Mobilized in God's Timing

 

Mobilize Training in Moline, IL

 

Imagine a flood hits your hometown.  75% of your congregation’s homes, including yours, are flooded with water, mud, or sewage.  Roads collapse and all the surrounding neighborhoods are affected.  What would you do?  What are you feeling, thinking, and struggling with now?

You may feel there is no hope.  You need help.  Where do you even start?

“We work better together than alone,” stated Kevin Watterson as he laid out this scenario to a volunteer team serving in Staten Island from First Free in Moline, IL as he introduced the Mobilize initiative.  “What we’re trying to build here is a network of churches that can respond in this type of disaster and can be mobilized so we can help those churches get back on their feet again, get back into ministry, do what God has called them to do in their community, and be able to help people who have been affected by this disaster as well.”

When the team returned to Illinois, they incorporated Mobilize slides into their church missions’ presentation.  It fit well into the mission of First Free.  The church budgeted money for Crisis Response involvement.  This cleared the way for people to go quickly when needed.  The next step was their 10 hour training for Mobilize on April 25-26.  Little did anyone know how quickly mock responses in the training would become a reality.  Tornadoes in Alabama motivated a call to First Free for help a few days later. Three men cleared their schedules and responded the following Monday.  Team leader Rick Mills commented, “It was rewarding to be on the front side of things.”  Around 48 downed trees covered the property of the Schrock family from Hope Church.  They had responded three years earlier to help others impacted by tornadoes in their area.  Rick found it different working with a family who understood why they were there to help.

Rick and team member Tony Loete struggled attempting to pull a tree out of the creek using the Schrock’s small tractor.  It was humbling when the tractor got stuck, and they had to find help.  They traveled down the road until they found someone with bigger equipment who came and pulled the tractor free and removed the tree in minutes.  Tony remarked, “In our weakness, God’s strength was revealed.”  Later in the week, the willingness of the Schrock’s to have their tractor and volunteers used to help another homeowner their family did not even know impressed Tony.

God used First Free’s involvement serving on a volunteer team to plant a desire to partner with Mobilize and to train and be available just when they were needed to impact lives in a crisis.  The goal of Mobilize is to have enough churches and people to sustain a response for up to 6 months with volunteers who would be willing to deploy on a rotating basis.  Many types of people are needed such as people to assess needs, an administrator to process paperwork, people to gut houses and clean-up, a construction manager to manage projects, and a volunteer coordinator to contact team members.  Different skills are needed at different times.  Rick pointed out that you do not have to do construction for God to use you.  “Everyone can pick up sticks.” A commitment is requested for 2 weeks each year to come and serve and additional time to meet with their team locally serving in their own community.  For more information on Mobilize, contact crisisresponsenetwork@efca.org.



Finding His Way

David sat the week after the tornado holding a shotgun.  His daughter had taken her life two years earlier in this same spot, and he was contemplating ending his own life.  The tornado had taken all his material possessions.  Besides his home, he owned a rental house and 29 trailers.  He had canceled the insurance on the trailer park in January.  Unemployed renters, a mother with a disabled son, and others facing hardships paid David by the week when they could.  It was impossible to keep up with both utility payments and insurance.  He sat with is gun 20 minutes wondering if there was any hope. He felt God telling him to put the gun down and take care of his family.  David is raising his 17 year old grandson and caring for his wife with fibromyalgia.

He had survived the Alabama tornado in a small storm shelter with 30 people.  The tornado ripped at the door as those taking shelter clung to the door to keep it shut.  His arm bruised from the effort, but two people in the neighboring trailer park were less fortunate.  They lost their lives.

When Katrina and the team from Lakewood met David, he sat slumped in a salvaged recliner chair devoid of hope.  Darlena, part of the Lakewood Evangelical Free Church team, described him as “a shell of a man with no light in him”.  The team gutted his house and got rid of the barn where his daughter’s belongings were stored.  On Wednesday, when the team gathered with David in a prayer circle, David fell to his knees on the concrete sobbing and asking God to forgive him.  He had taught Sunday school and led youth group years ago, but he had fallen away from the Lord.  He told God he needed Him back in his life.

