Missouri Entends a Hand in Faith

It's never easy to step out in faith but one thing is for certain when you do.... God will give you the strength to get the job done even when you think you should be exhausted. The four guys from Missouri have worked non-stop since they arrived. Fred was even suffering from a respiratory problem but remained on task.... just amazing to see the dedication. The house that they were working in today was that of a woman who when they evacuated she and her husband for got to take their meds with them so when they were not allowed to get back home for over a week later, they had already crashed. Unfortunately the husband died as a result. The woman is now in a nursing home and her son is taking on her loss of property along with his own home and his business. By the grace of God the Pastor of the Vineyard Church in Galveston, they were led to Mercy Response. We and this small team of men from MO are blessed to be able to help them.

James (the Son) and his wife Debra expressed being overwhelmed with all of it but amazed that we came in and helped them get it done.

There will be a few people from a local Houston Vineyard going in to this same house on Saturday to tear down the ceilings and to clean up the back yard of debris. there are a couple of trees that we hope to get cleared out as well.

Stepping out in faith like these guys is not always easy but one thing is a given.... it is always rewarding!

Home and Back Again

It was quick, it was needed, it was fun and it was great to see my family! When I left from home in Sept. my plan was to be here a month and as in the past God had other plans for me. As of today the thought is to be here for another month to six weeks but again, only God knows! I was given a flight home to be at the events of family and to take care of some other things such as collect mail, get the house ready for winter and even voted for the upcoming election.
Attending Grandparents Day at my 10 year old grand-daughter's school and celebrating my 5 year old grand-daughter's birthday, a little early, visiting my parents, voting and more. It all got done in a blink and here I am back at camp.

A 4 man team from MO arrived Monday mid-afternoon. They were sent out today to pull sheetrock at two places on the Island. One of the ladies they helped is now ready to rebuild. Her insurance and FEMA funds are in hand so it won't be long and she will be good as new. The second lady was told yesterday that she will be getting a FEMA trailer very shortly. Until last week they were not allowing trailers of any kind on the Island because if the storm potential. The lifted the rule to get people into some sort of safe housing while they rebuild. I am sure that decision will begin to lift some spirits.

I was asked today to take some time to go to the Kenner Camp in the New Orleans area to help finish up a couple of homes that need to have the drywall finished, painted and trimmed out. I will be leaving for the camp on Friday for, who knows, days or a week...... The goal is to finish up what was started there and close that camp to relocate all that is there to this site.

The prayer for today is for God to show favor on the direction of the Houston camp. Our desire is to go strong into rebuild so please pray that the applied for grants are approved and funding comes pouring in.

Trees Come Down

The Omaha Rapid Response Team came in on Friday to take down some trees and that is exactly what they have been doing all day Saturday and again today with plans to continue tomorrow and the rest of the week if need be. The pictures don't give justice to the enormity of these trees. Ryan from California literally jumped in to complete the team. He and Lance from Omaha climbed the limbs and began taking it down. The others clearly knew that they were a part of the team that made the task do-able. It was fun today joining the team on one of the jobs. There is definitely a skill to cutting up trees and these guys really think it through so no one gets hurt and the limbs fall in a safe place.

I had some camera problems during the time that the second team from TN were here so as soon as one of the team sends me some of the shots they took I will add a new posting.

God has been leading us to some very incredible people, I am looking forward to sharing their stories as we get the teams in to help them out.... Speaking of that .... We would love to have your team come to the Houston Camp. Just go online to www.mercyresponse.com click on the volunteer icon and take that step that God may have been wanting you to do! You won't regret it!!!

Teams Coming Together

All of the 3 teams came together today pouring more blessings on some of the local families and a local church. Mary and Louis needed their lower level torn out and tear out happened by noon. These teams are like the recreation of a hurricane in motion. Their energy was endless! I had the chance to visit the sites today and speak with some of those being helped. It is a very emotional thing to see hope fill up their hearts again. I LOVE IT! God places the right people in each place to be his hands and feet.... that's what it is all about... be like Christ! Love pours forth!

Miss Freddie left her house before I arrived but the ladies from Chattanooga helped he with a very difficult task! Parting with her personal belongings that were damaged by the water! This is not an easy thing to do....more difficult than ripping the walls down. I wish we could have taken her to the end but God has another plan for her. She is already being treated for cancer and He knew when it was just enough! We will aim to get back to help her with the rest.

Ms. Blanche was another, after packing her things yesterday today some of the walls needed to come down. She will be having more help on Saturday from another church to tackle her kitchen.

The team left Mary, and Freddie (she's a lady) to go take up the tiles from the fellowship hall floor of The Vineyard Church plant in Galveston. Pastor Ken has been very active in all the things that are happening in Galveston. It was his turn to receive a blessing. It will be great for him to hold a gathering inside church. There have been tent services happening since the storm.

The Convoy of Hope truck full of water rolled in just a few minutes ago. the driver will spend the night with us, have breakfast, we will unload it and he will be heading to Dallas for another load of vitamin water and will return tomorrow evening to repeat the same night and morning. We are so thankful to them for this awesome gift!

