Continuing

Trying to keep up with all of the needs, supplies and locations is an incredible challenge. I am blessed with a great team of paid and unpaid staff. Day after day, they show up, take phone calls, schedule trucks that are arriving and going out, and a multitude of other tasks. All of this is to meet the needs of those in the impact zone.

Three weeks into this operation and we still have desparate calls for food and supplies. It is hard to imagine that with the tons of supplies that arrive averyday, we still struggle to get them into the hands of everyone who is in need. There I times that I wonder if it ever will be "done".

Like many others, I have worked for the past three weeks. I took a day and a half off to let a virus have it's way with me, adn then came right back. I don't say that to lift myself up, but rather to let you know the depth of committment that so many have to helping.

Tonight at 3 a.m. we will have 12 tractor trailers arrive fully loaded with supplies. The drivers are donating their time to bring this all from the New England area. In all, that one group has set 22 fully loaded trucks (stacked two pallets high inside).

In some ways it would seem that we would have all we could use just from this company, but believe it or not, it is not.

The real needs are also changing. For the past couple of days, people have been able to return to their homes and begin clean up.

There is a huge lack of cleaning supplies in the entire region. My hope and prayer is that God will continue to prompt hearts to send what is needed!

Connecting the Dots

As we were traveling through the areas in MS, we arrived at a Buddist Temple (yes, that's what I said) that was in need of help. The confusing thing was that there were boxes and boxes of food and supplies in the parking lot. As we pulled in, a man that was with the temple (I think) told us that they would not eat the food that we were delivering. He pointed to the large cans of food and explained "They want a certain kind of rice here, not pork and beans".

He was obviously frustrated, and I guess we became his target. "This is crazy - these people don't want this stuff, and they don't need this stuff. For example, some truck showed up and dropped off 2000 backpacks. What are we supposed to do with 2000 backpacks. All they are is in the way, and when it rains, we'll just throw them out."

Halfway through that conversation, Rick and I looked at each other and smiled.
"So you don't want the backpacks?" we asked-

"NO."

We smiled because we were recalling a conversation hours earlier in another town. "We need backpacks for the kids - do you think you can help?"


God is good.

A ride in the impact zone

Today I went in to the heart of the damaged areas along the MS gulf coast. I had the chance to ride with my friend Bro. Rick, and to see God at work in the midst of difficulity.
We went to the Red Cross center in Gulfport, and I was very impressed. The people there are from all over the country, and doing eveerything in their power to meet the abundance of needs. The task is impossible.

They have teams in the neighborhoods to check on people, feed people and lend aid. I understand that many are pointing fingers at National groups and playing the blame game. From what I can see, there are hundreds or rather thousands of people on the ground that are doing everythimg in their power to do what needs to be done.

Later I went and met the people heading up the Salvation Army in Biloxi MS. The faces were different, but the effort was the same.

In both places I noticed that the issues they were working on seem to be farther along the recovery path than I had anticipated. As I watch the news, it looks like we are still in the initial response phase, but I saw clear signs of people cleaning up and putting back together. I know that for many, those options are not even a possibility. That work will take months and years.

There were also more church groups in there helping than I imagined. Each group seemed to have it's own speciality, and making a difference in the best way it could.

I hope that everyone will continue to come along side these communities for the long hall.

A way to help

A strange thing happened the other day in our neighborhood. My neighbor Jim had a small kitchen fire that got out of control. While we were waiting for the fire department, he lost most of his house. At the same time, Bob, three streets over had a yard fire that was threatening several homes. Our small volunteer fire department was at Bob’s trying to head off an even larger problem, and couldn’t respond quickly to Jim’s needs.

I thought about taking my fire extinguishers over to Jim’s house and putting out the kitchen fire, but I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do. After all, putting out fires is what firemen do.

I ‘m sure Jim understands

How do we respond?

The damage from hurricane Katrina is more than you can imagine. The geographic area that it covers is larger than any other single natural disaster that the U.S. has experienced in modern times.

Many people are looking to the Government and other relief agencies to take care of the multitude of issues, but with the scope if this disaster, that will not be possible. Katrina has actually left four disasters in her wake: Hurricane damage, tidal wave damage, levy breach and flooding of a major city, and mass relocation of hundreds of thousands of individuals. Any single one of these would take the current agencies and their resources to the limit. They cannot respond to all four.

I believe that the only way that we can keep a fifth disaster from occurring is to get involved on a community level.

If entire communities would gather their resources (work teams, skills, supplies, food, money, etc.) and adopt a community in the impact zone, the gap between what the governmental agencies and relief agencies could be bridged.

Imagine that a community with resources has come along side you to assist you while you wait on those larger resources. You wouldn’t expect that partner to take care of all your needs, just to be beside you and giving you the support you need to make it.

In many cases, it would put out the kitchen fire before the whole house burns down.

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