What was I thinking? I almost did not go to New York (with the Bagley Swamp Wesleyan Church team to assist Hurricane Sandy victims). I was tired and felt kind of burnt out. I really just wanted a week to myself. Little did I know that it would be in New York that God would refresh and restore my soul.
A disaster relief trip can involve a lot of hard work, emotional and spiritual struggles, late nights, and denying self and loving others. However, serving in this way also brings great joy, a sense of hope, and personal growth for both disaster victims and volunteers.
On January 13, 2013, a group from Bagley Swamp Wesleyan Church in Hertford, North Carolina, had the opportunity to experience both the struggles and joys of serving as they rolled up their sleeves and put love into action in Coney Island, New York.
The Bagley Swamp team worked hard through January 18, accomplishing many tasks that week. We gutted out a church, hung and finished drywall in several houses, and simply loved people devastated by Sandy. We also decided to finish one particular home in order to get an elderly lady, Gabrielle, back into it. Gabrielle and her family moved from Haiti to Coney Island, New York, over 29 years ago in hopes of a better life. This past fall, Superstorm Sandy destroyed the entire downstairs of Gabrielle’s home. Our church team worked many hours finishing drywall, painting, laying new floors, hanging doors, and completing trim so that by the end of the week Gabrielle and her family could once again live in their home.
At the start, team members shed tears when Gabrielle and her family told the story of helplessly watching from upstairs as water swept in and destroyed their home. By the end of the week, all were shedding tears of joy as we celebrated what we had done with God’s help. The team experienced the struggle of serving, but chose to love and endure in order to share in their joy and hope.
Many with the Poured Out [Steve Adams] organization have been actively involved in disaster relief since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I have often been impressed how water, usually so peaceful, pure, and refreshing, can at times quickly destroy and kill. I still have questions about why some of these things happen. But I do know that I am called to respond: to love my neighbors, bring hope to the hopeless, feed the hungry, and protect the “least of these.” I also know that God loves these victims of disaster and calls us to be part of his answer to meet their need, not only for physical care, but to bring the hope, truth, and love of Jesus.
Are you willing to roll up your sleeves, open your heart, and come and learn? It won’t be the most relaxing trip of your life. It probably won’t be easy work and things won’t always go smoothly. What you see may give you a heavy heart, and force you to grow stronger emotionally and spiritually. But the need is still calling and God is calling. Thousands of Sandy victims are still living without heat. Thousands of homes sit with mold beginning from the flood waters and thousands of disaster victims need to know they have not been totally forgotten by God. We have the opportunity to do something about it, one church, one house, one family at a time. Come and serve, love, cry, work together, grow, learn, and live life as God’s people making a difference!
Linda Gregory is a cardiac critical care nurse and a team leader for Poured Out.