Imperishable Inheritance

I had the glorious opportunity to go down to Gulfport, Mississippi to aid in the relief effort from Hurricane Katrina. When I went to fall retreat a couple of weeks ago, they showed a video of a team that went down; and it completely grabbed my heart and attention. I remember that exact second deciding I would head up a team from WSU to go down with the students from Miami, and sure enough I went through with it (when I make up my mind it's going to happen). I do have pictures, but I hope you'll also take a short time to read through this to become more familiar with some of those who struggle.

Well, I was the only one who actually went down from WSU, but it was a blessing. I was afforded the opportunity to meet many Miami students I had not met before, and I did meet quite a few of them. I showed up on Thursday to ride down, and I was going to ride in a big van; but I got the opportunity to ride down with three other girls instead. They were three sorority girls (they talked about all the Greek life, and I had no idea what they were talking about), and it was a blessing. They were Kristen, Robin, and Claire. So we started our 13 hour drive on down south.

For some reason (and it's a wonder how this stuff happens around me!), but the Calvinism/Arminianism issue was brought up. It was brought up, because I summarized my testimony a little bit; and that is usually how it is brought up anymore. Well, we talked for 1.5 hours about it. I didn't realize until the end, that Claire was a non-believer and I felt really bad. I told her to put aside all I said and focus on the gospel. We switched off driving all night, and made it down to MS at 8 a.m. CST.

We got there just as the teams were being assigned for the next day. We were sent, along with another car load of four, to work with Convoy of Hope. They assigned us to a house that had been submerged with 6 ft. of water from the hurricane. We started work on Caroline's house. Our job was to pull all the drywall and insulation out to prevent the mold from getting into the frame. We worked for 8 hours straight, but we got the whole house done. By the end of the day, it was ready to be rebuilt. Let me say that I have a new-found respect for those that do that for a living! I was also interviewed on camera by the American Bible Society about my work down in MS. They asked me if there is a Bible passage that I would share to impart hope, and I responded by quoting John 6:44 (such a Calvinist). We then went back to the church where we were staying and slept in the sanctuary. (Sanctuary pews are surprisingly comfy!)

We then woke up for the next day of work. We were assigned to go down to the beach, and it was here that I saw the extent of the destruction. We got to go down and visit Barbara. We weren't there long, but we got to help her pull out some of her belongings that were salvageable. She told us her story of how she stayed through the storm, and she had to stay on a leather couch for four hours that was floating in 5 feet of water before she could escape the house. The pictures show how God providentially saved her. She was in the only part of her living room that wasn't completely destroyed. Amazing. The girls spent some time talking to the FEMA contract workers. They flirted pretty heavily with them, and after we left they joked on who would marry who. I felt like after leaving that house that we did the most in providing encouragement, and that is a very powerful mode of ministry. Some of our group members even talked to the firefighters, and they gave us a huge box of bananas!

We then went down the beach to another house and worked for a woman named Gale who was helping rebuild the area. Apparently she wasn't the person we were originally supposed to work for, but God providentially provided for us to be there. The girls cleaned out the inside out, and the guys did yard work. Eventually we all worked together to finish the yard work. We cleared a spot in the yard for a FEMA trailer to occupy. By the way, FEMA has done some great things for these people. I don't care what the media says. Also, both days the Red Cross drove through (and we were in two separate areas), and this day we accepted a meal from them that is meant for survivors and volunteers. It was surprisingly good. In fact, they should market those lunches! The Red Cross is doing great things there as well.

Well, that was officially the end of our work; but we decided to go over to a neighbor's house to extend a helping hand. Her name was Sandra, and she let our girls use her restrooms in her FEMA trailer. We thought it would be good to go and finish off the day serving her. She had knee surgery right before the storm, and she had just come back to her house 10 days before we were there. So, her physical condition inhibited her ability to work on her house. How glorious it was to be on the other side of God's providing for others! We helped clean out some of her house (it was really bad, I didn't even go in at the suggestion of other members of my group). We cleaned some of her furniture, cleaned her yard, and provided some encouragement. (By the way, the picture in this post is all of us at Sandra's house.)

While I was moving her boxes, I noticed books by Carl Gustav Jung, liberal theology books, and comparative religion works. It prompted me to ask her about it. She said she just retired from being a Presbyterian minister to write about women's issues in the Bible. As we talked it became very evident how much postmodernist philosophy had reeked havoc on her. She was evidently quite brilliant, but told me clearly that God manifests Himself in many traditions. When I asked her about the exclusive claims of Christ she said it "worried" her. She asked me what I thought, and I told her about my history of Buddhism, New Age, etc and how the exclusive claims of Christ didn't make God smaller but much bigger. What caught me off guard even more was the fact that many of Christians in my group agreed with many points of hers! I was completely taken aback. It was a point of discouragement for me, but it's good to know the condition of all those in the group.

Well, we then drove back to the church, and we were the first group back. The other car decided that they were going back, and I convinced our car to go a head and head back. We drove all night, and made it back today at 8. I then drove back from Miami, and got to enjoy Waffle House (man, their waffles are good) and a shower which I had been without for 3 days. I just woke up from a 7 hour "nap." I was thoroughly exhausted.

What a joy this was. I encourage everyone if the opportunity provides itself to go down and serve. If anyone is interested, Miami students are going down again so let me know if you're interested. Please pray for them. We got to pray with each of the women we served, and they were all encouraged and their faith was strengthened. I heard after the first day of what others had also done. This synopsis is only of our group, but there were other groups who went with us who did great things as well.

We were given tracks for the problem of pain/evil, and it was less than God glorifying. The Crusade tract said that suffering was not an original part of God's plan/design, but human's sin was the cause of suffering (because the hurricane had so much free will right?). God did cause the hurricane to unleash His wrath, but His purposes will stand. We know that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28).

"I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these."
Isaiah 45:5-7