I had the privilege of leading a team to Galveston, Texas, where we partnered with the EFCA Crisis Response ministry to work on homes that were damaged by Hurricane Ike.
Most of this team was in high school. Most of this team had never hung dry wall or roofing. Most of this team was on spring break. The entire team taught me to love God well by loving others.
Hurricane Ike hit Galveston Island in September 2008. Soon after this, the presidential election and the economy dominated the national news. Ike was no longer an issue in the public eye, and therefore, people seemed to forget about it. But when you lose your roof and have no money to replace the rotted walls of your home, it's hard to forget.
Meet Elmer and Leslie. They are a hard-working couple who owns a large boarding style home on the island. He's an undertaker, and she works at Home Depot. They lived on the first of three floors in their house and rented out the rooms above them. Then the hurricane hit. Now the carpet and walls are gone. The floor is bare wood, as are the sides. The kitchen is gone, and they live on the second floor using a microwave, bathroom sink and refrigerator. One day while Leslie was at work, she met Arnold. Arnold is serving with the EFCA as part of the long-term Crisis Response team. He was at Home Depot, as he is almost every day, to purchase supplies for the homes on which teams are working all over the island. He was frustrated and couldn't find something. Leslie asked if she could help. She did. She also learned for whom Arnold worked and what this Pennsylvania native was doing off the coast of Texas. She offered her home immediately to any groups looking for a place to stay. This is the home that could have been a work project itself. This is the home where two people are still living with nails in the floor boards and a leaky roof. This is a home that is full of life. And this is the home that was a gift to our group for the week.
Meet Lisa. Lisa lives across the street from where my team was roofing for the week. She approached me on Wednesday to ask what we were doing. The neon-green t-shirts we wore every day and teenagers climbing up and down a ladder as we ripped off, repaired and replaced a roof were a little out of place in this low-income coastal town of La Marque. I explained that we were serving through Galveston Bible Church to replace the roof of an elderly woman. She received insurance money but couldn't afford the repairs necessary to keep her house standing or from leaking. Lisa went on to tell me about her four children. She explained that they, too, were living under a blue, FEMA tarp hoping and praying to find some way to fix their home. The inspector said it needed an entirely new roof to repair the hurricane damage, and insurance gave them $4700. Estimate after estimate came back with a minimum of $6000. $1300 stood in the way of their roof being repaired - not to mentioned the damaged dry wall, ceiling and other problems caused by the leaky roof over the past 6 months since the hurricane hit. In my world $1300 is a lot of money, but it's not a deal breaker for something like a roof. Most of the people with whom I interact on a daily basis could save up and make it happen. But Lisa, a hard-working mom, was just barely making ends meat. She filled out an application, and we put her on the list to be considered for home repair projects.
Sarah, Shelby, Arnold, Julie and Ben are holding down the fort on the Island. They each committed to serve for several months, coordinating groups who come in for a day or a week at a time. They cook, lift houses, answer questions, assign teams and facilitate those who are wanting to love people in Galveston by meeting needs.
Galveston is broken. The walls are torn out, the roofs are leaking, houses are crooked. Lives were torn apart when the hurricane came. Hope was lost. Spirits were destroyed. Heads hanging low and closed businesses seemed to be common. But one house at a time, hope is returning. Those in desperate need are excited about helping others. Laughter is coming back. Hospitality is returning. God's love is healing.
If you have the resources, spend a few days in Galveston. And if not, take some time to let God love you and lead you to serve elsewhere. God blesses people. But those blessings are not meant to remain in our possession. They are on loan, and we are to share them with those in need.
I love my job. I love these people.
