Disaster Relief

FPC has sponsored more than a dozen teams who traveled to the devastated areas left behind by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. These teams offered aid, assistance, a shoulder, and prayer to the people of that part of our world - but came away with so much more.

These are my own personal reflections on this trip.  I’m sure the other 4 volunteers have many thoughtful insights that I’ve missed but for simplicity sake I’m just including my own in this narrative.

This trip was quite different from the other 2 trips I’ve been able to make to New Orleans in the past 10 months. This time there were only 3 of us from FPC, Brent (making his 7th trip) and my wife Paula (her 4th trip).  As there were so few of us and given that we were familiar with the process, there was very little planning necessary besides deciding when to travel. I was a bit anxious given that I really wasn’t sure what we’d actually be able to do with so few of us. We had originally thought that we’d be finishing Pastor Gervais Allison’s kitchen installation, this being our main project.  Hopefully we would be finishing this and other odd jobs around his house in order that he and his family could finally move back home after 2 ½ years.  Two days prior to our trip I heard thru Brent that Pastor Gervais found an excellent deal on kitchen cabinets that included installation, and that he was moving back into his house the day before our arrival!  So as we boarded our flight for the long journey to New Orleans the biggest question in my mind was what were we going to do for a week.  In addition I was a bit anxious as 2 pilots from Southwest Airlines, whom I had never met, were going to be joining us for a few days in the middle of our trip.  Not only did it seem that there was very little for us to do, but I felt responsible for seeing that this trip was worth the effort for Scott and Chris.

During the flight Brent and I spoke about the possibility of helping Nina, a woman we first met back in October 2007.  Nina works at the Budget Rental Car at the New Orleans Airport.  As she was helping us with our rental in October we found out that she was in need of help getting her house put back together so she could get out of her FEMA trailer.  As much as we wanted to help, we just didn’t have the time in October given the other work we had come to do.  Brent spoke with her again last December and she let on that she only had limited time left before her trailer was being removed, but again the team didn’t have the manpower to help her.  Perhaps since our workload at Pastor Gervais’ house was minimal (we just needed to install the countertop and sink) we could help Nina.  The only problem was that Brent couldn’t find her phone number.  Guess whose smiling face greeted us as we entered the Budget office, Nina of course. 

Nina had been back in her 3 bedroom/2 bathroom house in New Orleans East since January of this year.  All her walls were up and she had electricity but she was basically living in one bedroom and 1 bathroom.  Her “kitchen room” had flooring but that was it.  She had a mini refrigerator and a hot plate she kept in the living room on the cement floor.  She works two jobs with much of the money going to pay off medical bills as a result of back surgery she has had since Katrina.  She has received minimal funding from her insurance to help with the rebuilding but mostly she has had to rely on her credit cards.  She is looking at a long slow process to finish her house.  When we visited her house and asked what she would like us to do, she asked for help with some little things like installing door handles and locks on her exterior doors, and installing soffet vents (only a couple hours work).  The joy and disbelief on Nina’s face was priceless when Brent asked her if we could provide her with some kitchen cabinets and a sink.  She humbly and gratefully agreed to allow us to do this for her.

On past trips I had little knowledge of what funding FPC provided except that I knew they provided for the rental vehicles.  This time Brent informed us that we had in the neighborhood of $500 to spend.  Knowing this wouldn’t go far he made a phone call to FPC and got the approval for another $500.  When Scott, the Southwest pilot from Chicago, saw what this meant for Nina, he called his wife to see if they could help.  They decided to buy her a stove.  As a result we were able to install lower cabinets, countertop, sink and stove.  This would have been a gift to be proud of except Scott didn’t stop there.  After a few more calls to family in Chicago by his wife, additional funds were provided to us, enough to purchase upper cabinets and a microwave.  The finishing touch was Scott’s secret purchase of plates, cups, utensils, and other kitchen essentials.  Nina’s tears of joy upon getting home from work and seeing her finished kitchen repaid us a thousand times over.  While all this kitchen work was being done Paula and Chris kept busy painting and installing ceiling fans and light fixtures that Nina had bought previously but couldn’t afford to have installed. 

