As I discussed our upcoming trip with our friend Ken Brumley he put it so well. He said that we have seen so many pictures of the devastation and destruction. But this ministry would be different in that it would help bring the families hope of new beginnings. A photograph that said, "Here is our most prized possession-our family. We may have lost everything but we still have each other". And I heard those very words over and over again.
I think my favorite part of our week was when we handed the families their pictures and they replied, "What do I owe you?" or "But I don't have anything to give you." The richness of that moment, knowing that God provided a way to make this possible, would just well up inside of me.
We brought some things home with us too. The stories. Hearing the stories of each family and how they survived the tornado. Or how someone in their family did not survive. Hearing them say, "I know that God protected our family, because if we had not of gone here, or been there, or been on time here, we would have been killed."
Seeing the volunteers. Hundreds of them. They may be standing in the street holding a stop sign, or there would be a group of them working at what was left of a home and they had no idea who the owner was. It was really hard to tell sometimes if they had made any progress, or if they would ever finish.
The volunteers in all the churches working, sorting, directing traffic, being personal shoppers for families. We enjoyed talking to a youth group of 25 youth from a cowboy church in Commerce, Texas who were there volunteering wherever they were needed. We visited with them as they were eating their picnic lunch out of the back of their church van.
The many volunteer churches who had turned their buildings into hotels, cafes, medical clinics, drug stores, counseling centers, storehouses for food, water, Gatorade. And all of these services of course were free of charge.
Then there was the team of people from a church in Ft. Worth who had been on the corner of the parking lot of Forest Park Baptist church for 5 weeks cooking meals EVERY day so that people could eat. This group had arrived on the Thursday after the tornado. I talked to one 19 yr. old college student who had quit her job to come and cook meals every day in sweltering heat. She said she had not had a blow dyer on her hair or wore make-up for 5 weeks. They were also staying in a church. Talk about washing feet.....she truly had the heart of a servant.
As I came in our living room to sit down and write this, I had just had a shower and I said to Andy,"Isn't it nice to just come and relax in our home". I immediately felt guilty because I was reminded of all of those I had met who did not have a home anymore to do what my family and I were doing at this moment
Thank you friends and family for your prayers. Thank you for the frames, and the other donations that you contributed in support of this ministry. Thank you Graceworks and Green Acres Missions Ministry. And thank you to our God. Seeds of His love were planted and I know He will finish His work.
We finish with this scripture that the Lord gave Andy this morning, and it really sums it all up:
" May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
Blessings and Love,
Andy, Gina and Gracey
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