Disaster Relief: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma

From Peter & Topaz:

On Sunday we ran into Denarold & Alaina at the Arena. They are part of the Simon Family that we met on Friday. They were happy to see us and immediately wanted to talk. Denarold had witnessed many terrible events including a murder at the Convention Center in New Orleans and couldn’t get it out of his head. He told us about it in great detail. After we talked and prayed together we read some of the Activated Magazine on why God allows suffering, you could see a noticeable change in him. We gave the Simon family our mailing address to stay in touch. They lost everything in the flood and we want to give them copies of the pictures we took of them to start a new photo album and we also plan to continue sharing God’s Word with them through the mail.

From Peter & Topaz:

Leroy, (below) was full of praise for his delivery from Katrina and shared his great concern for the lost youth of New Orleans. He suffered an unfortunate accident while on the job 2 years ago that left him debilitated. When he prayed to receive Jesus all of his pent up emotion was released and we comforted him as he wept. We read part of the “Why Suffering” Activated magazine with him and left him with a smile on his face that said it all.

Rob (below), is of Scottish descent, and had been raised by Catholic nuns. For some time he only talked about his new job and money he was owed. We slowly, carefully steered the conversation to spiritual things and eventually he prayed to receive Jesus. Immediately he changed and we spent about an hour answering his questions on salvation, temptation and the end time. When we left he said, “thank you for coming by, I really needed to talk to someone and understand.” His eyes filled with tears and we left him thanking the Lord for another victory!

From Peter & Topaz:

The last weekend of the Astrodome/Reliant shelters was the weekend of September 16th, 17th, & 18th. The residents had been given notice that the shelter was closing and everyone had to be out by Tuesday the 21st. Tensions were quite high over this issue and there had been several incidents. Fema closed its desks early and left altogether.

We had just received the donated Activated Magazines “Why Suffering” and were thrilled to be able to have something really feeding for all the hurting people. So we went bed-to-bed or rather cot-to-cot with the Activated magazines listening, praying with and counseling the people.

One Friday just before everyone was moving from the Reliant Center to the Arena, I met the Simon family (See picture below) They were so sweet but all very sad because during the evacuation of New Orleans, their uncle/brother was being air lifted off of the roof of his house and he had a heart attack and died. His wife and daughter were devastated! He was only in his mid 50’s and hadn’t been sick before. Sheila, his sister, is a real believer & very positive. She said she knew in her heart that her brother was in a better place now. I spent a long time with her and talked to each one of them letting them unload the burden of their grief and the trauma of the events that they had witnessed at the Superdome. I read to them some of the answers to their questions right out of the Activated magazine. God’s Word was so powerful and really comforted their aching hearts. I asked if I could pray for them and we all stood in a big circle right there. First, for their needs, and then they all prayed to receive Jesus as their personal Savior. It was such a beautiful time of emotional healing for them all!

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!

From David, Houston

This past week we were able to work with “Harmony for Youth” to help with the Hurricane relief. (See “On the Wings of Love”) A local trucking company agreed to drive the donated goods to Waveland, Mississippi (ground zero for Hurricane Katrina), but because the planes arrived in Houston just before Hurricane Rita was due to hit, the company decided to hold the shipment until next week. At that time, Houston and Texas’ south-east coast were considered the probable entry point for what was then a hurricane as big or bigger than Katrina and they were concerned about the safety of their truck and driver.

With this change of plans we decided to send a small team ahead to get a first-hand view of the situation and prepare a place to receive the donated goods. We had just received 90,000 Activated magazines and thousands of other gospel posters and literature which were donated by Activated Ministries and we were itching to share them with Katrina’s victims. Although our main job on this trip was to prepare the way for the shipment, we also wanted to encourage the hearts and minds of the Katrina survivors we met.

The drive from Houston to Mississippi went quickly. We met people all along the way that were still reeling from the experience they’d just had with Katrina and anxious about what this new hurricane might bring. Although 3 weeks had transpired and the immediate need for care and protection was past, the future still held many questions that only God could answer.

When our little team of 5 (Gary, Jeff, Rory (who’d come all the way from Portland, OR to help), Jono and Michelle) arrived near Waveland, we were informed that there was a 6 pm to 6 am curfew and here it was, 7:30 pm already. Where could we stay? We’d brought tents, as we had been told that 70-80% of the buildings had been destroyed by Katrina but some security guards we met told us that there was a NASA base just a few miles away that had been housing many of the FEMA and EMS workers that were helping in the area. After prayer, we went to see if there might be an open door for 5 more weary travelers too.

In answer to prayer, although they ‘weren’t suppose to’, God touched the heart of the head of security for the base and he sponsored us in, fed us and gave us an air-conditioned room to sleep in. That first evening we were able to witness to and minister to many of the first responders to the Katrina disaster. One of the officers at the fire station said, “In the first 30 minutes that your team was here, I heard more about Jesus and the Gospel than I’ve heard from all the other organizations combined that have been here over the last 3 weeks. We need what you’ve come to give more than anything else right now! Thank
you!”

The next morning, we were up and out early to see the situation and minister to as many as we could. It was such a privilege to bring comfort and salvation to all that we met and we did see that although the destruction was terrible and many organizations and groups were there with material aid, only God and His unfailing promises can give faith to carry on and strength to begin again.

