Out of the Chaos

 They say a picture is worth ten thousand words, and this is what an elderly couple saw when they were allowed to return to their home in late September of 2013. The lower floor of the house was in shambles, with  the water line at five feet above the floor. Over a foot of silt covered the floor and filled every nook and cranny. Their truck was upside down in a grove of trees about fifty yards from the house, and their yard was also covered with nearly two feet of silt. Boulders from up river were scattered in their yard, and their propane tank was long gone.


They spent several months in an apartment in town before the road was repaired and they could begin to live in the upper story of their home. Because they had no flood insurance, recovery was going to be slow and they were qualified for help from faith based organizations such as United Methodist Committee on Relief and the UM Volunteers in Mission. Throughout the summer, teams of people from all over the United States have come into this place to clean it up and once again make it livable. Today, the painting was complete; all of the masking tape came down, the beams were washed and the dust cleaned away. The downstairs bathroom works and trimming of the windows has begun. There is much to do, but it is beginning to look like a home.

People sometimes ask me why I go on mission trips. They want to know why I am willing to pay money to travel halfway across the country to work my tail off. This is why. To sit and listen to the stories of lives turned upside down and then share the joy of them coming back together again. To learn about folks who I have come to help and have them give me more than I ever dreamed. To hear the stories of the other workers, especially those who have never done this before, and see the miracle of giving and receiving come true in their lives...to walk away at the end of the trip having received the unexpected gift and being forever changed...that is why I go on mission trips!