Disaster Relief: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma

Ruth reporting from Houston

We decided to brave the storm here in Houston. When we prayed together we received the verse, “…and He arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm!”

We awoke the next day to give thanks to God for keeping us safe and for weakening the storm! Rita was at one time the 3nd most powerful storm in American history and was headed straight for us! Thank the Lord, he weakened it and diverted it!

We were anxious to set off for the shelters with guitar, singers, clowns, posters and Activated magazines! We met the superintendent of over 70 high schools in the Houston area. He had made an instant decision to turn 7 of his high schools into makeshift shelters for evacuees from Hurricane Rita. One in particular we sang at took in over 100 elderly victims! It was touching to see the love and concern shown to these elderly, as they need so much extra care. My heart has been broken as so many elderly have lost their lives due to Katrina and Rita. In New Orleans, whole nursing homes were abandoned during Katrina, leaving the elderly to their fate. Rita took the lives of 25 elderly on a bus inbound to Dallas.

It brought real joy to my heart to be able to pray with all these precious people, knowing their time is short and now they all have their “passport to heaven,” JESUS! One old gentleman brought tears to my eyes, as he held my hand and sang along with us! He knew all the words to the songs, even though they said he had Alzheimer’s disease. Together we sang, “This little light of mine,” “Twist and Shout” and “You are my Sunshine.” He was so funny holding up his “light” (index finger,) and dancing the twist from his wheelchair!

The red cross workers and volunteers enjoyed the show as much as the victims, and we were able to leave them all with copies of the Activated magazine, “Why suffering?” The superintendent said at first he couldn’t believe his ears….as he thought, “Is that music I’m hearing?” He said we just made his day as it had been up for about 40 hours dealing with the crisis. He said a lot of families they took in to the shelters just couldn’t go any further as they ran out of gas, food and water on the highway! One family I talked with personally were in gridlock traffic for 16 hours, from Texas city to Galveston, a trip that would normally take an hour!