Disaster Relief: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma

From Pandita

Richard and Pandita went to the shelter to cheer up the kids with a bag of balloons, Grandpa Jake stories, and a Grandpa Jake puppet along with his African American granddaughter puppet. When we arrived at the children’s play area and the mood was very chaotic, and the children were very hyper and running around. We tried to organize them in groups for stories but they couldn’t settle down, so I just started asking their names and making friends with them. I began to write down their names and ages. We promised the children that we would be back again, but they would have to sit down and hear a story before they got their balloons. We spent two hours with the children just talking with them and trying to develop a rapport with them to prepare them for the next visit.

Off to the Kelly Shelter, the largest shelter in our city

Richard also volunteered at the prison where he is assistant chaplain, so I took my 21 year old son Daniel for a tour of Kelly to encourage him to volunteer. We met Joy getting her badge and as we walked around we were stopped by FEMA officals asking if I knew Spanish. We ended up at the FEMA office for the rest of the evening translating for four or five families and we also had the opportunity to tell these families who have suffered so much that they are special to the Lord and He had a plan for them, that they had survived this and He will take care of them. Later three families prayed and received the Lord

We met some of the sweetest people who were smiling and so happy to have someone talk to them and show a little interest. The children got so excited to have their pictures taken and kept saying, “Will you take a picture of me?” Then we’d show them the picture on the digital camera and they thought that was so exciting. They were drawn to us like a magnet and kept calling others to come get their pictures taken too. One grandma had an old cross around her neck and that’s what the Lord used to give us an instant connection with these dear people.

The City of San Antonio has been working hard to accommodate the evacuees and make sure their needs are met. Around the shelter we saw banners at schools, churches and people’s home saying “Welcome New Orleans” or “Welcome Friends from Louisiana”. Some banners were written by children and displayed their interest in welcoming the evacuees. There’s a lot of spiritual input and many opportunities to show concern and pray with the people here.

Family International Volunteer Peter at the Houston Astrodome:

Yesterday we had about 15 Family International volunteers split between the convention center and the Astrodome area in Houston. We also had another team in the Salvation Army center in Pasadena. In the Astrodome area, we had three teams of young people who had a guitar, and went singing from bed to bed. We are still working on getting an area where we can have an educational set-up for the children.

We spent time going from bed to bed in the Astrodome. There was one couple who, like so many, were still searching for their relatives. They had their little nephew with them, and were very positive about their situation; even though they weren’t sure what would happen to them didn’t know how they were going to find their relatives. We spent time talking to them, encouraging them, praying with them, and then left them some reading material. We also spoke to a couple of ladies, an older lady and her relative, who had been totally separated when they evacuated from New Orleans, and just walked into each other in the Astrodome. They were praising the Lord and were very happy.

We then spent some time in the medical center. There is a lot of sickness now erupting among the evacuees. In the medical center they’ve had to set up an area of isolation. When people are sick, they put them in there for 48 hours and watch them and check them and won’t release them until they are sure they are free from contamination. We spent time helping there, controlling the desk at the entrance of people going in and out. They all had to wash their hands going in and wash them when going out. They had to register going in, and register going out, so that there is a record of who’s been in there and why they were there. Tomorrow we’ll start again.

One interesting thing is that the number of evacuees in the Astrodome area is reducing significantly. There were about 16,000 yesterday in the Reliant Arena. Today it is down to about 8,000. They are moving people out very rapidly.

From Peter & Topaz:

This is a dear couple Christopher and Pamela Mistich and their nephew Tray, from Poydars, New Orleans.

They are looking for their family. We thought we could put their picture on the site and see if any of their friends or family might visit our site and see them. If so they are at the Astrodome and are registered there. They both were rescued by a neighbor and were helping to rescue others using a friends boat. They can’t find Tray’s mother and other relatives. We prayed with them and they were so grateful. We comforted them with the simple fact that not only does God help them that help themselves, but God helps those that help others. We have seen time and time again that prayer is the one thing that seems to calm troubled hearts. We also gave them some comforting literature.

Family International Volunteers Katie Roselle and Linda Perkins their first day at the shelter.
The need is overwhelming and there are people everywhere–wandering, not knowing what to do, confused and searching for missing loved ones.

