your Black board classes. Keep thanking God for His mercy. The saints of NOBTS will be marching in this weekend! Psalm 126

Yours & His,
Chuck Kelley

Dear NOBTS Family,

This is the fifth update following Hurricane Gustav.

I had to create a new way to describe the state of my soul. My new term is impatient blessedness. My soul is filled with such a deep sense of gratitude to God for His providential care of our campus and city, every step I take in exile is on shouting ground. I look at the slide show of the campus on the website and want to say WOW! over every picture. It looks so great! At the same time I am filled with impatience and a desire to go home that makes my hotel room feel smaller each day. It is a state of blessed impatience. Where are we now?

First the disappointing news. The campus and city are clearly not ready yet for our return. The issue is power not a mess. There was no major flooding. As usual a number of limbs fell, and there was some damage to fences. The wind blew off a few shingles and some siding panels, but we found no evidence of leaks inside any buildings and the roofs are already repaired. Our children will be able to hit the playgrounds the moment they return to campus. However, our multi-family housing still does not have power, and most of our faculty housing does not have power. Louisiana safety code is quite clear and as a result of having no power, we cannot let families return to multi-family housing. The power and water issues are also affecting greatly the availability of basic services such as groceries and gas. For those who are in New Orleans today life is not very pleasant. Keep reading. It does get better.

Are you ready for some good news? Entergy trucks have been buzzing around our neighborhood and campus preparing for some significant work. This was a good day. Although very little visible progress was made, a lot of preparation for progress is underway. I anticipate some better news within 48 hours, if not sooner. I am growing more and more confident that we will be open for business as usual on the campus by Tuesday. I think most basic services will be back by Monday. The time is coming, but it is not yet here. Just a little longer, and the Saints (in the New Testament sense) will come marching back to NOBTS!

I have lost count of the number of times I have wondered why God lets a family like our seminary family, a family passionately committed to Jesus and sacrificially serving His kingdom, go through experiences like this. I have no definitive answer, but I do have a suggestion. While wrestling with my blessed impatience I read 1 Peter 1:2-15. Perhaps God would define blessed impatience as training for greatness in a servant of Jesus. Perhaps God’s only classroom for teaching and enhancing godly character is adversity. Perhaps the years Paul spent in prison were used like a hammer and chisel to shape him into a legendary servant of Christ. Perhaps the up and down temperament Peter brought to his following of Christ could only be smoothed out by persecution, jail, and a martyr’s death. Perhaps my blessed impatience is a nudge from the Holy Spirit wanting me to ask more than when can I get back to the campus. Perhaps He wants me to ask, “Lord, what do you want me to learn?” What about you? I am looking forward to seeing you soon!

Yours & His,

Chuck Kelley

Dear NOBTS Family,

This is the fourth update following Hurricane Gustav. It is the most important one thus far. Please read carefully.

Entergy, the company supplying power to New Orleans, notified us they have encountered a significant problem in restoring power to our part of New Orleans, which includes several universities and hundreds of homes and businesses. Complicating our understanding of the situation is the spotty nature of the power that is available. It does not follow a straight line. If six houses are in a row, one may have power and the others have none. Entergy tells us Sunday is the earliest day they can get power to all or most of our campus.

What does this mean to our campus families?

First, faculty families: Because the governor and mayor have opened the highways of our city for return, we will allow faculty families, and faculty families only, willing to bear the hardships of no power and little or no basic services to return to their homes on Thursday. However, we strongly recommend that no family return at this time. If you as a faculty family choose to return to the campus on Thursday, you are coming at your own risk with the knowledge that power, gas, and groceries may be difficult to find. A few random faculty homes have power. A list of homes with power will be emailed to the faculty by the end of the day. Again, remember there are minimal basic services available at this time. Think very carefully before returning home at this time. Please keep reading!

Second, student and staff families: Louisiana Life-Safety Code forbids any occupancy of multi-family housing without power. For that reason, no student or staff families will be allowed to return to the campus until power has been restored. We will notify you when this happens on the website. We hope the return will be by Monday.

Hurricane Gustav has passed without much damage to the campus, but this issue of power and basic services is the challenge we are now working on. Our whole Seminary family did an exceptionally good job of dealing with the evacuation. We are asking for your cooperation and patience as we deal with this challenge. Here is the update of our plans for bringing you home.

