January 16, 2006
CAMP KATRINA UPDATE #15: As you know Christmas on the coast was a tremendous success. More than 30,000 came and were blessed beyond belief. Thanks to hundreds of very tired volunteers.
On Christmas Eve, team members went Christmas caroling! Talk about encouraging, WOW! One of the neat things that came out of that evening was Miss Ellen! She lost her home in the storm and was living in a FEMA mobile unit when our team arrived. When Pastor Jimmy asked how the team could help, the person who answered said, “Oh thank you, we have been praying for you.” “I am leaving to return to my home, and we have been feeding Miss Ellen. She has no family and no one to take care of her. Can you help?” Pastor Jimmy said, “That’s why we are here. We can bring food to Miss Ellen, as well as get her house rebuilt!”
Miss Ellen told me later, “Pastor Don that was the best Christmas gift I have ever received. I have seen and felt the love of Jesus like never before.” Now, what makes this story even more powerful, Miss Ellen is an 85-year-old African American blind woman. Whenever we visit her, she always says, “Oh, I see you, I see Jesus in you. Thanks so much for your love.”
Let me tell you friends, I can’t leave Miss Ellen’s house without being reminded of why we are still in Waveland. There are a lot of spiritual blind people in the area that lost everything, and they need to see the love of Jesus, not just hear about it. If you come to Camp Katrina, you will visit Miss Ellen. When you do, bring a box of Kleenex!
Phase 2 of Relief Efforts
We are actively in Phase Two of our relief efforts. We have gone from relief to rebuilding. From distribution to clean-up. From feeding to cutting down trees and laying sheet rock. We are getting dirty and loving every mud-filled day of it!
Let me give you another Kleenex moment. We have Kodak moments and Kleenex moments here in Waveland. During a break, a woman came to the NAPA building, our new headquarters, to request help. I was talking with her and was moved by her story.
Her name is Charlotte. She and her husband had lived in New Orleans, made their money to retire, and chose Bay St. Louis on the water to live. They built a nice home on the fast moving river, away from the busy Gulf Coast. They were very happy.
She was in New Orleans closing a real estate deal when the storm hit. Her husband, stayed back to watch their home. He died in the storm, swept away by the flooding surge that was over 30 feet, destroying all they owned. She found him later. He was gone, and all hope seemed to be gone with him. She didn’t know how to cope. She knew the Lord, but as with many, retirement seemed to push them away from church. They were too busy having fun. Now, reality has set in, and it is only the love and peace of God that has sustained her.
We have had the joy of providing all the sheet rock needed to re-do her house. A team came in and did the electrical work. She is living on site in a FEMA unit. Soon however, because of the love of so many, she will be back in her home. Her faith has been restored, and God is ministering to her needs.
There are a lot of Charlottes out there as. What if we had gone back to our comforts in Alabama? What if we had just stayed a few weeks, given out a few boxes of food, some blankets, a few Bibles, and a quick, “God bless you, we will pray that God will help you? What if . . .
Ah, my friends, I thank God every day that He has allowed us to be a part of what He is doing on the Gulf Coast. I thank God that we can partner with Christian Life Church (local Foley church) and demonstrate to a community that two different churches with two different pastors can work together in unity to stay the course and be “The Church of Jesus, not a church.”
Large Warehouse Needed
As you know, we had to move from our Big K site and 60,000 sqare feet of work space in five tents to a crowded, 7,000 square foot NAPA Auto Parts store. We are piled high in that building! We feed our staff, sleep, and store what we have in and around and all over that building. The fun part . . . the building is under renovation. It also was hit also by the storm, and we are building as we go. Not an easy task! Please pray for a large warehouse to come available. We need the space for all of the building supplies.
We have a new director of volunteers for Camp Katrina. She is Meg Wilson and is on staff at Christian Life Church, with Pastor Rick, and has been the director of media and public relations. She has her degree and expertise in audio/video/media but is taking on this task with renewed energy and resolve. She takes over for Trudi Champion who returned to her ministry at CLC.
Let me give you some ways to help Meg do the best job possible.
- Email her at [email protected] She will send you the needed info. Please send the paperwork back to her as soon as possible for confirmation on dates, etc. This is important, since we are in limited space until we secure a larger warehouse. Please also send me a copy of your emails. This allows me to keep up with the C&MA people responding.
- Also, please remember that we are in Phase 2 not Phase 1. We no longer distribute items to people. We no longer have a store, we no longer hand out clothes, we no longer feed crowds of people, we no longer unload 8-10 trucks a day. That is why we are asking for a different kind of volunteer in the days that are ahead.
- Phase 2 needs volunteers who have experience in building and construction. We are tearing houses down and starting over. We are also re-building homes that have a structure, but need all new insides. Electrical, plumbing, sheetrock, windows, doors, etc. So we are looking for skilled laborers in those areas. We will still need people to come and help clean up the camp site, cook meals and pack sandwich bags, etc. But most of the work will be off-site.
- That being said, I know that I may have hit a sore spot, but please try and understand our perspective. We simply must adhere to the 18 and over age limit for construction. The danger and liabilities are enormous. We are here for the long haul and cannot compromise that opportunity. We have had many youth groups call and want to come during the summer. When we say we don’t know if that will be possible under the current site, they get frustrated with us. Many people think that Waveland is like a missions trip to Latin America or Mexico. Believe me, I have been to 35 countries, and I have never seen devastation like this. Conditions are bad on-site and dangerous at best. So we must take extra precautions. When we do so, we often look like the bad guy. Please understand, we don’t want to keep anyone from having an opportunity to serve these dear and needy people of Waveland. We are sure that down the line opportunities will open up as we work with churches in summer programs, but currently, under our conditions, it makes it difficult to have young people under 18 on job sites.
- We will all follow the decisions made by the director of volunteers and the Camp Katrina leadership team as it pertains to future teams, dates available, number coming, and the requirements for coming. These requirements will change as our ministries change. We will have younger teams coming for different kinds of ministries as we move forward, especially when we work with the other churches. Let’s continue to keep the people in Waveland and the Kingdom agenda that God raises as our focal point.
- Pray also for a pastoral couple that is currently seeking God about joining us in Waveland for an extended time. We need a pastoral couple on site to minister to the hurting needs of both men and women. We have such a couple in mind. They are seeking God this week to direct and provide for them. Join them in their desire to hear from God on this issue.
Again, blessings to you. In closing, let me put us all back in perspective. A dear woman was crying the other day when I gave her some gift cards from a church in New Jersey. These cards represent hundreds of dollars at Wal-Mart and Home Depot. She cried, hugged me and said, “Pastor, how can I thank you?” I said, “You can’t, it’s not me! I don’t own these cards, it’s not my money. All I am is an ambassador of love. I give to you what God, through his people, gave me to give to you. So let’s thank the One who gave it.” We prayed and thanked God.
Sometimes in the immensity of this task and under the burden of this great opportunity, we can get lost in the moment. We can think for that we are doing a great thing. When in reality, nothing would get done and nothing would be possible without God. We are His ambassadors. We don’t have an agenda apart from His, and we don’t have the means to do this without His supply. He supplies through you, His choice for Waveland. That makes me feel so special.
I’m looking forward to sending the next update already. Hope to see many of you soon in Waveland.
Pastor Don
Genesis Church