Disaster Relief: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma

4a.m. That was the time our alarms rang each morning and we sprang into action. Our team was working with four other charities to provide 8,000 hot meals a day to the residents of Jasper County, who were without electricity for several weeks. (Jasper is just above Beaumont, where Hurricane Rita made landfall, and the eye passed through that area.) For Brandon, age 22, (3rd from the left on the group shot) it was the first time to join us on a mission. He is feeling the call of the Lord in his life, and is looking forward to working more with us.

By: Robert Haskell

We visited a High School in Woodlands, Texas being used as a shelter for the handicapped. Two days after Hurricane Rita struck, Cheerup International was there to bring love and laughter. The Lord helped us lift the spirits of this mature generation through our vivacious songs. They wanted to get out of their wheelchairs and dance with us.

Before leaving for Lafayette Louisiana, we all spent several days loading donated supplies into a container truck that was going to meet us in Lafayette.

(Below) This is the Cajun Dome in Lafayette Louisiana., temporary home to a 1,000 homeless people of Hurricane Katrina. A month after Katrina struck, the evacuees were forced to vacate again due to the ominous approach of Hurricane Rita. Now it holds victims of both Katrina and Rita.

(Below) Here, Daisy is comforting Lina who evacuated from New Orleans to Lafayette a month ago. Last week she had to evacuate from Lafayette because of Rita. Now she has returned to Lafayette and the Cajun Dome, where she is caring for her daughter, Lisa, who just went through a gall bladder operation.

Sometimes, just a listening ear or a few words of comfort or assurance are what make a difference to these souls. To let them know God cares and He knows everything that they are going through. Lina told Daisy that she is a Christian, but she felt lost and didn’t know how to approach God and that she didn’t know how to fight all the fears. She felt overwhelmed with worries and uncertainties. Daisy gave her an Activated magazine about why God allows suffering and then prayed with her. Asking God to give her a peace that wouldn’t fail (Is 26:3) and for God to release His Care upon her life.

(Below) Here we are singing to on-looking Red Cross officials outside the Cajun Dome. We were accompanied by a New Orleans resident that was already serenading his fellow citizens with his delightful clarinet playing.

Here, Daisy and Robert are talking to a one month resident of the Cajun Dome. He told us he knows his house was flooded badly and he’s leaving for the first time next week to see what’s left.

From Jon and Sam:

We’ve been visiting the shelter at Kelly air force base every day to spend time with the evacuees, talk with them and offer comfort and prayer. We’ve heard many stories from the evacuees of how they have lost everything. They said that when the levees broke water rushed into their homes like a wave; about as fast as 4-5 feet per minute. One man, David, told us of how he and 30 other people were trapped in a church because of the floods. He told of how he swam the length of a football field to a boat in-order to rescue his friends. He went on to tell how he rescued others nearby that were also trapped in their homes. He said that day was like a movie or a “bad dream”, and he thanks the Lord that he lived to see today.

Weve also been asking folks how their stay at the shelter has been, what they are planning on doing from here on out, and whether they would stay in San Antonio or go back to New Orleans. Most of the people we spoke with said they would stay in San Antonio for at least a year or so. We have also been offering to pray for each individual and their situation that the Lord would help them through this difficult time and supply all their needs.

It’s been lots of fun to spend time helping to entertain the children at the shelter by playing jump-rope, basketball, and passing out the beautiful posters of heaven. Even the information officer that was with us had fun. She said it felt good to be able to spend some time with the people themselves, instead of doing the more technical work she’s involved in most of the time.

(more…)

From the HopeReach team:

We are so thankful that the Lord answered our prayers and spared much of Texas from Rita’s fury. Nevertheless, a lot of damage was done, and we have once more been very busy at the emergency shelters. At the beginning of the week, we helped process a lot of requests for aid and assistance for evacuees from the Beaumont/Port Arthur region, while the teens helped in the pantry and kitchen.

Then mid week, an urgent request arrived to send help to Jasper, a town not so far from our mission center which was hit quite hard. Lex met with the man overseeing relief work there, and we will send a team to help shortly. Lex said the town looked like a bomb site with hundred of trees and electric poles blown over. They expect it could takes as long as three months for electricity to be restored. Amazingly, hardly any trees fell on houses, and everyone there is saying that it’s a miracle! We believe it is! Then another phone call! This time, a couple in Minnesota wants to donate their camper trailer to victims of Hurricane Katrina and someone needed to go and pick it up. So Lex is driving up there now and hopes to return by Sunday, and then off to Jasper Monday! The camper will be donated to a family made homeless by Katrina.

(more…)