Disaster Relief: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma

From Crystal:

This is Stan. We met him today at the Astrodome, and he told us his horrifying tale of being swept along by the rushing currents. He tried holding frantically to anything passing his way! He managed to grab onto an overhanging telephone wire, which he clung onto for dear life for 8 hours! In this toxic soup, the thought crossed his mind he might die. He said he wasn’t afraid of dying as he knew he would go to Heaven, but didn’t want to die alone! Finally, a canoe came by and took him to higher ground. He stayed for 3 more days in the hot baking sun giving him 2nd degree burns all over his body. Eventually he was transported to the Astrodome in Houston.
On arrival at the Astrodome his feet were very swollen, so he secured himself an area to sleep near the food canteen and bathroom so he wouldn’t have to walk any distance. At last, he was able to show a volunteer his feet which had tripled in size. The doctors fear he’ll lose both feet to gangrene from being submerged in this contaminated brew for so long. After a few days some of the swelling did go down. After praying with him for healing he was moved to tears. Please do continue to pray for him that he’ll fully recover! We left him with some feeding reading to encourage him at this stage.

On September 10, Nick and I were up at 5 and ready to start at the shelter by 6AM. Saturday morning was slower as the days before were very busy with the announcement of the Debit card and funds for evacuees. It had been very busy to help people with that. With Family Services not available on the weekend it was quieter, but we had one young man, Kevin come in.

He arrived really dirty, and wrapped in an old blanket — it was almost unbelievable. He was very broken-hearted, his eyes were all red from crying and I wasn’t sure if he would burst into tears again. He told us his story of how he had come up from Mississippi to East Texas where he had one relative, but no phone number or address. He explained he hadn’t eaten in 4 days, he had gone to one place where they didn’t have a place for him to stay overnight and then he tried the next night at a church, but he was in such a traumatic state from wandering and traveling that sadly he was misunderstood and turned away.

He had one relative in a tiny town and no address or number, and decided to walk there. He finally found a hospital where he received some medication as he had been crying uncontrollably, and then walked another 3 miles from there and turned up here at the shelter this morning. We immediately referred him to the doctor to check him, and signed him in. Then I was able to assist and take him for some clean clothes, and set him up with a bed and bedding in the shelter. When asked how he felt by others, he said,” do you know how it feels not to eat for over 4 days? Even a small candy fills you”. We found out he has lost contact with his wife and daughter, so after getting him breakfast and settled in we started helping him with calls and an internet search for them.

(more…)

From Haven:

Liz and I went to the Windsor shelter today and we helped with the childcare. They have a very nice set-up for the 0-6 year olds. The women who are staffing the center are very concerned about keeping everything clean and organized and they’re doing a great job. They were able to get their little daycare set up nicely in the just the past few days, thanks to a lot of dedicated volunteers and many kind donations. We are now helping out by doing musical performances for the children. We also spent some time in the other childcare area playing with the 5-8 year olds. The department that cares for the children also told us that we could bring in our guitars and sing with the kids. We’re very thankful for a way to be able to share some happiness with these kids. Most of them seem to be enjoying themselves in the play area that the shelter has set up for them, and the kids are quite happy and energetic and responded well to the attention we’ve given them.

From Crystal, Ruth & Daniel,

Hurricane Katrina has ripped apart lives, and shattered hopes for 1000’s of souls that survived her wrath. Many escaped without even a pair of shoes on their feet. Blistered feet fled New Orleans, some having lived on their rooftops in the boiling sun waiting for rescue.

An atmosphere of hopelessness permeates the Astrodome in Houston, the new home for thousands of displaced Americans. Little did I know what was awaiting me when coming from my missionary work in Africa to visit a Family International base in New Orleans! Who could have imagined the devastation that was yet to unfold as I watched the daily reports on the news of what was happening? I was considering coming to New Orleans before my visit to my family in another state, but God changed my plans. He speaks! My flight was already booked, so I was rerouted to Houston so I could meet up with the team here to help with the relief effort.

I didn’t know what to expect when arriving as I knew that the missionary team based in New Orleans had to leave their base and flee. I was prepared for living in real tight quarters on the floor with other Family International volunteers in Texas. When I arrived at our location, I was absolutely taken aback at the Lord’s supply and love for this team. A dear woman they met at a shelter donated the use of her fully furnished house. This dear woman had been praying that day who to give the house to, and the team had prayed that same morning specifically for a house.

In New Orleans the Family International missionaries are presently ministering to the military and police officers. These men have been working non-stop, most having lost everything themselves to the hurricane. This Family International team is helping to provide hot meals for the police and military officers, and a team of young people, (Conchi, Karen, Jaz, and Claire) along with Caleb and Becky went to New Orleans to sing for the police, military, and FEMA workers.

