Worshipping GOD was Awesome this morning at Ridgewood Church of Christ in Beaumont, Texas. Worship was held in the fellowship hall using floodlights since we still had no power. However, PRAISE GOD the power came on this afternoon.......YES!!!!!! Can you say..........
"hot showers"?? WooHoo!!!! :)
We make sure the DRT "staff" takes Sundays off, if at all possible (even though we call them "staff" they are all volunteer) so they were able to go see some of the area, go pick up chocolate candy at the Wal-Mart that just opened (Bob Card).....it's ok, he shared it with us :) and basically just hang out, which everyone needed and deserved after a long week of very hard work and long hours.
Mark and I headed off to the 9th and Elm Church of Christ in Orange, TX to get updates and make plans for the upcoming week. They have a congregation of about 150 active members 25 of those families were flooded.... most with no insurance. We have offered to help house and feed volunteers for them (they don't have room for our equipment or to house many volunteers) as well as sending volunteers to them to work on houses. The Woodlands Church in N. Houston is fixing 600 Texas Barbeque meals this coming Saturday at the 9th and Elm Church for their members as well as community and members of Bridge City. We will also be bringing our 30' supply trailer with new clothing, shoes, etc. the same day that we will be distributing as well as taking applications for Repair needs, etc.
From there we headed off to Bridge City to meet with a member whose house was flooded and who was wanting advice on what needed done next. A Bridge City town meeting was being held this afternoon so we attended that for 2-1/2 hours before heading to the EOC at the request of the City Manager to have a meeting with him. Bridge City is in dire need of assistance. FEMA is no longer providing trailers to storm victims. 90 % of Bridge City was under water which means there is no other housing available, no hotels for 100-200 miles which means it is virtually impossible for the residents to be near their homes to work on them or to get their businesses up and running. There is 1 restaurant open in the entire city with a very limited menu, no grocery stores or gas stations, etc. they are asking us to come in with our kitchen to help feed the community as well as bringing in volunteer help to help get the residents back on their feet.
We've spoken to members of the Bridge City Church of Christ and all of the members with the exception of 3 have been flooded out, mostly with no insurance. The Bridge City Church building also sustained about 5' of water damage.
Tomorrow we will be heading to the Winnie Church of Christ to speak with them. They have also had a tremendous amount of damage in their area and they are housing members from Crystal Beach.
As you can see.....there are many of our brothers and sisters as well as those we need to reach out to in the communities who need our help.....many have no insurance and have lost their houses, cars, household belongings, clothing, shoes, the children have lost their toys, their books.......absolutely everything....... and on top of this many have now lost their jobs.
PLEASE MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO HELP US......HELP THE LOCAL CHURCHES.......REACH OUT TO THEIR MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY
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