God's Protection

Good Evening!

Thank you for your prayers.  On Tuesday before I left Grand Rapids I had asked for your prayers for our team as we came together, as we had our first meeting and that we would work well together.  It has only been three days but it seems like we have known each other forever and that we have worked well together for a long time. What a great group of people that God had planned to bring together.  Why am I surprised?

One of our team members was unable to join us as he had planned.  He fell from his deck last weekend, hit his head and needed stitches.  Please keep him in your prayers as he heals. 

In the last three days with walking the neighborhoods and with the people that have come into the walk in center we have made contact with around 500 households that were affected by the tornado.  We have completed surveys from about 5% of these families.

Please pray that we will have more families come into the walk in center tomorrow.  We know many of the people were working when we were in their neighborhoods the last few days.  We hope and pray that they feel comfortable with the process and come to share where they are currently with their home  and what needs to be completed. 

While in the neighborhoods it is hard to see how one house can be totally destroyed and a house a half a block away was not affected at all.  To see how the tornado shifted and the winds around it changed peoples lives significantly.  When we look at the damage we are so thankful that the community did not have any deaths as a result of the tornado.

It has been so great to hear about how neighbors who have basements called or went to get their neighbors who did not have basements to bring them to their homes so they could be safe.  Neighbors helping neighbors.

As I thought of how different people have shared their experience of the tornado I thought of Deuteronomy 31"6 and how God assures us that He will not leave us or forsake us.  So this evening I read how Moses was preparing the Israelites because he was in his last days.  He wanted to encourage them that the Lord would be with them.  That He (the Lord) had chosen them and would protect them.  The Lord said he will destroy the people that are living in the land that they are to live.  Moses said, "Be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid of them!  The Lord your God will go ahead of you.  He will neither fail you nor forsake you."

I have asked people if they saw the tornado and they said no, that it was dark.  They said they could feel it but not see it.  I am thankful that God was with the people and that He protected them from seeing what was coming.

Another person shared that God was with her and protected her.  She said she was reciting Psalm 91. What an amazing testimony!  In the NLT the Theme for Psalm 91 is: "God's protection in the midst of danger.  God doesn't promise a world free from danger, but he does promise his help whenever we face danger."  If you have a chance read Psalm 91.  What an amazing Psalm!

Thank you for your continued prayers for the people in Coal City and for our team.

Needs Assessment, Coal City, IL - Make Time for the Lord

Good Afternoon!

I was reading Luke 6: 12 - 16 today.  "One day soon afterward Jesus went to the mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night."  He was praying because he was making a big decision about who the twelve disciples be.

I know often I get busy and do not "make time" for the Lord.  I think there are more important things on my to do list that need to be accomplished.  In times like today when I am going out to work for the Lord I find that I tend to "make time".  Maybe it is because I feel that He has called me and I really need his guidance and wisdom.  I need to be ready for His plan.

My hope is that I can once again learn from the Lord's example.  If He felt He needed to pray for His decisions, the Holy One, the all knowing.  How much more I need to remember to come to Him in prayer.

I am part of a team of eight volunteers to conduct the surveys in the community and in a walk-in center.  

Things to pray for:

That the families will open their doors as we walk the neighborhoods or that they come to walk in center so we can gather the information to share with the Long Term Recovery Group.

For the team that we will have eyes to see and ears to hear as the families share their experience and verbalize their feelings.  Help us to understand their needs and report it as they see it.

For the team that we will work together,that we will encourage each other and be able understand what the Long Term Recovery Group needs us to accomplish to help them assist the families.

For safe travel as we drive to Coal City today.

For our first meeting as a team tonight.

In case you are not familiar what a Needs Assessment is here is the description from the World Renew web page:

Needs Assessment

World Renew DRS volunteers conduct community wide surveys to identify the disaster related needs (construction, household, emotional and financial needs) of vulnerable residents who might otherwise fall through the cracks. This information is provided to the long term recovery group (LTRG). Case managers use this information to make sure those most in need get the assistance they require and qualify for.

So if you have read my blog before and know that I have volunteered for Reconstruction and that is not your area of giftedness.  You may want to consider Needs Assessment?  

Please check out the World Renew link on the top right corner of my blog if you have any interest in volunteering or financially supporting World Renew.

Thank you for your prayers!

Finishing Well....

Wow, it is hard to believe it is September 18th already.  Sorry it has taken me so long to finish this post of our last two days in New Jersey.  We were busy and did not have much free time as we were completing work on the two homes, a final meeting on Thursday night and clean up for the new team on Friday.

My devotional was from Anne Graham Lotz book "Fixing My Eyes on Jesus", for August 1st.  The title is "All to Jesus".  Her scripture is from Malachi 3:10, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 'Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'

What Anne asked later in her devotional is this, "What is it you have to offer? A little bit of your time? A little bit of your love? A little bit of your money? A little bit of your faith? Don't concentrate on what you don't have.  Concentrate on what you do have.  Give it all to Jesus.  He will make it enough.'

So many times when I have read this passage I have thought about the money aspect of the tithe but what a better interpretation Anne has given me. 

In coming to New Jersey, to serve with World Renew, our team and our families have been giving of what we can offer through our talents and our time.  We have been sharing our love with the families we are serving and by encouraging our team members.  We have been giving of our money and sharing a bit of our faith to those God has placed in our path.  We are not concentrating on what we don't have because we see as we serve the families we have been so blessed.  God has opened the floodgates for us. He has made it more than enough.

My prayer is that in the places that God sends you that you recognize how much He has opened the floodgates for you.  That He is blessing you each day...He has given you enough!

Lorna was an amazing helper.  She is helping to clean up our mess.  Remember I talked about finishing well and that the home needed to pass an inspection we thought was completed.  See the insulation hanging.  We had to open up the insulation so the building inspector could make sure the studs were in compliance.  All part of finishing well.

Paul, our team leader was such a great teacher.  He helped me learn how to take out and install this folding staircase.  We couldn't finish off the cutting of the last section because we did not know what type of flooring they were going to put down.  This set will be much safer than what was there before.

Part of finishing well is to clean up the mess we have made and with installing insulation I have found we can really make a mess. 

We were hoping that the dumpster would come before we were finished but it was not meant to be but at least we left the mess in one place, close to the door for the next team to put in the dumpster.

Securing the home so the air flow will go above the trays we put inside to the attack and so furry friends won't enter the house.

Lorna is sealing the T-111 with paint to keep the house dry and secure.

Jenn is securing more T-111 to give the house a final finish.

Installing the last piece of T-111 before we had to clean up and pack up our supplies.

Thanks to our fearless leader, Paul the three of us were caught in action while we were working.  Sorry you only got to see Paul working a few times during the two weeks.  He kept us so busy we didn't get many pictures of him.

Thanks for taking this journey to serve with World Renew Disaster Response Service with us.  Hope you can join me sometime????