Galveston Images

View some videos excerpts of ministry in Galveston. Pray for the week after Christmas. We have 70+ volunteers. May the Lord's will be done...the Gospel.

90 Days

90 Days. 3 months. A season. 2160 Hours. 12 weeks. It was the end of summer then. It's soon Christmas now (It even snowed on the Gulf Coast you know). Perceptions of time are interesting. Today is Ike Day 90. It was interesting reflecting last evening over dinner with new friends from Galveston, that I feel I have known for years. For Galvestonians, it seemed like the days of living by generator power went on and on. It was a month. It seemed like the days of waiting in long lines of check points to get into Galveston went on for a long time. Two weeks. Distribution Centers. 30 days. Eating MRE's. Had one last week.

Homelessness for 1000's of people. 90 days. Some still waiting to hear if they can even rebuild their homes. 90 days. Disruption of normalcy and life as it was. 90 days. Loss of jobs. 90 days. Dealing with piles of forms and long lines and hours on the phone with FEMA and insurance companies. 90 days. Trying to come to grips with loss and turmoil. 90 days. Struggling with fear. 90 days. Wondering what next. 90 days. Struggling marriages. 90 days. Worrying about paying the bills when jobs are gone. 90 days. Wondering, 'Why Has this happened to me?'. 90 days. A mission field ripe for the harvest. 90 days.

The hard part for most though, is the 90 days is really only the beginning. On a practical level, a fortunate few people had flood, winstorm, and home owners insurance, and some of them have even been able to get started with repairs. I have not found very many of them. Almost all of the people I have come in contact with have gotten little from the government, nothing from insurance and are trying to figure out what next with out any real resources. The truth is, this new 'normal', called disruption, does not have an end in sight for many.

The continuous and ongoing and uncertainty of when will things be 'OK' for people here, is wearing on people. This is all too familiar for me, as we are still working with families in New Orleans 3-1/4 years later who are still wondering the answer to this question.

A widow lady we are helping to rebuild her home named Mickey June told me today that last night she got a notice under her motel room door telling her she had to be out today. She had been told by FEMA that she had been extended for her room until, 1/3, but it took her hours on the phone, as she packed up, to get the paperwork straightened out. So she then unpacked again to stay 3 more weeks in the motel room. She has a FEMA traielr in the front yard, but is waiting for the utilities hooked up.

We served a man named David today at his mothers house. She died 3 days before the storm. Her home had 4 feet of water in it. His home had was alos flooded and he is temporarily living 30 miles away on the mainland. It was a painful story for him to share, about all the loss at all the levels that he has experienced. But it was a priviledge to put my hand on him and lift him up prayer today.

It is so reassuring though to know that God is moving in it all. Pray for:
- Families spending Christmas in motel rooms.
- Struggling marriages.
- People to put their Hope in Jesus.

Ike Day 75 - Thanksgiving

We returned home last evening after spending a great week as a family in Texas. Denise and the kids were able to help serve over 125 families on Tuesday's food distribution. We also had a donation for Thanksgiving baskets for Galveston Bible Church members, and extras to enable them to bless a friend or neighbor. Our family along with the Watterson's helped distribute these as well. I was able to get several more rebuilding projects lined up for the coming weeks, and continue to respond to request for clean up.

On the way home, we took the ferry across to the Bolivar Peninsula. This was my first trip to this devastated area. It was a good preparation for Thanksgiving Day. Below we have attached some pictures of what things look like there. In many respects, it looked like areas we saw in Galveston only days after the storm, except this is now 2-1/2 months later. Debris was strewn everywhere. Broken houses. Cars buried in sand.

Below is an email

I got yesterday from a Bolivar resident:

"The people in PortBolivar have been put on the end of the list for everything. Most of the people that live there are older folks such as my mom. A lot of the folks didn't have insurance or had very little. My mom's home still sits full of appliances, and ruined furniture. The local Government has told folks over there that they can not repair their homes unless they raise them from 14-18 feet. Folks such as my mom can not climb stairs such as this and since they own the property in Bolivar they are being forced to leave and find other means of survival.

FEMA has helped to some extent those who DIDN'T have insurance, but those who had some insurance such as my

mom....FEMA won't help until insurance has settled and then I feel won't help anyway. My mom lived 57 years in her home with my dad who just passed away in March. She is now forced to make a decision to demolish the home because it would be too expensive to repair and impossible for her to live in at the requirement for elevation. She says she is to old to continue to run from hurricanes.

