I honestly don't know what to do. Posting these and informing people feels like I'm at least helping in some way. I feel as though maybe one person will read this and find away to help after that. Being up in Canada feels so helpless. I keep thinking if I were in Arkansas I could do more then what I have done. Anyway, if some of you are looking for away to help I hope to encourage to look into maybe helping Al or giving money to the Red Cross.
Just to let y'all know Al is a huge inspiration to me. He started the Paragould, AR Habitat For Humanity, he even got us on Oprah. ;) Anyway, he has now started on in Ocean Springs. He and Jody have lived lives of servants and he only shows it even more in this time. Anyway, here is the update from Al. Blessings!
DAILY UPDATE: Wednesday, September 7
MONEY MATTERS: Many have asked where to send checks.
Our immediate cash needs are good right now thanks to
the generosity of many. Our long-term needs will be
great, so I think it will be safe to send it to our
P.O. Box if you would like: it is P.O. Box 34, Ocean
Springs, MS 39566. Also, the Gateway Church of Christ
is coming regularly to work, and they have agreed to
transport checks earmarked for specific churches over
to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Either option would be
good.
WORKERS: We are overwhelmed by the response to our
cries for help. We have groups scheduled to come in
over the next two weeks that would blow your mind.
There is a group of 60-70 coming from the Memorial
Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City tomorrow night,
plus a group of 30 from Nashville Saturday morning,
plus a group of 15-20 from Huntsville this weekend to
run us out of our auditorium and give us a break in
there for the weekend. Groups from Ohio, Arkansas,
Florida, and Illinois are on their way as well, and
that’s just this weekend! I’m not in front of my “war”
chalkboard right now, so I know I am missing some. We
have met the most wonderful people in the world this
week – people from Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, and
Alabama. It is simply overwhelming.
We are willing to farm workers out to our sister
churches and our community when we can, and we know of
around 130 workers or so that will spend the night
here Saturday night. We’ll be getting to know each
other really well! Plus, we can’t wait for the sound
of our worship service on the front lawn this Sunday
at 9:30am. Last week, we met on the highway with power
trucks rolling by and helicopters passing overhead,
watching us praise God together. I know this Sunday
will be awesome. I’ll try not to cry through my entire
sermon this week, I promise…
SUPPLIES: The supply trucks have been overwhelming. We
are so thankful. We are going to get out of the
clothing business, however, and we have had a surplus
of water for a while now. The Ocean Springs churches
have a distribution center set up downtown, and we
will be taking all the clothing donations there. They
are simply becoming a hindrance for our efforts to
serve others. That should help a lot. I’ve heard it
said that canned goods are our greatest need at
present. Our community is hungry, and canned goods go
the fastest. We have chosen to continue to serve our
hungry neighbors instead of shifting that
responsibility to someone else. Our church building
location is so obvious to those looking for help, and
we are meeting 100s of people every day. Talk about
opportunities!
THANK-YOUS: I can’t start naming names. It would be
impossible. I want to tell lots of stories, but I
would leave people out. It all began when a ministry
from South Florida showed up a week ago Tuesday at
noon, just hours after the storm had passed. Their
trucks were loaded before the storm had even passed,
and they hit the road looking for people to serve.
That was a fitting beginning. It has not stopped yet.
Thank you to everyone, for everything.
APOLOGIES: I am sure we have screwed up in 1000s of
ways. Some I have noticed. Most I have not. We are too
stressed and overwhelmed, and there is too much work
in our faces to deal with right now. Please forgive us
for anything mishandled so far, and please be prepared
to forgive us in advance for the ways we’ll fail in
the future. This is the most overwhelming thing I have
ever faced in my life. I have never been in a real war
zone, but this has to be similar. We have gone
non-stop every day, and we’ve not had time to find the
manual for how to deal with all this – so please
forgive me personally, and our congregation if we’ve
offended or insulted anyone. I can say without a doubt
– from a first-hand perspective – that we are worn out
from doing our best. As Luther once said, “Here I
stand. I can do no other.”
TODAY: We almost had a chance to catch our breath
today. Not really, but a little bit. I’ve been
sleeping in the floor in my office, and last night a
group from Nashville arrived just as I had lain down
to sleep. It was my earliest night in bed yet
(11:30pm) when they knocked on the door. These
wonderful brothers from the Harpeth Hills Church of
Christ, seven in all, are amazing people, however.
They worked the chainsaws today in Gulfport. We were
sad to see Dan, our new friend from Pensacola, move on
today. His motorcycle ran out of gas in Gautier a week
ago after dark in an attempt to get to Gulfport and
help people with his church (not a Church of Christ).
One of our members picked him up, and he was a little
scared. He has worked his tail off with us non-stop
ever since. What a wonderful person he is. He has had
Bible studies with some of our guys, and we have made
a new friend. He left today to go further in to the
devastation. He left his laundry, so he’ll have to
stop back by! The “Hammer Heads” from Mayfair Church
of Christ in Huntsville, Alabama, left today, too, but
not before putting the roof on our very tall building.
