Inspire, Winter 2005

Inspire 23 A Letter of Loving Care b y M e l a n i e R e b e r ’ 0 3 I n September 2005, I traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi to help with the hurricane relief effort. WOW, what a trip. God was continually faithful throughout the week I was there and showed Himself in awesome ways. The devastation we saw was truly shocking, but what impressed me the most were the people. From the residents to the volunteers to the military — everyone was just amazing. The spirit down there was definitely not one of defeat but of perseverance, unity, and thankfulness. I went down with Christ in Action ministries. The services we provided included serving three meals a day (serving more than 5,000!), goods distribution, housing repair (roofing mainly), chainsaw crews, ice and water distribution, and more. So needless to say, we were busy! But the people were thankful for every meal, every bag of ice, every smile, and every prayer. The most exciting thing for me was interacting with all the different people, especially the residents. Among other things, I got to go into the community to assess homes that needed help in cutting up fallen trees. Then, I went back with a chainsaw crew to actually do it! My favorite part was praying with residents when we were done and seeing the look of hope fill their faces where it had been either faint or fleeting. My favorite God story was when, as we were driving around, He directed us to the house of a single mom and her youngest daughter. We pulled up just as the mom was about to reach her breaking point because she had a huge tree down on a fence in her backyard. Unfortunately, not everyone is so kind in these situations, and her neighbor was giving her a hard time about the tree, and someone else was going to charge her $3,000 to cut it up and take it away! Relief and joy flooded her face as we offered to cut up her tree for FREE in the next couple of days. As it turned out, she is a nurse and single mother of three girls. She and her youngest daughter had just moved into the house three weeks before the storm hit. They decided to wait out the storm in the house. They watched the waters rise and realized they had no way of escape because their upstairs windows had been bolted shut from the outside, and they had a galvanized roof. I can only imagine watching the waters rise and waiting for the moment when you would have to jump into it. Thankfully the waters didn’t get to that point, and they were saved. We prayed with them and left, but I will never forget them. One special gift I got down there was meeting the President of the United States! That’s right! I was cleaning out some rotten food, and there he was! So I quickly took off my nasty gloves, and I not only got a handshake, but a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He signed my ID, and I got pictures as well. God is so awesome in the way He blesses! I know there is a lot going around out there via the media, but please know that the church as a whole is at work down there meeting the needs physically and spiritually. Church-based distribution centers are doing so much down there and receiving little or no acknowledgement from the media. Still God is, was, and will be faithful. Please keep these people in your prayers and all of the people who are down there helping. Pray for strength, hope, and joy in our Savior. Melanie resides in Reading, Pennsylvania and can be reached at melpa44@yahoo.com . Melanie displays her card autographed by President Bush.