In the past with larger crews we were able to assist the good people at Joy Fellowship with the many projects on their list of things to do.  With such a small group we were limited, but at least were able to help with their Thursday food distribution to the locals in need.  Also our truck came in handy in hauling materials for the Convoy of Hope event they were involved with on the 26^th.  Although we weren’t as much help to Joy as I would have hoped I feel that our relationship with them remains strong. 

I could easily end the story here (and many of you probably wish I would) but it wouldn’t tell the whole story of this past trip.  For me, as I reflect on this past week, the most awesome thing is seeing God’s hand at work weaving so many threads that all tied together in the end.  Again I’m sure that Paula, Brent, Chris and Scott could add to this but for now I’ll list my examples.  Perhaps we can get them to share their insights with us as well.

• Returning home from the June 2007 trip my chauffer, Tim Kelly, and I encountered a 2 hour road construction delay on the way to the airport.  As a result I miss my scheduled flight home and had to leave on a later flight.  On the last leg of my journey home the flight was completely full so I had to sit in the cockpit (nice perk of the job).  When I told the pilots what I had been up to the First Officer was extremely interested in what we had done in New Orleans.  He asked several questions and was really hoping that perhaps he could participate in a similar mission in the future.  His name is Chris, one of the 2 pilots who joined us last week.  Had we not hit traffic and missed my flight, we would have never had that conversation.
• God encouraged me to write a letter in our pilot’s union bi-monthly newsletter requesting volunteers to help us as local interest seems to have dwindled.  I beat the deadline by 30 minutes not sure if they would even post the letter as most letters in the newsletter deal with work-related issues.  They did publish it and as a result 3 very interested pilots contacted me.  2 of which were able to make it last week.  Even though they only stayed for 3 and 4 days respectively, without Chris and Scott’s involvement only a fraction of the work we accomplished would have been done.  Since January I’ve been praying for God to reveal himself to me, and so far he has many times, just not in the way of a burning bush that I had expected.  Most times it’s been thru the actions of others such as this.
• God had planted the seed in Chris and Scott and they were able to respond to the letter and join our small team of 3.  Neither Chris nor Scott had vacation this week but were able to make the trip during days off between work.  Scott told me that at the beginning of the month he was trying to find some trips to fly during the week we were to be in New Orleans but strangely enough there weren’t any trips to be had.  God left the door open to him to join us.
• Both Chris and Scott are eager to go back to Houston and Chicago and find others that are willing to serve in New Orleans.  Even as our local interest dwindles God is sparking interest in other areas.
• Had Pastor Gervais not found a great deal on his kitchen cabinets including installation, we wouldn’t have had the time to devote to Nina, God was at work there.
• In October after we first met Nina I clearly remember Brent saying to me that God put Nina across our path for a reason.  He wasn’t sure what that reason was but it was no accident.
• Earlier in April a friend of Nina’s offered to tile her kitchen floor.  Nina refused to let him as she owed him money for some painting he had done previously.  He was even more stubborn and insisted that he be allowed to do the work knowing Nina was good for the money.  God was at work here.  Had this man not tiled the kitchen floor we would not have been able to install the cabinets and the stove.  God already knew the plan.
• Nina has been suffering from a bad back, still recovering from surgery.  In addition she’s been suffering from a lack of motivation as the task of putting her house back together in the midst of everything seems overwhelming at times.  God used our efforts to do much more that provide a place to cook, he provided her with a renewed sense of hope and energy.  God used us as a vessel to show her that she is loved by him.
• Nina’s testimony to her family, friends and colleagues has been a testimony of God’s love and care.  She had all people at Budget in tears along with her.  Her manager was moved to the point that he secretly changed our rental rate from the truck rate to the compact car rate.  When I returned the car yesterday the receipt was for around $300 less than expected.  Money FPC can now use to help others.
• Finally, the greatest benefit yet.  One of Nina’s neighbors, a non-believer, was skeptical of Nina’s story.  She didn’t believe that a group of complete strangers just showed up from California to build her a kitchen free of charge.  When Nina brought her into her home and showed what her “angels” (her name for us not ours…) had done, the neighbor was so moved that she gave her life to Christ right there.

 Gleanings for the Hungry ( A Youth With a Mission project)
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