RESCUE
REFUSED

Topics: Deliverance; Foolishness; Needs; Outreach; Powerlessness; Pride; Provision

References: Psalm 20:7; Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34; Romans 5:6–8; Ephesians 2:1–10; Colossians 2:8–15

Some at-risk people would rather stay put than be led to safety. That’s what helicopter pilot Iain McConnell and the rest of his air station crew discovered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

McConnell and his crew were told to keep five H-60 helicopters airborne on missions around the clock to airlift stranded people from their rooftops and deliver them to the Superdome in New Orleans. But they were only able to help relatively few survivors. “On our first three missions, we saved the lives of eighty-nine people, three dogs, and a cat,” McConnell said. “On the fourth mission, to our great frustration, we saved no one—but not for lack of trying. The dozens we attempted to rescue refused pickup!

“Some people told us simply to bring them food and water. ‘You are living in unhealthy conditions, and the water will stay high for a long time,’ we warned them. Still they refused.”

In truth, they did not know how desperate their situation was.

—Jocelyn C. Green, “A Rescuer’s Journal,” Today’s Christian (January–February 2006)