My home was also flooded in Galveston. I rented a 4 bedroom home there for me and my 2 grown sons. The cost of rental property in the area as I am sure you are aware of is Out of Reach.

If you can take a visit to Port Bolivar and see what I am talking about. Port Bolivar is right after you get off the ferry. Crystal Beach and Gilchrist is further up the road. All of these areas need help."

Seeing this yesterday made our Thanksgiving so much more real today. God has blessed us and given us the opportunity to be part of His work in making an eternal difference in people's lives. We have much to be thankful for. As we went around the table today, the kids said it best, " We are thankful for our family and our friends". Amen.

Please consider how you can make a difference in TX and LA. Pray. Give. Serve. (Click these links for more info).

Ike Day 70

The past two weekends have been very busy with volunteers on Saturdays topping 120. Amen! Keep praying for God to bring workers, there are so many hurting people unsure of where to turn.

This past week, a team from Lakewood EFC, MN, Joe from Dallas and Justin from Friendswood Community invested in finishing Ms Robbie's roof, and started one for Daniel and Maria. They had some insurance funds, as they were 'lucky' to have their roof leak as well a their home flood. But it was barely enough to buy the materials needed to replace their roof, much less pay a contarctor and replace all the damaged personal property. Our family was able to join in the project as well, the kids loved being up on the roof.

Today, a 16 year old from Trinity Fellowship EFC had his birthday party with his friends. He chose for his party to have his friends come with him to help finish Daniel and Mary's roof. It was so awesome to see this young leader mobilizing his friends, his dad, and even his pastor to serve this wonderful family.

We had about 50 here today. A family from Grace Bible Church in Kileen, TX came with a truck load of really nice doors for the church, and stayed to put them on. We sent our first team across the ferry to the Bolivar Peninsula today as well to remove the contents from a home. The ferry just opened this week for public access.

Grace Bible EFC continued the sheet rock hanging work that First Free Austin started on Tina's mom's house. We expect that all the mudding and sanding could be done next weekend, if we have the volunteers.

Friendswood Community cut trees, did more gutting and cleaned up another portion of the warehouse area we have to use.

This afternoon, Miss June cme over to talk more about her house. It is so hard for her to know what to do next, and who to trust, and how to go about rebuilding her home. She is such a sweet lady. Last Sunday, she hosted the team that helped her on Saturday for 'church' in her former living room, now a gutted shell. She brought out her keyboard and played hymns and songs she wrote for all to sing. Pray for her, she has no resources but a small savings and pension, and continues on in faith the God will provide what she needs. She will be evicted from her FEMA funded hotel room at the end of the month.

Ike Day 63

We started a new phase of the Ike Response in Galveston about a week ago, that being the rebuilding stage. Pictured to the right is Wanda, with Lori from a team from NV.

As we gutted her home last month, we clearly felt a call to help her rebuild. As with almost all the people that we have worked for thus far, she did not have flood insurance, as her home had never seen water before. All she has is a small amount she got from FEMA. Without the volunteer help, she'd never be ableto get back in her house. She had been living in a hotel room with her kids for weeks until she recently got an apartment.

The NV team replaced her rotten subfloor and repaired rotten wall supports, leaving the home ready for wiring. Wanda has been through a lot. She has not known if she was going to still have a job, but got a call recently from her employer that she will be one of the few to be called back to work soon.

The NV team, as well as some from Grace Bible and others, have also been working on the roof replacement for Ms. Robbie. She is an elderly lady again with no insurance. Her kids are pulling together their savings to enable their mom to get out from under the blue tarps. We hope to be hanging sheet rock in her house in the next few weeks, providing we have the volunteers.

Friendswood Community Church sent teams down the last two Saturdays specifically to help with to help with outreach into the neighborhoods where we have been doing most of our gutting work. As homes get gutted, the debris get piled on the streets. The bulk of the debris is then picked up by FEMA contractors, but a lot of little debris is left behind littering the streets. The FCC teams have been bringing brooms and rakes and have been investing in the clean-up of streets. This effort has produced an outpouring of thanks from home owners who are so grateful for the help in trying to make their street look like a neighborhood again.

I saw one elderly man trying to rake all the small pieces of drywall from his yard. I quickly picked up some volunteers, and pulled up to his house. In 15 minutes the many hands made light of the work, and the older man just watched in disbelief. He asked where we were from and we shared about Galveston Bible Church, and how much God cares about him. We were able to pray for him as well. His prayer request was simply, for my neighbors to be able to come home.
Pray that prayer with us.