David felt a little like Job.  He had lost family, home, and possessions.  His loss brought him back to God. He kept asking God to forgive him.  The team assured him that God heard his prayer for forgiveness. David is planning to go back to church, and he said that people like those working with ReachGlobal Crisis Response had restored his faith in humanity.

Steve, another member of the Lakewood team, noted how changed David was by the end of the week.  David was springing out of his chair, smiling, and happy.  There will still be hard days ahead for David, but He knows God cares about him, and God sent people into his life who genuinely care.  Keep David and his family in your prayers.  Others need a touch of love in their lives and restored hope.  Maybe God is calling you to bring hope and love to those whose world has crumbled.

Team Work

Katrina and Miss Lily

 

Miss Lily, horrified by the deep water flowing down her Staten Island street, called Crisis Response in tears.  She has been watching our progress on her home eagerly awaiting when she and her family can move back home.  Now, she feared more damage.  When the team arrived, she requested that they go in first.  There was not a drop of water in her home!  Lily felt so blessed.  She wanted to bless others, so she went with the team to help others.  One volunteer, Marty, said at the end of the day, “I think God has been preparing me my whole life for the conversation I had with Lily.”

It was great to see Lily looking past her own needs to help meet the needs of others.  That is not easy to do.  Lily grew close to the Park City team working with her.  She remarked, “You guys are my family.”

Katrina Welsh, a staff member, noted, “My faith grows every day, because I see Him at work every day.  You can miss it because of the busyness of life.  Here, you’re just able to live it and see it every day.  My faith grows seeing the details.”

An inspired team member from Virginia said, “Watching you, it’s where I want to be, to be able to let go.  This week brought me a lot closer.”

One volunteer paid for repairs on Katrina’s car.  God sends some to serve in other places as missionaries, and He provides others to send out missionaries.  It is a partnership.  They are both an equally important part of the team.

 

 

Compelled

Tammy enjoyed spending weekends with her family at a lakeside cabin in Minnesota.  Katrina Welsh, a cabin neighbor, would grill with them and share her exciting stories of what God was doing through Crisis Response.  Katrina is a staff member for Crisis Response in Staten Island.  Tammy felt compelled to drive with Katrina back to Staten Island, so she and her son Jeremy returned with Katrina to see firsthand what Crisis Response was doing.

Although raised Catholic, Tammy, turned off by the church, no longer attended services at any church.  When torrential rains hit Staten Island that Wednesday, streams of deep water flooded streets, the roof and some windows at Salem Church leaked water, basements flooded, and many needed help.  Tammy and Jeremy were happy to volunteer to join our teams responding to help.  Jeremy spent his day helping Pastor Ed Cole of Salem Church.  Tammy worked alongside a team.  Jeremy rejoined his mom and questioned, “Mom, we’re going to church Sunday, right?”

On Sunday, Pastor Ed Cole’s words stirred Tammy’s heart.  She felt like he was speaking to her alone.  He spoke of growing up with tradition but lacking a relationship with God, with not knowing God as father.  As Pastor Ed offered the chance to know God personally, Tammy felt he was looking directly at her.  God moved her heart and she found her hand raising in response to the invitation to give her life to God.

Katrina, eyes closed during the invitation, did not realize what Tammy had done until they toured Battery Park later that day.  Tammy shared her decision, and Katrina, overwhelmed by joy and excitement, hugged Tammy.  Jeremy, curious about why they hugged, ran to them.  Katrina explained her excitement, and he joined in the hug.  Katrina knows a good church in their home area where Tammy can continue to grow in her faith.

