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.

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.

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From Suzy, East Texas

Nick, Joanna, Sonia and Mei helped at the shelter again this week, working from 6am-2pm — and even longer most days. This shelter was the first one open and will be the last and next week they will take in about 5O more people from another shelter closing down. There were about 2O children there on the weekend, and they have been quite bored and in need of encouragement & something fun to make them smile! We spend most of our time playing with the kids and getting them involved in fun activities. Our efforts were greatly appreciated.

After praying about what to do concerning the Hurricane Katrina, the Lord surprised us by telling us to stay put for the moment and He would show us what to do. Eventually His plan became apparent to us when the Evacuees began flooding into our area to take up residence in Churches, Sports Centers and Red Cross Shelters. We then realized that the “Relief Effort” had come to us and there was plenty to do.

We first registered with the Red Cross to go through their orientation program so that we could be available for help in the shelters. This has proven to be a good first step as it has gotten us involved with relief efforts in providing food and shelter for the incoming evacuees.

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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.

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