Keep praying.. Thanks!

Worship Teams Volunteer

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It was a busy day today. The worship leaders from North of Houston and from Lake Charles, LA came to lend a hand and they did it in a big way! Three of the guys went to Howard and Carol's mother's home to take out some flooring, trim, sheet rock and insulation... I dropped by at around noon and they were just finishing up. Howard and Carol became part of the team and before they knew it, their mom's home was cleaned out. They were feeling to blessed by the help. The guys took some time to pray with them... it is what they probably needed the most.

Four guys from Lake Charles who knew just what a hurricane can do after living through Rita only 3 years ago, were in Naomi's condo.... a bit of a surprise happened when they began to break up the drywall, it was two sheets thick!!!! I guess that is the way to keep the noise level down between wall. They were working just a couple of blocks from the seawall so they walked to see the water at lunch. Tide was up so high today that you couldn't even see the rubbish pile along the wall. It was such a beautiful sight. Anyway, since the other fellas finished their job I called them over to help out at Naomi's. They finished up and were all had a great dinner and fellowship before they all went either home or to the friends house that was housing them as a blessing for them.

The other home was that where the ladies went to. The three of them met Pastor Ken in Galveston and he went on to Ms. Blanche's home to help her sort through and pack her valuables.... and valuables they were. She has many antiques so it took a lot of tender loving care. Ms.Blanche had a few "break-down' moments so the ladies blessed her with some TLC. We need to go back to her home again tomorrow to try to finish up... the plan is to send some men to start gutting her kitchen, dining room and living room. I already know that it will be another very emotional day for her.
She as well as all of those in Galveston will be in my prayers again tonight.

Temporary Camp is Ready for Volunteers

We are ready to start receiving volunteers from 5 different churches this week. Some are here for a day, two days, the week so there will be a lot of activity. The photos that you see are the rooms that will be used for sleeping quarters and a fellowship room.

The kitchen staff (volunteers from the church) is ready to serve. This church has not had to serve in this way in the past but are up for the challenge. As far as I can tell they are all ladies who love to cook and love to bless everyone with their great gift.

We will be working in several homes this week... I fully intend on getting snap shots of all of them to post on the blog.

The first team just arrived so I will be posting this short message for today.

I would like to Praise The Lord now for all the great things he has in store for this week!

Preparing The Camp

Today was finally a day to make some strides toward the camp being ready for the 3 teams plus 2 coming in next week. Staring on Sunday we will be having teams come and go throughout the week. Over all we have 25 people coming in to this new camp so it will be a test of its efficiency. I believe we are more than ready! If all goes well we plan to have them in 8 or 9 homes which will be a great help to the owners.
Tomorrow will be filled with more preparation.

The 3 guys went out today packing chain saws and the will to get some very large trees cleared from the home that we gutted yesterday. I was at camp so if I can get some photos from them I will add them to today's blog. They came back full of wood shaving and dust but hadn't lost their sense of humor. They are a great threesome that brought the love from Idaho and California together to bless another person in need. The Idaho two are leaving at about noon tomorrow so it will become a bit quiet as they begin their trip back.

The Clear Lake Vineyard Church families have been more than hospitable to us. The meals that have been prepared are incredible, there is nothing like home cooking, especially when it is done with such a pouring out of love.

The worship team just began to practice and they are amazing. Pastor Nathan and his team have great talent. A real joy to listen too.

Please keep us all in you prayers!

From Valuables to Waste

The four of us went out today to do some 'house gutting'. Thew people we were able to help we so grateful to have us come. We were able to help them get some things out of their garage that had been totally drenched during Ike. Some of the photos were of the guys handling some very heavy boxes of wet books. They also had to get all the appliances out of the house. I was kept busy pulling wet moldy drywall off the walls. We had a few unexpected guests of the crawly nature that set the tone for a lot of laughs. We all need that occasionally! We were able to finish the house with a little time left to take a run down to the seawall in Galveston. It is a must see for all the volunteers to try to get a picture in their mind of the surge that rose over it. The pictures you see are of the trash that washed back out of the city when the surge returned to the Gulf.

The other picture is a shot of what is now called Mt. Ike. It is the acres of piles of trash that is being picked up from on front of the homes throughout the city! these were all their valuable items...now on a huge pile! Soon that area will be filled and they ave barely scratched the surface of what needs to be done yet. I do have to give it to the people of Galveston, they are not wasting any time getting their homes torn out. I believe all that was learned from Katrina and Rita has given everyone that sense of urgency a catastrophe like this needs.

Again we were blessed to be God's hands and feet... tomorrow is yet another opportunity.

Keep us and all of this area in your prayers!

Rain Doesn't Stop Hunger

Monday and Tuesday we blessed not only the workers that came in and out of the local Home Depot but many families that came up tired and hungry. On Monday it only took about one and a half hours to hand out about 300 meals, before we knew it everything we prepared was gone. It was very difficult to have to turn some people away. We even handed over our own lunches in order to feed just a few more.

