We need a miracle!

I don't have any photos this evening. They will be coming in the next few days.

Today was one of those "God" days! The Bible says that nothing is too big for God.

We need a miracle! And we need you! EVERYONE must do their part in this! Lives depend on it!

Allow me to introduce Mike and Faye to you. Mike is 47 years old. He has complete kidney failure and is on dialysis. He also just found out 3 weeks ago he has congestive heart failure. He has already had stents put in awhile back. He is also sufferring from depression. He wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares that he is fighting for his life. They aren't nightmares -- they are reality. He is completely disabled and cannot do anything physical at all. He cannot provide for his family. He feels as though he is a failure.

Faye is 48 years old. She is legally blind and unable to work. She is on medication for depression. 3 weeks ago Mike's doctors told her that Mike is alot sicker than they have let on to him.

Mike and Faye called The Refuge asking for some kind of help. That was yesterday. The secretary taking the information marked "Emergency Help Needed" on the paperwork. We called them this afternoon and went to see their situation. They need a miracle!

Their house was severely damaged by the storm. They applied for a FEMA trailer but never received one, no one knows why not. The roof is coming off, water leaks inside everytime it rains. The ceiling in the bedroom has completely fallen in. The floors in the kitchen are in danger of falling through. The ceiling and walls in the family room pour in water each time it rains. Their electricity is so compromised that they cannot keep anything perishable in their refrigerator for more than 2 days. They can only burn one lamp at a time for lighting. There is no insulation in the ceiling or walls therefore any hint of air conditioning is lost.

They put their faith in a contractor who came by and told them he would repair their roof and add a room to the side of the house. He didn't fix the roof. He did start the addition of the room --- with used lumber he found along the roads that had been thrown to the trash. He didn't build up the room off of the ground, he layed it directly on the ground. He tied it into the demolished roof with trusses that are not legal. When the city saw the construction they came by to inspect. They shut him down. What he was doing was incorrect and he had not even applied for a building permit -- as he had told Mike and Faye he would do. And the worst part --- he took of with what money they received after the storm.

They are now not only living in the house with the lack of electricity, ceilings caved in, floors falling in, no insulation and the start of an addition that cannot be saved. We need a miracle! You thought I was kidding??

The first thing we did was reassure them we would do what we could do. We gathered in a circle and Monty prayed while the rest of us were in tears! We encouraged them to pray, pray and then pray some more. Pray that the doors will be opened to us as to what to do to help them. Pray that the means will be made available to us. Pray that help will come. Pray that wisdom will come to be able to make the proper decisions. Pray that God will bring them strength and comfort and support. Pray that the miracle will come!

We did call Project Recovery immediately. I have told you about them before. They are a government sponsored organization with trained counselors to help people just like Mike and Faye. They immediately took on the task. They will tap each and every resource they have to try and get something done to help this couple.

Monty and I fear that even if we did go in and gut the house, what little would be left standing is not structurally sound. And nothing can be done until this couple has a safe, dry and liveable home to live in! That has to be the first thing!!

Like I said, we need a miracle, we need you! If there is ANYTHING you can do, any suggestions, any connections, any anything!!!! please comment at the end of this blog entry! The most important thing you can do is join us in prayer! The Bible also tells us that "with God nothing is impossible" and we are standing on that promise! Please stand with us, please stand with Mike and Faye. Let's all stand together and let's move mountains in that stand!

Thank you once again for coming along with us on this mission and sharing your heart with ours. This is a tough job sometimes. I only wish YOU could have been in that home with us, that YOU could have seen their faces, seen their tears, their fears, their desperation, their hopelessness and their loss! Then YOU would know. Then YOU would feel. Then I know YOU would help!

May God speak to each and every one of you. Please listen for the "still, small voice" and then please follow that voice!

God bless Mike and Faye and God bless you!

Until tomorrow.....Susan and Monty