Mike S
Member
- Mar 10, 2011
- 10,313
- 1,075
When natural disasters occur, many of us volunteer through private organizations to help rebuild the areas. My church, a United Methodist Church, has sponsored many such missions, through our United Methodist Volunteers in Mission program. Of the mission teams I've volunteered with, two remind me most of the importance of helping each other this way.
After Hurricaine Katrina, my wife and I twice went to Biloxi, MS to rebuild homes. I found that it was every bit as important for us to simply be with the folks who've lost everything, holding their hands, praying with them, and listening to their stories, as it is to actually rebuild the homes. We worked with an anbsoutely ancient black man and his wife, who wanted to sit and talk...and sit and talk. They just wanted to know they weren't alone, that God hadn't abandoned them.
The other was a mission to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to clean up and rebuild after a flood. There was a poignancy to this mission because the day the flood started my wife and I were in Cedar Rapids for her uncle's funeral. We'd visited many times over the yearsas her family were early settlers of the city and had extensive family and connections. As we were leaving the city, the rain wa sbecoming torrential and we felt lucky to be able to get a plane back home. On the way to the airport we passed a small Methodist church near the river and I thought how I'd like to return someday to worship with that congregation. A week later I was back in Cedar Rapids with a mission team cleaning and reclaiming that very church.
After Hurricaine Katrina, my wife and I twice went to Biloxi, MS to rebuild homes. I found that it was every bit as important for us to simply be with the folks who've lost everything, holding their hands, praying with them, and listening to their stories, as it is to actually rebuild the homes. We worked with an anbsoutely ancient black man and his wife, who wanted to sit and talk...and sit and talk. They just wanted to know they weren't alone, that God hadn't abandoned them.
The other was a mission to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to clean up and rebuild after a flood. There was a poignancy to this mission because the day the flood started my wife and I were in Cedar Rapids for her uncle's funeral. We'd visited many times over the yearsas her family were early settlers of the city and had extensive family and connections. As we were leaving the city, the rain wa sbecoming torrential and we felt lucky to be able to get a plane back home. On the way to the airport we passed a small Methodist church near the river and I thought how I'd like to return someday to worship with that congregation. A week later I was back in Cedar Rapids with a mission team cleaning and reclaiming that very church.