Yesterday, we once again were ministering in the Astrodome — people wept in our arms, and we were able to pray with them and leave them with something to read. The children from the Family International in Houston performed at the Astrodome tent for children’s activities. Please continue to pray for our ministry to the evacuees —Jesus is their only hope and peace!

For the past few days a group of teens from The Family International have been volunteering their time after school to help sort and pack food at the Food Bank for the Katrina hurricane victims. They have done a great job working together as a team and their efforts have been appreciated by the Food Bank staff.

We had another amazing day at the Astrodome & Reliant Center shelters as we were able to help a Radio Station from Miami “Super 96″ who together with The Florida Marlins did an enormous toy drive and collected 3 large truck-loads of brand new toys, games, books, shoes,etc. for the evacuee children. They drove all the way from Miami and even brought a clown with them but were not being allowed to enter with the toys. So because Jeff and & I had already met with many of the organizers & people in charge, we were able to get the authorization for them to enter and distribute the toys.

What a joy & privilege to be a part of this! Just to see the smiles on the children’s faces after all they have been through brought tears to our eyes. It was Christmas in September for them. We were also able to give a poster with a message of comfort and inspiration to the children along with their bags of toys. We were a team of seven Family International volunteers working together with lots of other volunteers until late at night, but it was worth it all.

From Dan & Arthur

We have been receiving phone calls asking for food assistance from Katrina evacuees here in San Antonio who are not being housed in shelters. We have put together many boxes of non-perishable food items and have delivered them to the evacuees in different parts of the city. We’ve taken time to talk with these people, pray with them and leave them some faith-building Christian literature such as the Activated Magazine which the evacuees have said they very much appreciate. We have also been able to share encouragement and hope with them and the knowledge that the Lord loves them and will always be there for them.

After visiting some families and providing them with needed food items, Arthur (18) and I went to the Kelly USA shelter where we spent time visiting with some of the evacuees there, asking them about their needs and lending a listening ear as they unburdened their hearts and looked for comfort. We talked with one man who had lived in New Orleans all his life but said that he had never before experienced such kindness and hospitality as he had found in San Antonio and he plans to make this his new home. He showed us a Bible he had under his pillow that someone had given him and he said that was what had kept him holding on through such an upheaval in his life and he was so thankful he had Jesus. He asked for prayer for his health and for his family to adapt to their new home and schools and asked us to visit him again.

Arthur was also able to offer his services for a few hours working in the distribution center, helping sort donated items and unloading trucks full of donated clothing that were coming into the center.

While singing to the evacuees in the Astrodome, we met precious Cynthia, who lost her home in New Orleans. She is a 53 year old retired military woman whose daughter is presently in the armed forces in Iraq.

Cynthia was stranded on her roof for 2 days with her granddaughter, then they were picked up by a boat and dropped on a bridge on the I-10, where they spent the next two days without food or water. Finally, a bus picked them up and took them to the Astrodome.

When we sang for her she joined in with us with her beautiful voice. After singing Amazing Grace together, she broke down in tears, letting it all out with sobbing from the depths of her soul. I held her in my arms and told her, “It’s ok to cry.” She kept saying, “I just want to go home….” I told her, “I’m from New Orleans too, and we all want to go home, but Jesus has a better home for us, and really this world is not our home…..we’re just a passin’ through!” After sharing some passages from the Bible on that subject we sang her John 14. “In my Father’s house are many mansions…” We left her with the Activated magazine, titled, “New beginnings.”

Like so many others, her home was completely destroyed by hurricane Katrina, so she really can’t go home. It is very hard for people to adjust to the aftershocks of what has happened. Thank God we can help by giving them the water of God’s Word!

From Dan

On Saturday we went to KellyUSA and spent our time there listening to people as well as exploring more ways to get involved. The base itself is very well staffed, but we noticed a lot of folks sitting around on their beds. We talked to a few of them letting them tell us their stories. What we saw was that the physical needs were being met but there is a great need for that spiritual relief in talking to someone.

One man who we talked to said, “Well you guys are from the Red Cross so you have to listen to me.” We told him that we were there because we wanted to listen to him, to which he smiled.

Later in the afternoon we headed over to the Coliseum where they are giving some financial aid to the victims. Our job there was to talk to the individuals and help them in filling out their forms. This brought us in close contact with a lot of people and showed us that the need isn’t even just within the shelters but also with others who may be staying with friends or relatives.

One lady I was helping told me her heart-breaking story, I told her that I could pray for her to which she told me that God was no longer in the picture. These kind of situations show how desperate the need is for the prayers of others as if God is in the picture we know that he can handle all the problems.

We really want to thank Activated Ministries for donating tens of thousands of pieces of Christian literature and books for us to give to all. We really appreciate it. The response has been terrific and because of your generosity we have been able to reach out to a lot of people who are in great need of comfort and encouragement — and we have also led many people to receive Jesus as their Savior.