NE AL Hurricane Relief Update

Monday, 10/17/05

Another team from Ft. Payne returned from Biloxi, MS safely last night, I believe this team (from Wills Valley Community Church) has been to Biloxi every weekend since we started. Thank you Lord! Their consistency has really helped establish relationships in the community: They have been working from a bus or trucks with trailers driving through the neighborhoods giving out supplies, learning first hand peoples’ ever-changing needs and directing those they meet toward Christ.

For a few weeks now we have been looking for a church that survived the storm to work with on the Point in E. Biloxi. We’ve found a church, E. Howard Baptist Church, and last week, Sat-Wed, a team of abaout 50 folks mostly from the Huntsville area divided their time between the church and homes in the community. An engineer was with the team. After the first major cleaning of the church, he met with the city’s building inspector, and we received the all clear, from a structural perspective, to proceed with permitting to rebuild the church. There are great pictures on a website, www.iscout.us/biloxi <http://www.iscout.us/biloxi> , that will show the church and the community.

This church had 12 feet of water in the building, and when that water drained out it took everything with it, leaving all the drywall, ceiling tiles, etc. soaked in salt water. So everything that would absorb water was removed up to the 12-foot mark. Mold is a big issue, but now air can circulate. We hope all the mold will soon be killed. So check out the website listed above. It has a link to E. Howard’s website.

Now what?

The East Howard Baptist Church folks are creating a list of items needed for the church and the community sort of like a wedding registry. This way, as needs are identified, they will be listed on their website (http:23990.lifewaylink.com), and as they are filled, it will be noted on the website. So please watch for that list to know what is needed.

We hope to continue sending teams down to Biloxi. To date, we’ve partnered with churches from northeast AL, Huntsville, Iowa, Clemson SC, Mobile AL, and all through Mississippi.

The families who lost everything are beginning to receive travel trailers from FEMA. The trailers are new and nice, and FEMA hooks up the sewer, water and electric for them. However, these travel trailers do not have any of thee necessary items to allow someone to live in them. For example, there are no bed linens, dishes, small appliances, silverware, food, etc. So we are working on putting together house-warming packages for these families. We envision meeting the families and using a checklist to inventory what they do and do not have, then helping fill in the gaps.

We are also hoping to help East Howard rebuild. They had no flood or wind insurance and have been denied any compensation from their insurance company. So this will be done by God’s people through God’s people.

Lastly, we learned that East Howard had had their 100th birthday in Sept. Because of the hurricane there was no celebration, so we are planning a big 100th birthday party on Thanksgiving day. Logistically this will be difficult. More details to follow.

There is much to be done. This is definitely a God sized project. Our God is certainly up to the challenge, but for reasons only He knows, He chooses to let us represent Him. So let’s continue to represent Him well.