Last week, I had the privilege of serving with Samaritan’s Purse in Lake Charles, Louisiana as they recover from two hurricanes Laura and Delta. My team mostly worked on what we call “mud outs” which is pulling everything out of the house that has been damaged by water and mold. This could mean moving out furniture, knocking out drywall, pulling up flooring, ripping out ceilings, or all of the above leaving only the frame. Often, the house would just be barebones by the time we were done. That’s how detrimental these two storms were.
But in the midst of all the destruction, there was so much hope. One of our homeowners put it very well, saying, “I can look across the street and at my house and see a huge mess but all I have to do is look up at the trees and hear the birds singing and I know that God is good.” And that just about brought me to tears. I’ve experienced plenty of hurricanes living in Florida, but I’ve never had my home or really anything destroyed by one. And honestly, if ever did happen, I don’t know that I’d be able to say God is good. I would hope that I could, but I don’t know for sure.
That homeowner’s name was Mrs. Betty Jefferson – one of the most faith filled people I’ve come across. She had prayed for God to help her with this disaster and being an answer to that prayer was so sweet, real blessing. I got to listen to her story for a couple of hours and I believe she poured into us even more than we poured into her.
Another homeowner that I got to spend a lot with is man named Howard “Bud” Nash. I spent at least half the day with Mr. Bud and I loved it. He told me stories from his childhood, his time in the military, about raising his family. By the end of the day, we realized we had a lot in common and I got to present to Mr. Bud the bible that every homeowner receives when the job is done. It was a sweet moment that I’ll cherish forever.
The hardest part about this ministry was feeling like we were just adding to the destruction rather than helping. These people had already lost so much and we were coming in, ripping 40, 50, 60 years of memories out their houses, leaving just the barebones – “contractor ready”.
Then God reminded me of Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones. These bones were dry and lifeless but God covered them with flesh and breathed new life into them. All for the beautiful purpose of raising up an army that would bring the nation of Israel back into the Promise Land. And by giving these bones new life, God gave His people new life and restored their hope. I realized that by breaking these houses down to their barebones, we were making a way for new life to come in. Only instead of muscles and tendons these bones would be covered with insulation and dry wall. And it brought so much hope to these homeowners.
But it gave me so much too – perspective, wisdom, joy, and contracting experience;). Big thanks to Samaritan’s Purse for the opportunity to serve in Jesus’ name!
