A Little Background:
My Squad has been in DeQuincy, LA for the past week. We had one travel day, an orientation day, and then three full days of ministry before we found out we were going to have to leave early due to an incoming hurricane.
The three days were absolutely amazing being able to see my team work together in a new way and to see the squad begin to form deeper unity while in a different environment. It was beautiful to be a part of and to witness as a leadership team. Because of all of this, we were devastated that we were being sent back to Georgia three days early.We mourned a little bit but still went on serving with all our heart the last day.
Then to our surprise, at dinner, we were informed that instead of going back to Georgia we were going to evacuate to a home in Dallas, TX willing to take us in for a few days and then return for a whole other week to serve with Samaritan’s Purse continuing disasters relief work! We were pumped!! Not only would we get to serve for a whole other week but we’d get to have some rest and free time with an amazing family in Dallas! What a joy!!
So yayay! That’s what has happened and the plan for what is to come. Now to two short stories from the past week:
My Friend Named Becky:
Becky was the first home my team was blessed with the opportunity to serve. She has been retired for many years and picked up the small side job of driving the school bus and cooking for her daughter’s daycare. She is a woman of joy and has her comfort in the Lord.
As I was talking to her, she mentioned having to pray at 11 for her son’s interview because he had been out of a job for many weeks due to the storm. Instantly, I told her we would gather everyone 15 minutes before his interview and all pray for him. And that’s what we did and it was so powerful! I just remember having feelings of something great is going to come from this. God is moving and working here.
Two hours later, Becky gets a call from her son and guess what?!? Her son was already offered the job! WHAT?!?! God can move that fast?? Heck ya He can!! It was so joyful! Everyone on the site started cheering for him and were overjoyed that this was some light in so much darkness for this family the past few weeks. Praise God he has a job now where he’ll be excited to go everyday and can continue to support his family.
Like Becky said, “Put your faith in your prayers and never stop praying because the Lord provides.”
A Night of Worship:
The evening we were told we only had one ministry day left instead of three the room was kind of somber and not many people knew what to do because of confusion. We ended up just sitting around beginning to talk, laugh, and share stories from what had happened the past few days.
Then a squamate came and asked for some prayer over his best friend and the situation he was in. Like always, our squad family came in close, laid hands, and prayed to the Father for peace, comfort, strength, and understanding over the situation. After the prayer, we slowly moved into some spontaneous worship (nothing planned, just a friend picked up a guitar and started playing what was on his heart). For the next hour, we praised God for what He has already done, what He’s working on doing, and what He has planned for the future.
Now this is pretty normal in our race lifestyle to have a spontaneous night of worship; however for a few of the other Samaritan’s Purse volunteers this was sort of new. They stood and watched in awe and eventually joined in worshipping with us. It was beautiful to see others joining us in something that makes our Father overjoyed and delighted in our worshipping voices praising Him.
The next morning, I had many of the other volunteers come up to me and express their thanksgiving for being able to join in worshipping with us. They saw hope in the next generation that God is still alive and there are young people who’s hearts are on fire for the Lord continuing to spread the Gospel. Their smiles and joy made our days and reminded us that what we are doing is worth it!
Now these are just two small stories from the short time in DeQuincy and there are many more to be shared and many more to come in the next week. I encourage you to look at the other blogs from my squad (here is the link to scroll down on and find all the Racers pictures- just click on them and start reading!), look at our different outlets of social media, or reach directly out to any one of us to hear our stories and what God is doing!
Here are a few pictures to enjoy from the week 🙂
Thank you for reading and all the prayers!
Lots of Love,
Paige :):)
