Disaster Recovery Efforts by the Mt Vernon Church of Christ
Throughout the Old Testament we find God’s people instructed to care for the poor and those who could not care for themselves. Those who would oppress the poor were not favored by God. Jesus spent much of his ministry helping the poor and sick and those who could not help themselves. The early church, after Jesus ascended into heaven, collected their resources and used them to help those in need. We take these examples to be our guide and have, as a church, tried to help those who were physically and financially affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
As soon as it was known how badly clothing and supplies
were needed for evacuees in Houston, we sorted and boxed clothing, cleaning
supplies, diapers, and hygiene products and took them to shelters for
distribution. We helped in this distribution, helped in food lines, and
ministered to evacuees in several ways while there. It was while we were
serving food at a shelter that we met Donna and Martha. Both of these ladies
were evacuees themselves and did not know the condition of the homes they had
left in Kenner, Louisiana a few days earlier. They, however, wanted to serve
others rather than to be served themselves. We met these ladies again at church
the next day. They had been raised as Catholics but enjoyed worship at the Deer
Park Church of Christ in Houston. We later learned that their homes were not
heavily damaged and would be salvageable. We will not forget their kind
attitudes of service to others while suffering loss themselves. While working
in the shelters and the Astrodome we (Carol, Melva, Sharon, and Ralph) met
hundreds of people who had suffered great loss in their lives. They had stories
to tell of being rescued by boat or helicopter. They had stories to tell of the
people who had helped them along the way. They told of finding family members
or of searches for family members. Many of them had lost all of their material
possessions including their homes. They literally carried everything they now
owned in Wal-Mart shopping bags, yet they said they were blessed!!! They had
come to experience and understand first-hand the words of Jesus in
When we went to the Astrodome, we were accompanied by 14
year old Jessica. She had spent several hours purchasing coloring books and
preparing them for distribution to evacuee children. She had put crayons in
bags and stapled them inside the coloring books. The smiles on the faces and
the verbal “Thank You” of the children who received these coloring books made
her efforts worthwhile. These children whose new home was a cot in the
Astrodome were very appreciative that someone cared about them. See
We helped so many people that it is impossible to relate all of the experiences. We have never had such an opportunity to minister to so many. These were people who a week earlier had been living normal lives but were now living a very public life on cots that were, of necessity, 6 inches apart. Their privacy and dignity was gone along with their possessions. Several of the wheelchair-bound evacuees needed help to get to the bathroom, which was a hundred yards away and up a ramp. That is all they needed or wanted!! Several who had trouble walking asked for a plate of food to be brought to them. Some simply wanted us to pray for them. That is all that La Quita asked for—“just pray for me every day”. Some wanted to talk—just talk—about what they had been through. A 90 year old man wanted to get to a VA doctor for his monthly treatment and let his family know that he was safe. Melva promised that we would do that. Jay got on-line and found his son in California and called to tell him where his dad was. On Sunday, the old man was taken to a VA doctor, reunited with his son, who flew in from California to take him home with him, and he was all smiles as he carried his two bags of possessions out of the Astrodome to go live with his family. Melva also read stories to a 4 year old girl whose mother had not been located. We may never know the future of that little girl, but we know that she was ministered to and loved and prayed for while Red Cross workers searched databases for her family members. On the way home from Houston we met others who needed help. Jimmy Randolph was riding a bicycle from Houston to Oregon. His food and clothing had been stolen, so we fed him and gave him some shirts to help him on his way. A young Hispanic fellow at a rest area needed gas money. He was frantically trying to locate his brother who might be in Dallas or Abilene! Overall, that was a wonderful opportunity to help those in need. Thank you, church, for the generosity you have shown in this time of need.
Ministering at the Dome
On September 7, six of our men left for Long Beach, Mississippi. The news media has not properly covered the horrible losses there, because New Orleans was the focus of early reporting. Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, Bay St. Louis, De Lisle, Pass Christian, and many other communities suffered much with little news coverage. Doug, Raymond, Randy, Jerrod, Wade, and left late in the evening to help. They carried about $750 dollars worth of building materials and a $1500 check to the Long Beach Church of Christ. They traveled all night and worked all the next day before sleeping. During Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, they removed trees from houses and patched roofs—26 in all. The first ones they worked on were homes of church members. When those were completed they helped community members. During that time, the town was largely crippled--street clearing was happening and utilities were being restored. Note that 5 of these men used vacation or other work time to make this trip. What a gift they gave to those that were helped!!
The Team
The Destruction
The area closest to the gulf was so badly damaged that it was restricted and the guys did not get to see it. A 30 foot storm wave had come ashore wiping out everything within about a hundred yards of the shore, leaving nothing but slabs where buildings had once been. You may have seen the ‘sea of lumber’ photo on the news. It is real, except the photo does not really show it as it really is—acres and acres of boards that were formerly stores, decks, fences, signs, storage buildings, offices, shops, and homes. Under this sea of lumber are possessions – cars, bicycles, lawn chairs, suit cases, jewelry, shoes, and photographs. Almost as rapidly as it came in, the wave was gone, along with the dreams, hopes, and lives of many.
