My
Sunday started out very exciting. Before
our worship service even began, a man approached me wanting to share about an
encounter he had had with Jesus. It was
having a profound effect on his life, and he wanted to solidify it by sharing
it. We talked about his salvation
biblically, and then about baptism. He
understood right away the difference in meaning between the christening he had
as a baby in the Catholic church and this baptism as an adult to confirm his
personal decision to follow Jesus. We
have a baptism at the beach scheduled now for the first Sunday in October. Good stuff.
Oh an
on another positive note … We found a home for our old stackable pews. The Island Alcoholics Anonymous groups knew
of several places where they needed the seating. Steve came over with a trailer and we loaded
it up and strapped them in. Very excited
that they will continue to have purpose.
We
received another trailer load of supplies.
And a truckload as well. Many of
the donations were used clothes, however, and we simply don’t have any place to
put them. As a result many will be taken
right to Salvation Army, where they will still be available to those in need at
a location that has plenty of room. What
room we do have we are trying to hold for the new clothing items that come in,
particularly things like underwear and socks and t-shirts. And we are still gathering other types of
supplies. Right now we are good on
bottled water, but cleaning and mucking out supplies are still at a
premium. The product Shockwave seems to
be getting good reviews for mold removal.
Baby products of all kinds, and even baby clothes are still needed by
the crisis pregnancy center. We are
preparing to take a load to them perhaps today if we can make connection with
the director to find out at which site she wants the supplies. Some folks are
getting very close to the rebuilding phase, so we will be investigating resources
for things like sheetrock and taping and bedding. On the other hand, some folks in nearby Lake
Jackson are just now able to reach their flooded homes, so the process is just
about to begin for them.
The donations
of money that we have received have been a big blessing to people. Some things you just can’t get at a resource
center. And I remember well after
Hurricane Ike, that being able to occasionally stop at McAlister’s Deli for a
sandwich instead of stand in a food line was an unimaginable respite. Some of the money being donated to Seaside we
have set aside to be used for no-strings-attached gifts. Some of it is going toward purchase of
specific supplies needs that have arisen that we are in a position to purchase
while homeowners are working on houses. Some
has gone towards purchase of food for the community group in Alvin that our
folks have fed for the last few weeks.
Here are a few other specific stories …
After
church I talked for a long time with a single Dad of three teenage
daughters. Their ground floor apartment
was among the few places here on the Island that flooded. They have been staying in a hotel since the storm
while he tried to locate another place to live.
His job had just started back, so he was working. This family’s need was basically threefold: Simple
foods they could prepare in a hotel room, like peanut butter and jelly or
things that could warm up in a microwave.
Basic personal toiletries like shampoo and deodorant. And finally, just enough money to complete the
required deposit so they could get into the rent house he had finally
located. You know, one key thing I have
learned about trying to discern real needs is how ready the person is to
receive. In this case the gentleman
seemed reluctant and humbled by the experience.
He even offered to do some work for the church. And as it turns out he may just get his
wish. He is a welder and we happen to
have some welding work that we haven’t done because we were waiting for … a
welder.
Yet
another family arrived after services.
They live in Dickinson and were among those rescued by boat. Their story was a fascinating one, of what
each of them saved as the waters rose. The
teenage daughter made sure she had clothes.
The teenage son got what electronics he could up into the attic, and put
the rest onto his air mattress bed. And it did float, by the way. He didn’t have any clothes, but his
electronics survived. They were able to
garner some cleaning supplies and clothes and toiletries and even some
food. I really enjoyed getting to know
them.
The volunteers
from afar are supposed to be boots on the ground today, so maybe the mucking
out process will speed up for the folks who really need it. We did a lot of praying for Florida as it
faces the wrath of Hurricane Irma and the aftermath that could be just as
devastating there as Harvey was here.
Chris just read an exerpt from a FaceBook post that listed all the
disasters going on right now – fires and flooding and hurricanes and
earthquakes. And the last comment was, “If
you don’t know Jesus, now might be a good time to consider it.” Yep …
Romans
6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is
death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Father,
would you use this disaster to draw people to yourself? It might be what it takes to get someone’s attention. Amen.
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