At first glance, this group may not look like much. Kind of a "rag-tag" group of Western New Yorkers melting in the Mississippi sun. What you can't see is the amazing heart that is inside each one of them. Herein lies a mix of personalities, talents, strengths, backgrounds, sizes & ages all used to serve God in a most astounding way. No matter what the task, they were up for it. It didn't matter if it was 95 degrees with 100% humidity; it didn't matter if they were surrounded by black mold & pounds of rotted insulation and dry wall needing to be removed. The focus was clear.
Serve God, serve His people. I don't think that thought was ever clearly vocalized, but it is without a doubt the resounding goal of each one of them. Nobody backed down from a job, complained or put their own physical needs ahead of another's. The house we are standing in front of belonged to a beautiful 73-year old gentleman by the name of Dale (seen in picture with Alicia). He built this home with his
own hands. Using a bit of imagination, we could see what a lovely place it must have been. That was before Katrina came & dumped unimaginable amounts of water over it. The roof didn't hold, the house was flooded, FEMA moved in too late & this man had a home standing in ruins for nearly 2 years. Stepping through his front door was like stepping back in time, since nothing had really been touched since she blew through. He spent a 1 1/2 years sleeping on an inflatable mattress in a storeroom in the restaurant he owns, until he was granted a FEMA trailer, now positioned behind his home. He told us that many had come to see him, all promising to return to help. No one did. Until this minimally skilled but big-hearted group arrived from over 1200 miles away. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle & without a doubt - TO GOD BE THE GLORY! We emptied all the contents of his home, tore out rugs & padding, demolished walls & ceilings. This task took a mere 2 days. Again, miraculous. We were provided large dump trucks to remove the debris.
We filled 5 of them. We left behind a house that can now be rebuilt & a teary-eyed, extremely grateful southern gentleman who we now call our friend. We did not have the strength, endurance or skill to accomplish what we did.
"If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever." (1 Peter 4:11) The drive alone was grueling, but again, we were given the strength & endurance to make the 22-hour trip twice in one week. Lots of music, games & interesting conversation made that trip not just bearable, but actually fun.
These beautiful servants became family in one short week. They worked hard, laughed hard, slept little, ate strange food & took care of each other. I love you my fellow travelers, my new extended family. Again, TO GOD BE THE GLORY!! (More to come...) (Check out the Impact Missions website for more pictures of our week or the Gulfport Photo Album both sited on the right)
At first glance, this group may not look like much. Kind of a "rag-tag" group of Western New Yorkers melting in the Mississippi sun. What you can't see is the amazing heart that is inside each one of them. Herein lies a mix of personalities, talents, strengths, backgrounds, sizes & ages all used to serve God in a most astounding way. No matter what the task, they were up for it. It didn't matter if it was 95 degrees with 100% humidity; it didn't matter if they were surrounded by black mold & pounds of rotted insulation and dry wall needing to be removed. The focus was clear. Serve God, serve His people. I don't think that thought was ever clearly vocalized, but it is without a doubt the resounding goal of each one of them. Nobody backed down from a job, complained or put their own physical needs ahead of another's. The house we are standing in front of belonged to a beautiful 73-year old gentleman by the name of Dale (seen in picture with Alicia). He built this home with his
own hands. Using a bit of imagination, we could see what a lovely place it must have been. That was before Katrina came & dumped unimaginable amounts of water over it. The roof didn't hold, the house was flooded, FEMA moved in too late & this man had a home standing in ruins for nearly 2 years. Stepping through his front door was like stepping back in time, since nothing had really been touched since she blew through. He spent a 1 1/2 years sleeping on an inflatable mattress in a storeroom in the restaurant he owns, until he was granted a FEMA trailer, now positioned behind his home. He told us that many had come to see him, all promising to return to help. No one did. Until this minimally skilled but big-hearted group arrived from over 1200 miles away. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle & without a doubt - TO GOD BE THE GLORY! We emptied all the contents of his home, tore out rugs & padding, demolished walls & ceilings. This task took a mere 2 days. Again, miraculous. We were provided large dump trucks to remove the debris. 
We filled 5 of them. We left behind a house that can now be rebuilt & a teary-eyed, extremely grateful southern gentleman who we now call our friend. We did not have the strength, endurance or skill to accomplish what we did. "If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever." (1 Peter 4:11) The drive alone was grueling, but again, we were given the strength & endurance to make the 22-hour trip twice in one week. Lots of music, games & interesting conversation made that trip not just bearable, but actually fun. These beautiful servants became family in one short week. They worked hard, laughed hard, slept little, ate strange food & took care of each other. I love you my fellow travelers, my new extended family. Again, TO GOD BE THE GLORY!! (More to come...) (Check out the Impact Missions website for more pictures of our week or the Gulfport Photo Album both sited on the right)
3 comments:
I am glad you are home. You were very missed at the M&M compound. I am so glad that you guys got to help that man his life will be forever changed. Love ya
Nice post! You're rising up the list of my favorite blogs. It's all about the updates Sandy. Updates, updates, updates.
Rag-Tag? i think we look like seasoned construction workers! haha ya right... more like the village people's children.
well put sandy- there is no way we did all that work w/o help from god. i'm just feeling back to normal after some normal sleeping for a few days, but when i was there i felt great (well, except that first day in church, that was tough!). makes me wonder why i haven't gone on more of these in my life and what we are going to do next year (because we both know we are going to do another one!).
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