Lows and Highs

First the lows: The temperatures over the last two days have been just above freezing. I’m not complaining for myself (ok, just a little). There are still thousands of homes without power in the region. And with the cold rain pouring into homes with damaged, even missing roofs, that makes things just miserable for lots of residents. Around these parts there are no shelters, and hotels are fully booked for hours in every direction. Here was the worst part of our day: As work crews packed supplies into their trucks, i was with one crew leader as she called a home owner to let him know they would be coming to finish putting tarps over his damaged trailer roof. He told her not to bother because his trailer burned up late last night! When asked, he said it would be ok if some chaplains paid him a visit. We rushed over to find the trailer still smoking and the man in a small hunting camper with no heat, water or electricity.

We carefully listened to his lifelong story of tragedy, losing both his wife and 13 year old daughter. All he had left now was his faithful old dog. But he wasn’t complaining, in fact he truly believed that God had saved him from the fire because God must have some purpose for him. And that now leads to the highs of the day.
The man was very receptive to a presentation of the Gospel and prayed to receive Christ as his Savior! By nightfall, a nearby church had dropped off blankets, hot food and other necessities. Other residents we visited today also had breakthroughs, felt some hope, and even laughed for the first time in a long while! Work crews worked in the cold rain or continued to gut homes and even sang to keep their spirits up.
As we processed the day’s events, we thanked God for allowing us to minister in his name. We also asked the Lord’s forgiveness for our petty complaining.

Our base camp in Wewahitchka started two days after the storm. They housed some first responders and a few volunteers (about 20 total) . There was no electricity, no water, no 911 servicemen the area. Roads everywhere were impassable with fallen trees and storm debris. The first responders would do their job shift, then volunteer for hours in Jesus’s name. 

To date, 230 work projects have been completed! Over 1060 more remain and more requests come in daily. Please pray for more laborers to come, some rest for the pastors and scores of volunteers who have have given their all for over a month now.