Daniel Roselle and his wife Katie right outside the KellyUSA shelter where thousands of evacuees are being housed.

Hugues de Gaalon and Linda Perkins at the KellyUSA shelter where we are beginning our efforts to do what we can to make a difference in the lives of these thousands of displaced people. The city of San Antonio is making every effort to accommodate the evacuees and provide their needs.

From Topaz:

This is a little update on Day 6 here in Houston. It’s been just wonderful to see all the progress that’s being made in every way, each and every day. There is no end to the suffering, yet every day we can see a great outpouring of love and cooperation that’s bringing solutions to all the problems that are existing here. What we did today was mainly coordinate a lot of efforts to get a children’s center open, a place where we can put on shows, lay out our books, show videos, have the parents there with the children and make it a wonderful educational and spiritual experience to give comfort and get their minds off their problems. We did a lot of work on that today.

Also, during our time at the Astrodome today we bumped into Jason Kidd and B G:

From Shad, Family International Volunteer:

After spending time at the Houston Astrodome helping the evacuees, our team of two adults and four teens went to the George R. Brown Convention Center where the most recent evacuees had arrived. Many of these people had not necessarily been flooded out of their homes but as one man told us, he was with his wife and three children with no lights, water or food and with all the stores closed they had no choice but to leave. We saw some tearful reunions - one in particular of a father and mother finding their young daughter. The mother cried and was loudly giving thanks to Jesus while dozens of people nearby gave them a standing ovation.

These two nurses recognized our shirts and came up to us saying that some of the Family International had volunteered in the medical section where they were working and gave them high marks for their efforts.

An elderly man describing how the floodwaters took over his home.

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My name is Karen, I’m a full-time Family International missionary in Mexico, and I came up to Houston for a short visa trip, when Katrina hit Louisiana. Since I love to sing and perform, I was invited to join a group of “crazy clowns” to go and cheer up the refugees with some happy music, skits and lively songs. And it’s been a blast. At first I was only going to stay for a few days, but then I felt that the Lord was asking me to delay my return to Mexico and continue visiting all the shelters for a couple of weeks.

On Sunday we first visited a church converted into a shelter for 300 people. They were so thankful we had come as they were swamped with extra duties and did not know what to do with the children to keep them entertained and happy. After our clown and magic and singing show we prayed with all the children and their parents.

We then spent some time encouraging the parents who are going through great despair coming to grips with the fact that they have lost their homes. We shared with them how the Lord is our greatest strength in times of trouble like these.

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We had a pretty good day yesterday, some of the highlights were that Caroline who was working with Fay, continued working to help the lost & found situation to help people find their missing loved ones — so they continued with that project all day.

Caroline also got involved with a lady who had little three year old whose birthday was yesterday so we brought him some cupcakes with candles and toys that were donated and we had a little birthday party for him.

Steve was working at the medical center again, and we also spent some time at the medical center helping the patients. Later on in the evening we went to meet some of the other volunteers, and David was talking to an Australian lady who is a reporter for an Aboriginal paper in Australia. When Topaz met her they immediately recognized each other as they had met the other day at the Astrodome. We got some video clips of some of the experiences that this woman had at the Astrodome which will come soon.

We also met an older couple and we spent some time with them, and we gave them some Activated Magazines to read. I asked the man how he was doing and if they needed anything. This couple was in their late 70’s and he told me that they were doing okay, though they had lost everything. So I told him that God never takes anything away without giving you something better. The man exploded in praise and he said, “You’re right! I know that’s true! I know that we’re going to start again — and I know that God will not fail us. He’s brought us here and He’s going to look after us.” A friend of theirs walked up who has survived cancer twice — an overcomer — and she also was praising the Lord and just so happy. It’s beautiful to see that the Lord is giving these people the grace for the situation.

On Saturday night Caroline worked late with Fay, 25 years old, to continue work on the database for the lost & found. Fay wandered off and she was in an area that was sparsely populated and a young man accosted her. She screamed and the young man ran away and the police then came. So it is very dangerous to be in this place, particularly when the lights are dim and in the sparsely populated concourses and areas. We’ve warned all the Family International volunteers to make sure to go 2 by 2 and to be aware that there is a lot of risk. There were a lot of gang members in the Superdome, so there are some gang members in the crowd here as well. Thank you for your prayers for the safety of our volunteers.