They were finished, as usual, quicker than anyone
expected, and asked if they could fix our awning and
youth house roof as well. So they did. Quickly. The
two awesome ladies from Robertsdale, Alabama, once
again dove in to work in our supply business –
tirelessly. Our friend from the Scenic Hills Church in
Pensacola is still here! He has stayed on by himself
and just busted it every single day. Oh yeah, a neat
moment happened today when a guy showed up from Mobile
with his pop-up hunting camper for use by anyone who
could use it. His wife took great pains in stocking it
with everything a family of four would need, including
teddy bears and a wonderfully sweet note. People are
so good. We had a great supper tonight. Thanks to
having to cook everything back when the power was out,
followed by the generosity of our brothers and
sisters, we have eaten well. My motto has become,
“Only the best for our homeless people!!!” Things have
settled down now. It is approaching 10:30pm. The
Nashville 7 are the only ones with us tonight, though
we’re expecting a group of 12 from Ohio to possibly
roll in tonight. Herman & Samantha Bosarge, and Gene
Logan and myself are sleeping at the building again to
let them in if they show up late.
TOMORROW: The Nashville 7 (Harpeth Hills) will make us
very happy at the crack of dawn when they load up all
the clothing mess we have up front and take it to the
distribution center downtown. They then plan to go
back to Gulfport and finish what they started today.
If the Ohio group arrives, there are two flooded
houses that we need to gut first. They will be in for
a nasty day. We’re also expecting groups in tomorrow
from Pensacola and Fairhope, Alabama. Two guys from
Russellville, Arkansas, are headed in tomorrow, too –
plus the 60-70 people from Oklahoma City on their way
in a charter bus along with a tractor-trailer full of
supplies and more!!! What a day!!!
NEEDS: We are doing awesome in terms of money,
workers, and supplies. But we’ve only just begun.
There is no single overwhelming need at present – just
more of the same.
Many people have offered places of refuge for our
folks here. To this point, we’ve had absolutely no one
interested in getting away. We are so thankful for the
offer, but our folks are rolling up their sleeves and
getting to work. Should we need to take you up on your
offer, we’ll let you know.
OUR 20 FAMILIES WHO HAVE LOST THEIR HOMES: *I took the last names out*
- Kathryn, with her husband, Al
- Bernice, a widow
- Cathy, and her teenage son, Patrick
- Shannon & Jessica
- Mike & Patti
- Herman & Samantha, with their sons, Gavin
(1st grade) and Chase (preschool)
- Tandy & Peggy
- Pike & Becky, and their son, Jarek (1st
grade)
- Ryan & Barb
- Todd & Robin, and their four children: Tyler
(teenager), Connor (3rd grade), Brynlee & Jaxon
(pre-school)
- Juan & Charlene, and their two children,
A.J (preschool) and brand new baby Sarah (2 weeks old)
- Mary Benton, plus her husband and pre-school
daughter, Mackenzie
- Dirk & Christine, and kindergarten son,
Mason
- James & Stephanie, and four teenagers
(Brittany, Matt, Joey, J.J.)
- Sam & Kelli, and pre-school daughter, Hannah
- Tracy & Shanna Havard, and three children: Freddy
(3rd grade), Tristen (1st grade), and Emily
(pre-school)
- Daniel & Ashley, and baby girl, Charley
- Eric & Amanda, and sons Travis (3rd grade)
and Gabriel (baby)
- Steve & Alia, and daughters, Jolee & Kira
(pre-school)
- Al & Jody Sturgeon, and daughters, Erica (teenager)
and Hillary (3rd grade)
OUR SISTER CONGREGATIONS: Many have asked for contact
information about our sister congregations. I’ve not
acquired numbers for all of them just yet – if you
have some, please let me know. As for now, here’s the
list:
- Long Beach (Cleveland Avenue): 228/223-9967
- Gulfport: 228/868-9267
- Pascagoula (Central): 228/324-0576
- Orange Grove: 228/861-0842
- Picayune & Bay St. Louis: 601/798-6437
- Vancleave: 228/219-0856
- Rodenberg (Biloxi):
- Division Street (Biloxi):
- Meridian Street (Moss Point):
- Eastside (Ocean Springs):
- Gautier:
OUR COMMUNITY: Ocean Springs, despite the coverage,
took hard hits from Katrina. Front Beach, East Beach,
and Belle Fountaine Beach all look like bomb
explosions. Lives have been lost, but there is no
official number that I know of. My entire area (1000
houses or so) was flooded. The city, however, is
coming back on-line a bit quicker than others. We have
power at the church.
I got to tell our newly-elected mayor that she was on
CNN after the storm. Her mother reported her as
missing, and I heard it on satellite radio. I went to
City Hall to tell her, which she found amusing. She
hoped her mother used a good picture.
The churches of Ocean Springs have secured a warehouse
to serve as a distribution center. We’re sending our
clothes there, and its available for use if we have
far too much delivered at once, but they only accept
donations from 8am – 5pm.
CONTACT INFORMATION: At the church building:
228/875-7811
MISCELLANEOUS: Please feel free to post any of this in
places/blogs that you think appropriate.
Please feel free to forward to everyone in your
address book that might be interested. The address for
your contacts to subscribe is:
OceanSpringsChurchofChristHurricane-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Thank you for your prayers and help.
We’ll be in touch every day.
Yours to count on,
Al
No comments:
Post a Comment