Opportunities in Disaster Relief!

Well,

this post did not turn out like originally intended!

Gary and I were planning to be on a

Disaster Relief trip,

but the opportunity kind of slipped out of our hands.

Actually, it was a drill bit that slipped into Gary's hand...

and went deep into his thumb.
Instead of going on a disaster relief trip,
we ended up on a trip to the Emergency Room!

This rather changed our plans.

I had already decided that I shouldn't go on this trip

due to a Baker's cyst flare-up,

but I didn't want to keep Gary from this opportunity.

The good news is,

we get to spend this week together instead of apart!

Although Arkansas is now known as
The Natural State,
it previously was known as

"The Land of Opportunity".

Since Gary's thumb is a bit messed up,

 I guess we'll get in Gary's Jeep and do a little exploring

of our beautiful Natural state!

...And if we keep our eyes open,

we'll probably find some "Disaster Relief" opportunities

that we can do right here in our own beautiful state.

So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity,
we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Galations 6:9-10

Click HERE to see my most recent post of Names of God on Rocks. 





Chiggers.... and Joplin one year later...

My husband and I recently made another trip to Joplin.

We had not been there since last fall,

and I was anxious to see how much progress had been made

from the damage that had been caused by the tornado last year.

Our first business, however, was to visit my husband's
95 year old aunt who still lives independently.
She had a "TO DO" list for us which was
just as important as any disaster relief work we could have done.

High on her priorities was putting up a plastic lattice fence. 
My husband had a tough time setting the steel posts
in the ground due to a rocky ledge just below the soil.

My job was fairly easy.

It mainly amounted to getting supplies for him

and holding the fencing in place while he secured it.

My husband was wise enough to use bug spray.

I WAS NOT!

...And today I am paying the consequences...

I must have a hundred or more chigger bites.

(If you don't know what chiggers are, click HERE , 

or for how to treat the chigger bites, click HERE and listen!)

Since we were busy taking care of Auntie,
we didn't have much time to look around.
On Range Line Road there were many businesses that had reopened.

Houses were being rebuilt or repaired.

Reminders of the tornado damage
were implied on many of the stores' marques, 

...and evidenced in the large community of still occupied FEMA trailers.

The sky was looking ominous as the sun hid behind clouds,
and tornado watches were being given as we prepared to leave. 
I'm sure the warnings must have brought back many memories
and struck fear in many hearts.

On the outskirts of town a tall reminder stood to remind us all to
PRAY FOR JOPLIN!
...As for me,
I have chigger bites as a reminder to do that!

Click HERE to see another "C" post -

my Name of God on Rocks for this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Joplin - 5 months later

It had been about two months since we were in Joplin, and as Gary and I went back last week, it was a very encouraging visit.  The last time we were there, I could not bear to look at a lot of the damage.  (The Joplin tornado came soon after we had just seen the flooding devastation along the Mississippi River and the tornado destruction in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.) 

I'd like to share a few pictures with you of this visit, and pass on a story of survival that was shared with us.

 

Piles of rubble were evident on many parking lots

that were in the process of being cleared. 

The trees, although having put out new growth,

still looked mishapen and showed signs of trauma.

Evidence of new construction abounded with multiple port-a-potties

being one of the good indicators at most building sites!

Rows and rows of FEMA trailers gave credence

to the number of people that had lost their homes.

Someone  told me that FEMA furnishes the trailer

rent free for 18 months to give them time to get re-established.

In contrast to all the rubble and construction,

a newly opened Wendy's stood out like a shiny new copper penny.

The manager shared this story with us.

On the evening of the tornado as the sirens were screaming

the warning of the impending disaster,

she spoke to her employees by phone.

Her gut instinct instructed them to huddle together

in the men's bathroom, instead of in the walk-in cooler which

was the usual designated safe place.

She was praying to God for His protection 

as she and her husband drove to the restaurant.

A semi-truck/trailer lay on its side

where the dining room had been.

The only part of the building that remained

was the men's bathroom which contained

seven frightened employees - none with serious injuries!

Truly God had protected them.

Of course, no town in America is replete without its Walmart Store!

The motto on this trailer sums up what we saw in Joplin:

"Rebuilding Together"

A couple of Bible verses that seem appropriate
are from Jeremiah 31:3-4 where God says,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness,
I will build you up again
and you will be REBUILT..."


