Inspire, Spring 2006

20 Spring 2006 C hristians across America have rallied together in a volunteer effort of gigantic proportion. Cedarville University is honored to be part of the thousands of people who are making a difference in the lives of those hit by the disaster that was named Katrina. My husband, John ’67, and I traveled with a team of Cedarville students to Gretna, Louisiana over Christmas Break. All of us were changed forever. We returned with stories that motivate believing hearts to step up and imprint the love of Christ on the lives of victims who grope for meaning out of disaster. The impact of a single life in a single week was driven home to us in an overwhelming way. Tragedy has a way of doing that. We were bound inextricably to the hearts of those we had gone to help — people we did not know and likely would never meet again. Each of us quickly discovered the difference God had called us to make in this devastated place. We arrived not knowing where to begin in a seemingly endless reclamation endeavor and soon uncovered the purpose God had in mind for us all along. When we pulled out of our driveway, bound for Louisiana at 3 a.m., we were giddy with excitement. Perhaps we were to become “hurricane heroes”! For the next week, we knew we would be committed to bringing emergency relief to thousands of displaced people. However, our actual mission took us all by surprise. God had worked behind the scenes to orchestrate a far more beautiful story than we could have dreamed. Our tools that week were crowbars, chisels, hammers, axes, shovels, and wheelbarrows. Fashion sense flew out the window as we suited up each day in white Tyvek® suits, gloves, boots, goggles, and respirator masks. We were joined in work by a Prepared to Share b y R u t h H u s s e y H e s s ’ 6 7 63-year-old gentleman from Chicago named Frank. We simply called him “the new guy” as we drew him into our circle of friends and entered the world of mold, mud, and mayhem. Imagine with me your own home after a storm surge and the ensuing floodwaters. Consider the effect of 13 feet of water entirely covering the first floor and going into the second floor bedrooms. Every piece of furniture and decor had been submerged in water for many days. By the time we arrived, almost three months had passed since the water subsided, yet the mark it left was devastating. Every floor bore six to 12 inches of mud and sewage. Mold was alive and growing up walls, across ceilings, and in furniture. The unspoken became real on that first day when “the new guy” proclaimed it “hopeless.” Frank verbalized, with his voice of experience, that gutting such a large home was indeed a hopeless job. There were just 10 of us, and six were women not accustomed to such exhausting work. We were David up against Goliath. But we knew what Frank could not know. Frank was perplexed when we instinctively gathered in a circle, bound by trust in God, and prayed for His help. Not only did we pray for our effort, but we committed the Jennings family to God. This was their home. We wanted them to see Jesus through us, even if we never met them. As each day unfolded, new opportunities revealed themselves. We met the homeowner and presented him with a Bible signed with love from our hearts. Our prayers continued Taking a break in their clean-up efforts The more our team labored, the more they praised God in song and word. At the same time, “the new guy” was watching. We just didn’t know it.