The Journey Continues

While Hurricane Sandy was flooding my crawl space and completely destroying my heating unit in Ventnor, NJ, just 3/10^th 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.