"Carry each other's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. Let's not get tired of doing good, because in time we will have a harvest if you don't give up." Galatians 6: 2, 9 CEB
Everyone has a story. At our devotions and reflections this evening at the end of our second day of work, we shared why each of us felt called to join this team and give up a week to come here and be in service to others. Some of us are veterans of other mission trips, while for others this is their first mission experience. For many of us, although this week is far from over, we are already feeling called to look ahead to Houston and Louisiana, still reeling from Hurricane Harvey's catastrophic flooding. Each of us came here for different reasons but all are united in spirit and purpose - to do all the good we can while we are here.
Likewise the people we are serving each have their own story. The elderly lady whose house we have been working on, locked her home last October and fled to safety ahead of the storm. Unfortunately after the flood waters receded, the water damage led to a bad case of black mold, which in turn resulted in the house being entirely gutted before any reconstruction work could begin. We learned today that the lady has been widowed for 20 years and has been struggling to care for her home since that time. She's currently living with her daughter in Richmond and we will not get an opportunity to meet her.
While this woman and her daughter work with UMCOR to repair her home so she can return, her neighbors for the most part have completely recovered. Her home still needs a lot of work and stands out in the neighborhood of similar homes that are already complete and once again whole. The neighbors in the house directly behind her's managed to keep the flood at bay by staying awake for over 19 hours, using a shop vacuum to suck up the water as it was running into their home and then dumping it back outside - an almost unfathomable achievement.
And yet, just 2 houses down and across the street, lies an empty cement slab sitting at the end of a concrete driveway, on a lovely well cared for corner lot. The lawn is being meticulously mowed and tended, the trees trimmed and mulched. But the home that once stood here was condemned and demolished. While the rest of the neighborhood looks completely normal and representative of suburbia anywhere in the U.S., this empty lot is a sad reminder of what happened here. For Norm and me, it brings back heartbreaking memories of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans after the levees broke after Hurricane Katrina. There, entire neighborhoods were razed after the disaster. We drove thru empty streets, seeing lots similar to this one, empty intersections surrounded by fields of grass, cement pilings and steps leading to nowhere where row after row of houses once stood, a sad testimony to the breadth and scope of the tragedy. While the physical extent of the damage here in Virginia Beach pales in comparison to New Orleans and Houston, the toll on the lives affected cannot be compared or measured.
And finally, 3 of our team worked for the first time at the 2nd site we have been assigned this week. The gentleman here is caring for his aging mother who is recovering from a stroke. They are living in their home, moving furniture from room to room to accommodate the volunteers coming in to repair and paint. In a brief conversation Pastor David had with the homeowner, it is apparent that the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew is hardly the worst thing this man has had to deal with over the last decade, it is only the most recent.
Everyone has a story and hardships to bear. But a joy shared is doubled and a grief shared is halved. We are blessed to be a blessing. How blessed and much better off are we all when we follow Christ's command to love one another and St. Paul's advice to carry each other's burdens.
No comments:
Post a Comment