Sorry for the non entry yesterday but it was one of those days where I just couldn't get enough hours in the day! Today is nearly the same!
Yesterday I finished my 2 days of case management training and my brain was on overload. Even though I have worked in this area for what seems like forever, there was still information that I needed. Thanks to UMCOR, the Methodist disaster relief for their educational programs. The church was packed with people and all left with a feeling that they just might know what they are doing!? It was a great opportunity to meet and get to know all who are involved. We had folks from all over the state, not just this county.
We also have some numbers of people affected. For the state of Indiana FEMA has nearly 15,000 families who have filed for assistance. Right here in Bartholomew we are approaching te 2,000 mark. And there are still those who have not filed. The deadline is August 11 and they will be filing right up to that date, and beyond!
We now have our team housing location secured! A Methodist church down the road will be housing our teams. Bless them for not only agreeing to house them but they are creating showers for them. It's a rather small church but their enthusiasm for this would pack the largest church! I think each and every team will be spoiled rotten by them! They are already talking about ice cream socials and I hope to make each one! Nothing like good ole' home-made ice cream with all the fixins!
And with the announcement of a place for team housing comes the teams calling. They have actually been calling for weeks and now I can tell them we are ready to schedule. Maryland will be the first, arriving this weekend! They have even agreed to help the housing church finish the showers if need be!! For all of you who might be thinking of sending a team, now is the time to get scheduled! We will have a maximum of 12 people per team and prefer no one under the age of 16 years old. The max is due to the housing space. PLEASE let me know asap if you would like to come and experience what it's like to be the hands and feet of Jesus and experience true miracles in more ways than you can imagine! Just ask someone who has done a disaster mission trip!
As you can see in the photos the Hope Outreach is going gang-busters! A steady stream of people coming in empty handed and leaving with boxes being loaded into their vehicles! They file into the church, walking around and through the extension cords running down the halls, past the construction workers who are still stripping tile from the floors and stopping at the end for prayer. So many have told us how much they appreciate the prayers. One said she had been to quite a few places and this was the only one that stopped to pray for her! She was in tears, tears of joy!
At last nights Bible Study Pastor A brought in some of the names of those who have come through. He divided them among us and we all prayed for them, by name. It's those prayers that will rebuild lives, making them new and alive like never before. We want everyone to experience the new "normal" that is about to happen!
Tomorrow will be a day of "revamping" our outreach. The construction workers need access to the entry of the church so we will be making what used to be the youth area into the outreach. We will be reorganizing everything!!!!!! and creating one huge room where everyone can continue to come and receive both material blessings and spiritual! We just might find a few muscles that have been laying dormant also!?
Until next time . . . Susan and Monty
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