Our target for returning all families is Monday. To give you an idea of the kind of problems we are watching, there is significant concern about the operation of the sewage system. We want to be as certain as possible New Orleans is ready for you to come home. We will post an update on Saturday evening to confirm or postpone that recommendation. Look for the update after 6pm CDT Saturday evening. We are doing all that we can to make that date work.

We plan to reopen offices on Tuesday, September 9 and resume our normal class schedule on Tuesday, September 9. In light of the continued impact of hurricane Gustav on the Gulf South, and the potential impact of hurricanes Hannah and Ike on Florida and the East Coast, there is a change in the class schedule for Saturday, September 6 and Monday, September 8:

• Saturday classes scheduled for Saturday, September 6 are delayed until Saturday, September 13.
• All undergraduate and graduate classes on Monday, September 8th at the New Orleans campus and extension centers (except undergraduate classes in Jackson, MS) are cancelled and will be made up on Monday, November 24. Jackson undergraduate classes will continue as scheduled.
• The ProDoc Project Design Workshop will begin on Tuesday, September 9 rather than Monday, September 8.

Please check the NOBTS web page for any further adjustments.

God never wastes the tears of His people. We see this over and over again in Scripture and in the story of the Church through the ages. Tears there are a plenty as God’s people go through life, for faith is no protection against trouble. But we serve a Redeemer, who brings His mighty power to bear on redeeming our troubles as well as our souls. These are difficult and challenging days, but they are days spent in God’s gym. It is in the days of our troubles that God builds our spiritual muscles and adds wisdom to our knowledge. I look forward to leaving the gym for a bit of a break in the near future! I am grateful, however, to know that God will not waste the tears of these days (Romans 8:28).

Yours & His,

Chuck Kelley

This is the second Gustav update. The news continues to be good. Our operations crew and others are already at work cleaning up the campus, and similar work is beginning all over the city. We had no flood damage at all, and no evidence yet of any internal damage to buildings, homes, or apartments. The basic design of our levee protection system was tested and the results were positive. It is clear the city is becoming better protected than it has ever been before. It is also clear that governmental leaders have made huge advances in communication, preparation, and coordination for our region in times of severe weather. We should all rejoice in this. The assessment process is underway across the city and state. We should have a definite word on when we can reopen the campus for returns to housing by tomorrow. I am quite hopeful we will reopen housing by Friday. As previously announced, offices will reopen and classes on campus will begin again on Monday, Sept 8th. Please do not start back to New Orleans until we have announced the “all clear” on the web page and the text alert system. Crucial factors in that decision are the return of power to our housing and the availability of basic services for you and your family. We are committed to getting you back as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. Please notice on the website some Frequently Asked Questions and the toll-free number to call if you need further information. Some further work has been done on Blackboard to make it a bit easier to continue your course work during these days away. We are profoundly grateful for your patience.

I conclude this update with a personal word from the journey of my soul with God. These last three years have been for me a PhD seminar on the mercy of God. In the days of Katrina we experienced the mercy God gives when his people face disaster. In the days of Gustav we experienced the mercy of God in sparing us from disaster. There is a mystery I cannot penetrate on how and why chooses the mercy He provides to His people. What is crystal clear, however, is that in ALL circumstances God gives mercy and grace sufficient for the needs of his children (Romans 8:28-39). To quote an ancient Hebrew expression: WOW! That is a conviction that is becoming very precious to me, and I hope to you. Perhaps because New Orleans has a seminary training leaders for the Church all over the world, God is using our city as the location for this PhD seminar in His mercy. In any case, I pray that we will all be faithful witnesses to the glory, mercy, and grace of God in these times and circumstances. I can hardly wait for Chapel with Brother Fred Luter on Tuesday. Bring your own seatbelt! Ck

Dear NOBTS Family,

This is the first update on Hurricane Gustav. Initial reports from the campus are positive. The Industrial Canal levees are holding firm and the water level in the canal is dropping steadily. My heart is filled with gratitude! We will give more details when the storm has completely cleared the New Orleans area.

We do know the campus will NOT open before Thursday or Friday. Classes on campus will resume on Monday. It is important to be sure New Orleans is ready before you begin your return. Also, we must avoid complicating the work of first responders who are addressing needs across Mississippi and Louisiana. Our “all clear” will follow that of the state and the city. As previously announced, classes will continue via Blackboard and the Internet.

A new update will be posted Tuesday morning. Please join me in praying for the needs of all those affected by this storm. Pray for our churches and SBC disaster response teams who are already at work meeting needs in Jesus name. Bless you!

Yours & His,

Chuck Kelley