Jill and I were blessed to see this passage in action at our church, Lake Arlington Baptist, during the Hurricane Ike evacuation. We housed 96 evacuees from Beaumont, TX for 8 nights in our Lifestyle Center at the church. Since my job is my studies (while Jill brings home the bacon) I had the opportunity to be a Cite Manager and help oversee this ministry. Of course, Jill couldn't pass up the chance to serve and came multiple times after she clocked out at Habitat. The process was tiring, at times trying, but my oh my it was a blessing.
The way our church responded reminded me of the hearts at Wallace Memorial Baptist Church. Red Cross called us a five-star shelter in response to our facility and volunteer response; just another reason why Volunteers are better than Longhorns. More than meeting the bare necessities of food (which was scrumptious) and shelter, our residents had a basketball court (which held a bounce house for kids), flat screen TVs with football games (2 Cowboy victories), daily organized rec. activities, BINGO (which was a hit!), and etc.
I'll never forget the Wednesday night and Sunday morning worship services. About a dozen of the residents decided to join us. Tears were shed due to their struggles, but they praised God nonetheless. What a witness! I believe we were blessed more than they were.
Check out this link to see a segment broadcast on the local news. If you look carefully, you will see a very handsome man talking to some evacuees as they were being processed into the building.
http://cbs11tv.com/video/?id=32500@ktvt.dayport.com
One of my professors at the start of the semester said that it would be a sin for some of us to get an 'A' in the course. He said this to cause us to question the order of our priorities. His comment rang in my ears as I committed to give up 40+ hours and somewhat neglect my studies. Whether I get an 'A' in his class is still to be determined, but I would certainly have been ashamed had I passed up the opportunity to feed, house, clothe, and love my Lord.