Covering the roof at Salem Church to prevent more leaks

Why God Sends Orange Juice

On Tuesday, a tractor trailer delivered skid loads of orange juice to a local store. The driver was left with an extra skid of orange juice, and the store would not accept it.  The driver called the Samaritan Center who then called us.  They had nowhere to put that much juice, but would be happy to pick up some from us later.  We called 4:13, a drug and rehabilitation ministry, to share the juice with them, and they arrived at the same time as the truck.  That worked out perfectly since the skid loader engine would not turn over and run.  Between staff, staff family, and 4:13 guys, we had a bucket brigade to pass the juice crates to a pallet and to the 4:13 van.

That evening, Carrie took 2 crates of orange juice along to her prayer drive with the House of Prayer.  They prayed for an apartment building they were passing, and one of the men sitting out behind the building waved to them.  The driver felt compelled to stop and talk with the group of tenants.  They handed out orange juice, talked with them for 30 minutes and prayed with them for the many requests including health, finances, and moving.  The orange juice was a real blessing for these families.  One of the ladies is a believer.  Carrie prayed for her and God laid it on Carrie’s heart to pray for the woman’s nerves.  The woman wanted to know how Carrie knew what she specifically needed.  God was the one who knew. 

One man went inside while they prayed, but then came back and asked to speak with them.  He asked for prayer for several family members, but he asked them not to pray in front of him.  They wrote the names down, and they prayed for them later.

The House of Prayer group had been praying for the local churches.  Weldon, the prayer group leader, lives in the same neighborhood with the pastor of Christ Community Church.  When Weldon called him up to offer the pastor some orange juice, Weldon shared what happened earlier.  The pastor knew which building Weldon was talking about, because he had been prayer walking through that neighborhood.  Weldon encouraged the pastor to consider reaching out to the people there, and shared about the families and children there.  The pastor is praying about having the church do some sort of an outreach or VBS there.

Lois and Carrie took a crate of orange juice along with Bible study materials to Foster, a homeowner who takes in homeless.  He is planning on starting a Bible study with those staying with him.  The orange juice will be used to bless other homeowners and upcoming teams coming to rebuild homes and lives.

It is amazing how many prayers were answered and how much good came from an extra skid of orange juice.  God works in amazing ways!

God Removes Obstacles

God Removes Obstacles

Lenny Faria responded quickly after Hurricane Katrina to join the large teams serving in the New Orleans area with ReachGlobal Crisis Response.  As a building contractor, he was eager to use his skills to accomplish as much as possible, but he was oblivious at that point to the relational part of the ministry.  Soon after his initial trip, God used a missions trip to Mexico to change his focus.  His team had gone down to build a boy’s dorm for an orphanage, but due to elections being held while there, all businesses were temporarily closed.  This meant that they had no place to purchase materials.  Unable to build, the focus of the trip changed to loving the 125 children in the orphanage.

Lenny explained, “The lesson I learned was that I was going to do God’s work and not mine.”  He started understanding ReachGlobal’s position- it’s about the people not the work.  Lenny continued to go on more trips with Crisis Response to New Orleans, Haiti, and Alabama.  With each trip, he felt more convinced that God was calling him to do this long-term.  Returning home, he would think of all the reasons why this was not practical.  He had his own business.  How would he make any money if he left?

“Finally, after 8 years of doing these missions trips with ReachGlobal, it was really weighing on me that this was what God wanted me to do,” recalled Lenny.  He discussed this with Mark Lewis, Kevin Watterson, friends, and his wife.  After Sandy hit, Lenny met Mark in Staten Island to access damage and meet with people from Salem Church.  Lenny went home and told his wife, "Boy, I really think I’m being called there to help more on a long-term basis and not for a week or two.”  They discussed all the roadblocks to going.  She said, “You know, if it is God who is calling you to do it and it’s not just you wanting to do this, then you need to go.”

