Listen to Their Stories...

I just returned from a pretty inspiring church service and I want to share a little with you. Presbyterian churches as well as many other churches throughout the country have targeted the re-construction of the Gulf Coast hit by Katrina as one of their foremost missions.

Today, we heard stories from a few of our members who went to Gulfport, MS about four weeks ago to see how they could help. Each member was significantly touched not by just the devastation, but the spirit of the victims who have suffered.

One story concerned "Mrs. Rosa" who was a 75 year old widow lady who's home had been gutted. She related to a couple of the members of the group that she lived on social security and a pension of her husband who was a well-decorated veteran of World War II. She had no money to buy the necessary material to facilitate recovery of her home. They found "Mrs. Rosa" sitting on the driveway of the house just waiting to see if someone would come. She had been living for four months in a tent in front of the house and, just recently, FEMA had provided a small trailer. Can you even imagine your Mom, Dad, Grandparent's or even you camped out with just a tent in the midst of this devastation without any idea when or if you were going to get some help? Stay one day in the summer in Gulfport, MS and you'll be running and begging for air-conditioning.

Fortunately, some anonymous funds came through and the members began restoring the wallboard, roofing, etc., so she could see some progress. She was so elated for what they had begun to accomplish that when they left (and the work was not finished) she called them her "angels" and that when she looked into their face, she saw the face of Jesus. She asked for nothing more, she had the faith that others would come to finish the job even though she had been promised several times before that someone would come and they hadn't. Needless to say, the guys that participated in this reconstruction came back to Hendersonville and immediately made plans to return within the next few weeks so they could finish the job which they did much to "Mrs. Rosa's" joy.

Another person from the group related an experience where a group had been given a house number of a home designated by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to be repaired. Please remember that street signs, house numbers, etc., were mostly destroyed and it was very difficult to find individual homes. In any event, the group arrived at the house and there were two people, the couple who owned the house, camped out similar to "Mrs. Rosa." The group began making repairs and the couple worked along side of them. The couple didn't ask questions or even talk that much with the group, but at lunch time, the couple asked, "Who are you people?"

It was explained to them that they were part of the PDA and they were assigned to help them with the restoration. The group leader then asked them their name which was NOT the name of the Owners they were supposed to help nor was it the correct house number. But, since the group had already begun this task, they agreed to stay and finish it.

At the end of the day, the husband told the group members that he and his wife were overwhelmed by their assistance. Then he told them that he and his wife had decided that very morning that if they did not see any relief from their personal disaster, they were going to commit suicide that night. By the group showing up and immediately begin working to restore their home without any question, it gave them the restoration of their faith as well.

Some may say that this couple need not have made such a dramatic decision, but I ask you is it any different than the people on the top floors of the World Trade Center to jump? When everything looks hopeless and there's no where to turn, sometimes suicide could seem the only answer. However, the good news is in this case, that the circumstance of an incorrect house number saved the life of this couple. Who was guiding that "mistake?" If you believe as I do and accept that there are no "accidents" in this world, you know who.

More help is needed in the Gulf coast. New Orleans has been getting the press because none of us want that valuable and mysterious city destroyed, but please be aware of the need for help in Gulfport, Biloxi, Bay St Louis, Long Beach, Waveland and other small towns in the area. At the rate this reconstruction is going, it's going to take four or five years more! Right now, this work is mainly being done effectively and efficiently by church/temple groups, but there aren't enough of them. If you need some inspiration to make a commitment to help these people, re-read Philippians 2: 1-4.

Might make a difference to you to make a difference for someone else!