Today with some weather difficulties, we went out with enough food for over 400 meals. The forecast said that we should expect some rain so we got the grill started early in order to get it prepared before the rain. As you can see in the pictures the guys were dedicated to the task at hand. Once the meat was cooked we set out to the Home Depot lot once again. As we drove there we watched the sky turn from rain clouds to some breaks and appearances of blue sky. We set up and started to let people know we were ready to serve them. The rain must have been much heavier in this area by the conditions of the lot. Not only the wet areas but the lack of traffic. People were more than likely in their homes attending to their needs. It did take about four hours to hand out all the meals but indeed we fed the hungry once again.

There were many wherry people. A retired couple came to the store just to get a tape measure were blessed with food and conversation. They said that all that was left of their home was 5 pylons. A man that road up on his bicycle and couldn't believe there was food to eat, he hadn't eaten in two days. The construction workers who were so dirty that they just wanted to have some napkins to clean their hands before taking a meal.

It was great working with Scott and Simon from Boise, Idaho and Chris from San Francisco, CA. The team was small but the outreach from their hearts was huge.

Each day we are all blessed with something whether we are aware of it or not. Today I was blessed with the memories of faces of strength and hopelessness. The great thing is that those who portrayed hopelessness, as the walked up to the food line gained strength with a mere blessing of a meal and a friendly smile.

God moved in a great way today... I praise Him above all!

FYI: Over the 8 days of handing out water and/or food we= gave out more than 2300 meals and over 6000 single bottles of water

Tomorrow we will be going out to gut out a house.... another way to give a blessing!

Online Once Again

I think all the bugs are out of the system and my personal computer so I pray I will be able to be more consistent with information fro the Galveston, Texas area. The pictures I have posted are from several days of many different projects. I will try to mention a little about each of them. Miss Lee is an 87 year old woman who had 4 feet of water damage. She is a neighbor to the Pastor of a new Vineyard Church plant in Galveston. She was just delightful. This was the first time in her life that she ever wore a pair of slacks/sweat pants. She was known for many things but one was that she was always dressed very nicely in a matching outfit from head to toe! A team from Ohio, a volunteer from California, myself and the pastor helped get her home gutted out. We were there for a good share of the day and we had her home ready for mold remediation. It was quite wet yet so that project couldn't happen for a few days but she was ready with all the supplies to get going!

On Friday Margaret (volunteer from CA)and I went into the neighborhoods with cold water and a needs list form to begin getting names of people who are in need of help from volunteers. The pictures of the uprooted tree, and the piles of rail ties and utility poles in the driveway are some that were taken that day. Here's an interested twist to the piles of very heavy wood! The family was told that they needed to remove anything that was on their property that was not in the front yard near the sidewalk. That left them with all the things in the driveway. I have since went back to see if things were picked up. Well... here's the scoop... the front yard mess was cleared up, the utility company was contacted to remove the poles but
they said that there was no telling that they actually belonged to them so they would not remove them. As you may have guessed the home owners need to get someone hired or a volunteer group to remove the pile!

The next picture of the car packed with what appears to be all that's left of the family belongings. It was parked in the city park. What a sad thought to have lost nearly everything plus your place to live!

From Monday to Friday we had quite a different ministry. The pictures you see are not of people waiting in line for concert tickets although it may look like that. They are people from Galveston who traveled about 15 miles to another small city to pick up their mail. The Post Office in Galveston was not spared from the wrath of Ike. The wait in line was from 1-2 hours depending on the time of day. The temperatures were in the high 80's each day. Our mission was to bring cold water and some food for any and all who wanted it. For each of the five days we went to Sam's Club bought 30 cases of water, 30 bags of ice, enough meat (hot dogs or burgers)and buns to feed about 500 people. The meat was cooked on the grills at the church, packed in hot boxes and we ices down the bottles of water in several coolers and three of us set out. Daphne (from Indy), Margaret and I would set out. Each day we were blessed with the help of Pastor Ken from The Galveston Church and his family to help us. On one of the days we had the help of Janelle who is the administrative guru of Mercy Response. She was amazed at the site as we drove up. The line that day was nearly a city block lone. The great hing was that we not only showed them the hands and feet of God we had a chance to listen to their stories. When disaster happens...people need to talk about it. We were His ears too!. The officers trying to keep order were blessed as well and according to them we were angels to reach out in this way. Oh! The Postmaster and his managers all came out each day to express their gratitude. The people in line were much more patient than what they had been dealing with before we come along. And... we were able to collect nearly 100 names of people who need help!

The pictures of the boats on the highway is just a glimpse of a few that washed. It is quite a site to see. The next picture is inside a house that was built in the 1800's and had been remodeled. The man is undergoing cancer treatment as I write this. The team from Sugarland Vineyard, about 4an hour and 1/2 away, a couple of guys from Boise,Idaho, and I gutted it this morning. On my way out of that neighborhood I snapped the last picture of what the streets look like.

Please continue to pray for more teams to come down here. I looks as thought here will be a good six-to eight months of house gutting and tree removal.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!
Please pray about what God may be asking you to do to lend a hand!