To see some names of God from A to Z,
check out my Rock4Today blog!

Linking with Women Living Well Wednesdays, Alphabe-Thursdays, Brag on God Fridays, and Spiritual Sundays.

Disaster Relief / Minot, ND

We hadn't gone far on our trip when we began to see the results of flooding.

We began seeing sandbags lining the Interstate to keep the water off the roadway.

Soon we began to run into detours.

The first disaster was ME!  

I couldn't help with the food preparation,

because I couldn't get too far away from the Port-A-Potties!

I began to wonder why I had come!

While I was resting and recovering from my bout of intestinal flu in my "room" in the back of the church sanctuary, my team-mates were busy preparing hundreds of meals to be delivered by the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

After the food was delivered to displaced flood victims and the relief workers, the empty cambros were brought back to the disaster relief headquarters for sanitation...  ready to be filled for the next meal.

Over 18,000 meals were prepared by our team in one week! The cambros were amazing to keep the food piping hot until it was served.  Breakfast was fixed for the relief workers.  Lunch and dinner were prepared for distribution to shelters, relief workers, and delivered to some homes by the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

       

The smell of coffee and the cooking of breakfast began shortly after 5:00 A.M.  For the first three days, I couldn't stand the smell of food.  Because of that, I was quite happy to be able to  spend a day in the laundry unit.    Relief workers were limited in the amount of clothing they could bring because of limited cargo space in travelling, so a laundry service was provided.  Bags of dirty clothes began appearing at the back of the "laundry camper" before 8:00 AM, and returned clean before the end of the day.  With close to 75 relief workers, it made quite a bit of laundry! 

Piles of dirt and sand could be seen throughout the flooded region.  Some of the piles were ground levees that had been made to try to keep the flood waters out.  Other piles were made from the removal of sand and dirt from the houses that were flooded.  This removal was called "Mudding Out" and was done by one of our disaster relief teams from Kentucky.  Often, the walls had to be torn down all the way to the two by fours in order to preserve the house structure.

It's hard to believe that a river that now looks so calm could be the cause of all this destruction.  Over 4100 homes were destroyed - almost one fourth of the total population of Minot, ND!   Cold weather comes soon to this town close to the Canadian border, and much more work is needed.  Please pray for the disaster relief workers and the people of Minot.

What a week! 

 It was a lot of work,

but so worth the JOY in being able to SERVE!

Linking with:Alphabe-Thursday,

Brag on God Fridays,

and

Spiritual Sundays!

Everybody Can Do Something!

Last week my husband and I made a trip to Georgia

to be with my youngest sis on her birthday. 

On the way there we encountered some of the damage that was done

by the F4 tornado that had wound its way through several Southern States. 

  

Our 6th grade Sunday School class had been studying the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke chapter 10 in the Bible.  After studying the lesson, I showed them some of the pictures that I had taken of the disaster area that my husband and I had encountered.  

 We called their attention to the poster on the bulletin board that said,

"What Can I Do?"

 

After brainstorming, they came up with several ideas of ways they could help.

 One of their ideas was to have a car wash.   

We have had a cold, rainy spring,

so although they probably would have enjoyed doing this,

for the sake of the teachers involved

the idea was put on hold until warmer days arrived to stay!  

They all agreed that

EVERYBODY CAN DO SOMETHING! 

 The artists in the class got to work and made this poster.

The idea that got the most enthusiastic response was a Toy Drive,

which we hoped could help bring comfort to the children who had lost their toys due to the tornado.  Our class quickly got to work to cover collection boxes with colored paper.

 We used the pictures that I had brought to decorate the boxes 

to call attention to why we were doing this.

We enlisted the help of our church's technical staff to produce a short video

to make others aware of our project. 

This video is to be aired in "Big Church" next Sunday

 and we hope to post it on YouTube. 

We are filled with anticipation and excitement as we begin the collection and distribution process.  With the recent horrific devastating F4 tornado in Joplin,

 we have an area closer to home that can benefit from our efforts.

So, as a Sunday School class, we challenge you:

What Can You Do?

EVERYBODY CAN DO SOMETHING!

This post is linked with Spiritual Sundays

and Jenny Matlock's "Alphabet Thursdays"

Thanks for stopping by!

Visit my companion blog at The Rock4Today