Hey...
I'm baaaaaack!
I just arrived from Ramona CA where I along with 9 others from here and Puget Sound served as a disaster relief recovery team.
It was hard work, to be sure, but very very gratifying.
We served on the La Jolla and Rincon Indian "Rez" where we cleared 15 burned out sites along with one house that had been decimated by a flash flood.
What was amazing to me was the peace that these resilient people exhuded from their very pores!
They are very spiritual....and some even have a saving knowledge of God and His Son, Jesus.
We had wonderful conversations with the people...we talked about their heritage, their beliefs, about Jesus, about their lives.....it was wonderful.
I tried to get a little momento from each work site to remind me to pray for these folks even after I get home.
I got Red Oak pods from Chuck and Patsy's place to remind me of their beautiful oak tree that survived the fire; I plan on placing these in my yard to remind me of new life.
I hiked down into this canyon below the trailer park that we cleared where I gathered rocks for the team to take home as reminders of our trip.
The rose quartz rocks were everywhere...they absolutely sparkled in the sun....they will remind me of the sparkle in the eyes of those we served; Fred, Chuck, Patsy, Glenda, Chase, Mitzi and her family, the unnamed.
Bruce picked up a stump from a burned Oak tree; he is going to cut it up and make plaques for each of our team as a reminder of the healing hand of God over difficult circumstances and how He can take a tragedy and use it for good.
Everytime I go to a disaster situation I wonder what God will show me...
I think, for me, it was just that they need workers...people who will show up, under the age of 60, and work their very hardest until the work is done.
I love the like-mindedness of the group: we are here to work...period!
There is no glory...just sweat...and sometimes tears.....
Pretty simple....and this is my lesson: ministry doesn't have to be grand to be good, it doesn't require an agenda...just obedience.
I think, too, that God used this time to show those around me that He is faithful.
Thank you, Father, for your strength to do the work and for your faifulness to this child, and thank you for my friends who stepped in to watch over my family while I was away.
My encouragement to you would be this:
GET INVOLVED!!!!!
Disaster Relief needs young people to serve and work hard and make a difference in a disaster.
75% of those involved are senior citizens!
They need workers.....with strong backs...and a strong resolve just to serve.
I think the disaster here in our own state is a great way to start!
Our team was already called out while we still in CA!!!!!
They need workers!!!!!!!
It's intense, but so worth it.
As a parting gift you'll receive some lovely yellow t-shirts and a yellow hat that nobody looks good in....tired muscles, sore backs, achy feet.
Remember the words of Jesus:
"Whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cool water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward."
Matthew 10:42
