Disaster Relief: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma

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.

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: