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Sunday, January 1, 2006
Church helping Baby Noor touts faith in action
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Becky Stein/Special
"This is just the beginning," Debbie Stone told fellow Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church members during services Sunday.
The plight of a sick Iraqi infant has stirred a spirit of compassion at Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church.
The Douglas County church played a key role in delivering Noor al-Zahra from Iraq to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where she remained in good condition Sunday.
The church’s success against daunting odds in Baby Noor’s case has galvanized members involved in an emerging effort to help more people outside the sanctuary walls.
The Rev. Adam Roberts praised his church’s effort on behalf of the Iraqi infant Sunday but peppered a sermon with references to others who are hurting and vulnerable. He prayed for “all those who are in need … who we might be called to help.”
Now that the church, just south of Douglasville, has raised $15,000 for Noor and helped arrange free medical care, he urged members to clothe foster children, help Hurricane Katrina victims and offer assistance to other Iraqis.
Church members gave a standing ovation Sunday to Debbie Stone, a 40-year-old social worker and mother of two who championed Noor’s cause after receiving an e-mail from Lt. Jeff Morgan, a friend serving with the Georgia Army National Guard in Iraq.
“This isn’t about me. It isn’t really about us,” Stone told the congregation.
“It’s about what God is doing in our community and in our world.”
Founded about 10 years ago, Shepherd of the Hills has about 300 members and a decidedly casual style, with members in blue jeans sipping coffee at tables while men and women sing and play guitars and saxophones on stage.
Its members have periodically raised money for Cambodian missionaries, and one class regularly sends money to a Cambodian orphan in his early teens.
The church has taken up offerings for members behind on utility bills. It collected $3,000 for tsunami relief and $1,200 after Hurricane Katrina, said Krystol Brooks, chairwoman of an outreach committee.
About a year ago, though, Stone and Kelly Smith, the church’s financial manager, began talking about doing more.
Roberts supported an increased focus on outreach when he became pastor a few months ago.
The church has since sent a team to Mississippi to help victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild.
Members started donating clothes for foster children in metro Atlanta a few months ago at the urging of April Jorgensen, 34.
“Kids can be so mean to children who don’t have the right clothes,” said Jorgensen, a foster mother.
“What we’re trying to do is show God’s love not by preaching or beating people over the head with the Bible,” her husband, Neil, said.
Meeting real needs
Lieutenant Morgan, who has attended Shepherd of the Hills, told Stone about Noor just as Stone and others were finalizing plans for Lifeover Ministries, envisioned as a church-affiliated nonprofit that would help meet real needs of real people.
Stone made Noor a personal cause, making call after call in search of a doctor willing to donate services to operate on Noor. The baby has a severe form of spina bifida, an ailment in which the spine does not fully form.
Stone told the church Sunday she acted to help the infant and the soldiers who found her.
“They go out every day. They’re doing their jobs. They’re patrolling. They’re catching insurgents, but these people have a heart just like we have.
“They want to make a difference,” she said. “Everybody was so willing to help.”
The church’s highly publicized success with Baby Noor — camera crews filmed the sermon Sunday — should inspire members to know what they can achieve in efforts that unfold outside the spotlight, Roberts said.
In addition to collecting clothes for foster children and planning another trip to Mississippi, church members hope to help other children in Iraq.
Stone said soldiers have told her about an Iraqi girl who lost an arm and went blind when a grenade exploded.
“If we don’t help her, she’s going to grow up illiterate,” Stone said.
The church may also collect money to buy and send prenatal vitamins that soldiers could distribute to expectant Iraqi mothers.
Its members plan to buy wheelchairs for several elderly Iraqis and soccer balls for children.
“This is just the beginning,” Stone said.