After spending the rest of the day in Waveland and meeting with several relief officials about what the current greatest needs were and where we could be a blessing in our shipment, the Lord told us it was time to get back to Houston, before Rita arrived; to be there in Houston’s hour of need. Less than 5 miles along on our journey home, we had a blow out on the deserted highway with not a car in sight but, after prayer, a Florida State Trooper pulled in, coming along the road in the opposite direction, and he helped us change the tire. He’d been in Waveland for 3 weeks and was going back to Florida the next day. He said that he was on his way back to his station but had decided to take a different way back-when he met us. Isn’t God good? He takes care of everything if we just follow Him.

By Robert Haskell:

The Lord is wonderful how He engineers so many things through His Spirit. How He unites different groups to work as His hands and His fingers to help the needy. All we did was say, “Yes, we’ll help!” A Canadian children’s charity Harmony for Youth that had helped us in the distribution of the toys that arrived last week from Miami, was approached by Canadian businesses and individuals who wanted to help Hurricane Katrina’s victims. They contacted a medical charity, Hope Air, that arranges medical mercy missions in Canada, and they agreed to deliver those needs thousands of miles away-to Houston.

They delivered them here in Houston as the New Orleans airport is closed, and they asked our Family International team if we could make sure that the supplies reached the needy. It was beautiful to see the Lord’s fantastic timing as we organized the arrival and unloadin. When we arrived one plane had already arrived, and then the 40 ft. container truck arrived shortly afterwards; so we unloaded everything into it. We then unloaded our two vans full of 250 “love buckets” from Global Vision. These “love buckets” are wonderful things to receive if you’ve ever been through a disaster.

They have everything you need (Personal toiletries, snacks, deck of cards, small games for children, writing equipment, religious reading materials.) Then the second plane arrived, we unloaded it and no sooner had we finished but the third plane landed. We were helped today by some teens of Family International that recently arrived from the Philippines. They have been volunteering for the last two weeks in a shelter in Pasadena, Texas. Our team of Family International Volunteers, working together with Harmony for Youth, Hope Air, Global Vision and others was truly a work of God’s hands. We were planning to leave tonight with the truck, but Hurricane Rita is temporarily changing the plans as officials are blocking West I-10 from Houston so people from Galveston can evacuate first. However a small team of five was able to make their way to Waveland, Mississippi to scout out the need and prepare the way. (more…)

From David, Houston TX

This week a number of teens and young people from the Family International in Houston went to the Astrodome and Reliant Center to take time talking personally to the evacuees to lend a listening ear and an understanding heart. At first we didn’t really know what to expect but it seemed that to many, the biggest need was having an opportunity to talk to someone who cared and listened and lent a helping “heart”.

Going cot to cot we were able to talk and listen to many and we also prayed with 114 evacuees who received Jesus into their hearts. Living so close together day to day, people knew each others state and weaknesses and needs a lot more than usual and after we were there a while, people started pointing out their friends and family they felt really needed Jesus.

We saw many immediate answers to prayer, including one woman who was distraught because she couldn’t find anyone she knew, but shortly after having prayer to locate her loved ones, she found them. Thank the Lord!

* Jason, 18, on the left, has spent hours ministering and sharing God’s Word with 100’s of Katrina’s victims, listening to their heart-cries and giving them God’s answer- Jesus.

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Today 3 volunteers from the Family International —Leilani, Maria, and Charity—volunteered at the George R. Brown Convention Center. We had actually done several Christmas shows at the center this past year, so for us it was really quite amazing to see how different it looked.

Hundreds of cots and mattresses filled the huge rooms for quite a distance, but the convention center was actually quite organized in comparison with the Astrodome.

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Astrodome witnessing to the evacuees from New Orleans had become one of our favorite things to do, as we would always meet such precious people who had gone through so much. Our songs to them, and listening to their stories, had been the medicine that had healed so many of their hearts.

Tuesday on our way to the Astrodome, we got a call asking if we could help distribute three 40 foot trucks full of toys. When we got there we found out a FM radio station from Miami had been petitioning its listening audience for 5 days for toys for the children in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. When the trucks had arrived at the Astrodome, officials wouldn’t let the truck unload their goods because they thought the distribution of the toys would cause a riot inside the Astrodome.

As it’s pretty hard to corral and control thousands of screaming children. One of the representatives from the Family International persuaded them that with barricades and sufficient personnel it could be done safely, and this would bring such cheer to the children. So radio listeners, Family members, Red Cross representatives and police were able to bring the joy of Christmas a little early this year.

Each child was able to fill up a big bag of the toys of his choice. How wonderful it was so see the smiles on the faces of these children who had gone through so much. Most of them had lost their homes and had no idea what the future would hold for them. So Christmas, a little early, is just what Jesus ordered for them.

By Stephen

The Family International has been providing entertainment for the Children’s Activity Center at the Houston Astrodome, where nearly 8,000 evacuees are still being housed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Activity Center is being operated by the American Red Cross and volunteers from Houston from the Houston area. The following is a video clip of our own “Sunshine Singers” performing for the kids.

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