Disaster Relief In Louisiana

I first became aware of disaster relief shortly after we moved to Minnesota. We became aware that Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists had several teams, but the most visible one was the feeding unit. This unit was a mobile kitchen that could be used to prepare the food that would be handed out by the Red Cross during a major disaster.
The team who manned the feeding unit were activated during the flooding at Rushford. The kitchen was set up in Winona and then various groups distributed the food to those impacted by the flooding. The team also flew to New York City and helped feed the responders at Ground Zero after 9-11.
I was attracted to the idea of serving on a disaster relief team, but I didn't have enough vacation time saved up to be able to take the time to go. So for years I never took the first step of taking the basic training that would prepare me to serve. But then I had no excuses when our disaster relief leader offered to do the basic training in the church that I served as pastor. So I took that class and filled out all the paperwork and received the recommendations that laid the groundwork for me to serve in disaster relief.
When the flooding hit Louisiana last year, it caught my attention. It was hard to imagine the amount of rain they received in a short time - 2 feet of rain in 2 days! The papers said it was a 1,000 year rainstorm! I followed the news over the coming weeks. Then the announcement came that Minnesota-Wisconsin might get called to go and help the victims.
I contacted our disaster relief leader and discovered that I could go and receive the rest of the training that I needed at the site. I had plenty of vacation time saved up, so I was fresh out of excuses! I checked with my boss at work and she gave me the green light to go. The next week I was driving my little Subaru to Louisiana!
I would be working on the shower and laundry unit, and the other two team members were waiting to train me on that work at the church where we stayed. My work was different than a lot of disaster relief jobs because I was not serving those who were flooded, I was serving the ones who were serving those who were flooded! In other words, I was support for the ones doing the dirty work. And it was dirty work! It is difficult to imagine what it would be like to dig mud out of someone's house, tear the drywall out, and then spray the studs to prevent any black mold from growing. These men and women came in filthy every night!
My team had several jobs. We cleaned the showers in the morning as soon as everyone left for work. We cleaned the bathrooms in the church. We swept the floors in the dining area and the hallways of the church. We helped the kitchen crew as needed when they were preparing the food for the relief workers. And we did laundry.
I never realized how much our work meant to those working to help the flood victims until I heard the stories of some who had been involved in the early days of disaster relief work. There were no mobile shower units at that time. So people got as clean as they could in the bathroom sink and slept in the gunk they had worked in all day. They had no mobile laundry units, so they wore those same clothes multiple days as they cleaned mud out of the homes. Those folks appreciated the work my team was doing!
While I was not directly involved in the relief efforts, I did get a chance to drive around and see the damage. We drove through one neighborhood where houses were still standing in 3-4 feet of water - a full month after the 1,000 year rain fell!
Every night the teams would tell stories of the work they had been involved in. I remember one couple who had recently retired. In order to reduce their expenses, and since their house had never come close to flooding in thirty years, they canceled their flood insurance. Just a few months later came the 1,000 year rain. It is hard to imagine their pain in that situation.
As we gear up to start a new church along Highway 14 east of Rochester, God led me to focus our efforts in two areas - loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). Disaster relief is an area where we can love our neighbors as ourselves! With all the many options available in disaster relief, anyone can serve.
The men I met in Louisiana went on disaster trips nearly every year. Every time they heard of a disaster, they could not stay away! I know I will be going again...