8/9/13
You may not know
this, but I just came back yesterday from a mission trip in New Jersey to help
with the clean up from Hurricane Sandy.
Who knew that you
could have some major satisfaction from mowing lawns? That’s one job I had to
do on this trip. You may think mowing a lawn is no big deal, but for the people
who have left there homes do to mold and other bad stuff, it is. If any of
their neighbors call and complain about their lawn the town would come and
clean it and charge the homeowner like $300. That is a lot of money for people
with nothing.
I have been out of
my house for 6 months now. That is because there was a fire at my house
February 9th. I could kind of relate with some of the people waiting
for such a long time to get something done with their homes. I understand the
frustration and heartache of not being able to go home. These people have been
out of their homes longer than me. Also a lot of them lost everything. My
family was blessed that when we do get our home back, we’ll get some of our
stuff back too.
So I didn’t just do
yard work all week. I also, demolished a shed, moved dirt around, picked up
debris and moved it from the ground to a trailer on the back of a truck to a
dumpster. I can now say that I have been in a dumpster. (Is that something to
be proud of? Cause I am) When I say I, I don’t just mean me. I had a team of 8
other people working with me. My group was made up of: Tim, Alyssa, Tori, Ben,
Emily, Grace, Nick, and Meredith (our group leader). We worked hard together.
There are so many things
and stories I’d like to share, but I just can’t really put all of it into
words. I’m better at telling these stories in person, but I’ll try to explain a
few.
So one couple
everyone met who came on the mission trip was Pamela and Bob. They stayed in
their house during the Hurricane. When we met them we sat on the only thing
remaining of their house and garage, the cement in the ground. Yep, they lost
everything. They told us the elaborate story of their experience during the
hurricane. They could have died. Of course, they were standing right in front
of us so we knew they lived. They told us how they watched the waves destroy
their house while they stayed on the apartment above their garage. (These
people were mad rich). They explained to us all the expensive TVs they had and
just all the space they had in their house, but they lost it all. Bob told us
that after this experience he had a lot of guilt that he didn’t protect his
wife and it almost cost him her life. He’s wife was extremely stubborn that
really she chose to stay with him and he couldn’t have made her do anything she
didn’t want to. They spent most of the day of the hurricane arguing over what
to do. Bob told us that he was never a religious guy. He thought religious guys
were dorky and sentimental and he didn’t want to be like that, but because of
his guilt he went to talk to Pastor Mark. Pastor Mark is the pastor of Gate Way
Church that has about 50 members, but has taken over the long-term recovery of
Jersey Shore. So Bob and Pamela start going to Bible studies. While Bob was in
his car he told us that it was as clear as day as if God had said it out loud
that “God had a plan for putting them through the storm so that He could grab
their attention.” That’s when Bob had no more guilt. Him and Pamela got
baptized in the same bay that took everything away from them. They gave themselves
to God with the same waters God used to get their attention. For me I get goose
bumps every time I think about that, say it, or hear it. These two people were
amazing. We heard their story Monday night.
People in New Jersey
aren’t use to people giving them help. For us to volunteer to serve and help
was a big deal to them. So much more works needs to be done, but I’m happy I got
to be apart of some of the clean up. It really was an amazing trip. God’s hand
was really there with us. I know I was blessed.
Well if you know me
and want to know more stories about the mission, just ask. I’ll be glad to
write more blog posts about it or talk to you in person, which will be more fun
for me!
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