Through praying and talking together, Lenny realized a few things would have to happen before this change could be possible.  First, Lenny had a large customer base from over 30 years in business who he would not just desert.  He wanted to know there would be someone to service them.  Secondly, he had two trailers and a bunch of tools that needed to be sold so business debts could be paid.  Lastly, financial support needed to be provided for his family while serving.

The very next day, a friend who is also a contractor stopped by.  Lenny shared the decision weighing on his heart.  His friend asked if he was selling the one trailer, which he was.  He told Lenny, “Well, I want it.”  The next day, he came by with a check.  A couple of hours later, Lenny’s son, who is also a contractor, stopped by.  His son asked, “I know you have been struggling with some medical problems.  Is there any way I can help you?”  He agreed to take over Lenny’s customer base while Lenny was away.  That was two answers to prayer in two days!!

That left the larger trailer and tools.  The Times Square Church in N.Y. had contacted Salem Church to see how they could help.  Salem Church needed tools and a place to store them.  Times Square Church bought Lenny’s trailer and tools and donated them to ReachGlobal Crisis Response.  “So, everything I had prayed about had happened within 4 days. … It was definitely God talking to me and saying, ‘This is where I want you.’” 

Since coming, Lenny shared, “It’s been exciting to see God’s work, to see how God works in a disaster situation in both homeowners and teams coming here.  He’s provided everything I’ve needed so far. … I feel I have changed.  I’ve become a different person. … I think I have become much more dependent on God.  I pray about everything now where I didn’t always do that.  I always felt I was in control, and I didn’t need God in my life all the time.  We turn to God when we need Him instead of turning to God all the time.  I’ve become a lot closer in my walk with God.  I go to prayer all the time.  I’m into the Word more than I was before. … I’ve become more patient. … I realize there is still more work to be done in my life.”  Lenny had a major focus on work in his life.  He has since learned to spend time with his family when home, depend more on God and others, and he is not as stressed as he was before making this life change.  God is using Lenny to make an impact on the regions impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  Is He calling you to serve too?

Internships Change Lives

Why intern with Crisis Response? Megan Thomas interned in Haiti for 2 1/2 months and said it helped her learn more about how missions work practically and to see how short-term and long-term missions work together. Just living in a different culture opened her eyes to struggles and poverty others experience. Hannah Yowell interned in Haiti and loved the strong friendships she developed while there with both Americans and Haitians.


The experience helped her to pray better and think differently about missions.

Katie Kepko, a 4 month New Orleans intern, encouraged others to come to grow while using "the skills God has given them and the passions they have to serve their community. ... It gives them the experience of working and living in Christian community with people who are uplifting and supporting you. It also gave me the opportunity to have an influence on teams coming to serve. I could make an impact on their lives. Not to mention, it was a lot of fun.

"With the intern program, I thought originally, I was going to go down and have a job with ReachGlobal, and that was going to be my internship. I didn't realize that was only half of it.







 
  

"The other half was focused on helping me grow spiritually and personally, just learning more about myself and God. I thought it was really cool that I was not just there using my gifts to help, but people were really investing in me also. That was a really cool aspect, and Katie Hooks put so much of her life into me and her time. She was really great. She is definitely great at what she does."

Andrew Nilson, an intern in Haiti, explained, "When you want to get good at baseball, you go away for 2 weeks to baseball camp. ... Training to be a disciple of Christ is no different in the sense that it still takes practical training. So, going away for a focused amount of time really influences the likelihood that the person will live differently in their everyday lives."


Do you know someone who wants to discover how God wants them to live in this world? Perhaps an internship with Crisis Response is just what they need

 

Andrew pointed out,



"God’s heart is for the world, and we often lose sight of that. In our day to day lives, our world is quite small. Going for 2 weeks is great, but it is not the same experience. Spending an amount of time there really opens your eyes to God’s heart. As far as doing it with ReachGlobal, I was highly impressed with their desire to do ministry in a culturally sensitive way. "