The Long Beach Church of Christ served as a distribution center for food, clothing, cleaning supplies, water, and other necessities for a month. It was the center of operations for volunteer crews like ours who came to help. It was where they ate and got their assignments. It was a busy place, particularly in light of the fact that the roof of the building was heavily damaged and rain ruined most of the carpeting and pews in the building along with ceilings and other furniture. The fellowship room received only minor damage and was the hub of recovery and distribution activities. Restoration will take months, but the congregation is determined to thrive. It has made a very good reputation in the community as a group of people who are willing to help others. The members understand that they are to be shining lights and servants.
On September 27 four of our members (Doug, Phyllis, Jeannette, Ralph) and two men from the Mt. Hope congregation in Joplin went to Long Beach. They spent 3 days helping clean out and dry out two homes which had been flooded in the town of Bay St. Louis. A ‘heap of water’ had flooded the town. Buildings well above the flood plain were flooded. Since they were above the flood plain, most of them were uninsured against floods. These two houses were in that category. The first house belonged to 73 year old Margaret Cueves, who had lived there all her life and raised her children there. She had evacuated the house prior to the hurricane and was medically unable to return to it while we were there. The water level inside her house had been at 4 feet, and everything below that with the exception of glassware, cookware, and silverware, were ruined. The house had not been opened up since the flood—about a month—and the stench was strong. We carried out all of her belongings, except the few items salvageable, piled them along the curb, and watched a loader scoop them up onto a trailer for disposal along with the contents of thousands of other homes. Some furniture and items in her house looked to be in very good condition. For instance, the beds appeared to have been ready to turn back the covers and sleep in. The reality was they were useless garbage from the water damage. The contents of the refrigerator and freezer were much worse, having been without power for a month. When we had removed all of her belongings, removed the carpets and cabinets, scooped up all loose items and washed the floor, we hugged her daughter, Melanie, and left. Melanie had worked with us every minute and step of the way. We grew fond of her and wish her well. Jesus told us to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’. The man that He taught us is our neighbor had no apparent affiliation with a church or religious group—just a compassion for someone who was hurting.
Before
After
The second house was a fairly new one in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The people had owned it only a month and lived in it less than two weeks. Much of the furniture was new. The water level had been to 6 ½ feet inside! The house was 14 feet above the flood plain. Carol and Ron, the owners, had watched the water level rising but were confident that it would not get to their new house. It did. With 6 trees blown over against one side of the house, they climbed out a back bedroom window and waded up hill to a neighbor’s two-story home. There, gathered with the neighborhood, they watched their possessions ruin. They also watched neighbor, Andy, use his fishing boat to rescue other neighbors until all were safe. Carol worked with us tirelessly. Ron is an electric contractor and has not had time off since the storm. We removed the trees from against the house, patched the roof temporarily, removed the remaining belongings and the sheetrock, cleaned up the yard, hugged them, and left. Again, we were their neighbors by Jesus’ definition.
A few blocks from Ron and Carol’s house is a hospital. The entire lower floor was flooded and salvage efforts were underway to reclaim some of the furniture and equipment. The damaged sheetrock was removed along with other non-salvageable items and dumped in a huge heap. A military Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) was fully operational in the hospital parking lot only a few days after the storm to take care of medical needs in the community. A few blocks from that hospital, the Bay St. Louis Church of Christ had suffered significant damage when the water level rose to 17 inches inside. When we were there, some Sojourners were repairing the damage to the building. The church was a distribution point in the community for clothing and food and water. This distribution was done outside, since the inside was being renovated. The church is determined to continue being a positive influence in the community.
We donated our church’s gray and white van to the Long Beach church. They plan to use it to dispatch work crews as long as that is needed, then they will use it on a route to transport elderly to and from church. We also delivered two other vehicles to the church. These had been donated by kind folks here in the Mt Vernon area and will be given to someone who lost their vehicle and had no insurance money to replace it.
Before
After
Before
Before - Note Waterline
After
Before
After
We have collected lots and lots of clothing and other items which may be needed by evacuees when they find homes and or get their homes repaired and move back in. The winter items will be given away at our Winter Clothing Giveaway October 29. Right now, there is not a need for the summer items and we continue to sort and box these knowing that God will show us a place they can be used. El Salvador has had lots of flooding and evacuations caused by volcanic eruptions. The clothing items are needed there, and we are investigating ways to get the items there economically. Mexico will not allow donated clothing to cross it’s country, so sea transportation is necessary. We have lots of furniture on hand to help evacuees who may settle in our area.
The damaged areas and people may seem to be far away, and we could easily just ignore the problem. It is hard to fully comprehend the extent of the damage. The number of people affected directly—those who lost their homes and had to leave—is about the same number of people that Moses led out of Egypt. Moses had a plan for what he was doing, and he had guidance from God. There is chaos in the gulf area or our country. It will be several years before anything resembling normalcy can be claimed there. Please continue to pray for the people who lost their possessions—and families. There will be more trips to the region to help clean up and repair. Doug will be the one to plan and lead that trip. Contact him if you are interested or know of a friend who might be.
