While Hurricane Sandy was flooding my crawl space and
completely destroying my heating unit in Ventnor, NJ, just 3/10th of
a mile from the Atlantic City border, I was warm and safe at Beacon Evangelical
Church in Galloway, NJ. While I was
there, wondering what we would all be going home to, I received a call from a
brother named Arklie Hooten, the head of MNA disaster relief.
‘Hoot’ (as he is affectionately known by his friends) came
along side me and guided me through the steps we needed to take to become the
host church for MNA disaster relief in the AC area. We have no building of our
own, no real manpower, very little financial capital … you get the picture. So
why did I jump on the offer immediately? Because God has been training me for
the past four years for just this type of situation.
You see, living on the edge and being forced to trust God to
provide what we need as we step out in faith to minister to the needs all
around us here in the Atlantic City area is already a way of life for us. It’s what
we do on a daily basis. Sandy’s arrival
simply broadened and deepened the need for mercy ministry in our neighborhoods
here in the AC area.
We’ve had the privilege of hosting well over 100 volunteers
thus far who have begun the arduous work of cleaning under crawl spaces,
removing saturated sheetrock and flooring and replacing it with new, dry
materials as well as replacing furniture and appliances for individuals who are
truly in need. These communities will be in need of such assistance for months to
come.
One such neighbor is a young single mother named Tonya. Her
home was flooded and needed to have everything from the floor to a few feet up
the wall replaced. Unfortunately she had no flood insurance. Volunteers from a
number of churches were able to restore her house to working order well in time
for the Advent season. Kitchen cabinets,
appliances, flooring, sheet rock, electrical sockets, etc., were all donated,
purchased and installed thanks to a number of churches all working together to
make it happen in the name of Christ!
But this is only one story of many and there will be many
more to come in the ensuing months. We will need volunteers to come and serve
here in the AC area well after the initial offers to come and help are a
distant blip in 2013’s rear view mirror.
