The power of 140 servant-hearted volunteers

As a chaplain, I am paired up with another guy and we usually visit the or four different Samaritans Purse teams, all doing hurricane recovery ministry for/with homeowners. EVERY home in the Mexico Beach area is damaged, some are damaged beyond repair, and some are nothing more than a concrete slab. Today, I traveled to a team who slogged the whole day through mud and water, clearing debris and hand carrying: mason blocks, fallen timber and waterlogged furniture through this swamp. Oh, this was also a team of brand new first-time volunteers, all over the age of 65. Sometimes their boots would get stuck in the mud, or they’d trip over some underwater obstacles and wind up face down in the mud. But I heard no complaints, no protests. The trailer home on this swamp was damaged and the owner paid cash to a man who said he would remove the damaged trailer so she could receive a new FEMA trailer. But when he used his crane to lift one side of the trailer, the trailer cracked in half and the guy left the cracked trailer and disappeared. At another site today,another crew worked tirelessly to remove tons of sand and severely damaged interior of a very tall two story home. The 74 year old owner ignored all the mandatory evacuation orders before the storm. The wind, now verified as a category 5 hurricane, blew cottages on the property off their foundations, tossed vehicles into trees and there was worse still to come. A 26 foot storm surge came over his roof, burst through his windows and swept him towards the windows on the other side of the house. As he was halfway through the windows on the other side, a wave came from the other direction and pushed him back inside the house, saving him from certain death. Today was 32 days after that night of terror. The SP team noticed his confusion and inability to make decisions as they spoke with him. He did mention that his girlfriend was having cancer surgery today as well. Moved with compassion, the teamasked if he might  want to speak with a chaplain and he immediately said “yes” and we rushed over. After a few hours of telling his story to me, I was surprised that his question was not why God allowed these tragedies to happen to him but why God would choose to save him.  It was perfect timing for presenting the Good News of Christ’s sacrifice to him and he received Christ this afternoon! He asked if we could talk more tomorrow- so please pray for our time together on Wednesday! God bless! The