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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
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Nov./Dec. 2004 |
Logansport work team assists Florida hurricane survivors
By Christopher Dare
This is a diary of the Rev. Christopher Dare, who was part of a work team that went to Florida in October to assist in hurricane relief.
LOGANSPORT, Ind. -- I am still trying to process all that took place while our First Church work team was in Florida helping with hurricane relief. The devastation was so great and the need is immense.
By the time we left Indiana, we had about 80 buckets, nearly 800 pounds of buckets that were loaded on Allen Riendeau's truck and trailer, which he graciously loaned to us. When we arrived in Navarre, we discovered the Red Cross desperately needed them. We unloaded our buckets with the Red Cross at the Navarre United Methodist Church.
The first day we assisted Bob and Anita Timmel. Bob has a neurological disorder that causes him to be in constant motion. Anita was highly stressed because of the storm damage. Their house was not as severely damaged as many other homes, but they still had a tarp covering their roof and suffered damage to trees and a fence. We prayed with Bob and Anita, cut down their damaged trees, put their yard back together and loved them the best we could. They were very grateful and in tears as we left.
We spent the rest of the week at what was left of Brian and Trish Catalane's house. They live in a camper because their house was hit by the 15-foot storm surge, which tore off an addition and piled the house's roof, flooring and walls up like matchsticks. The yard was littered with their home's entire contents. Trees had clothing, plastic bags, dolls and many other items hanging in them. We were not emotionally prepared for the destruction we witnessed.
Trish is currently undergoing treatments for cancer. While there, we moved thousands of pounds of debris from their property to be picked up. We prayed with and laid hands on them, and anointed Trish with oil for healing. We listened to them, hugged them, cried with them and loved them. Please pray for Trish's healing.
We did some work, but most of all we brought hope to the hopeless. The six of us who went (Jarel Beatty, Laurie Roeder, Kirk Hamilton, Dan and Deb Cline, and I) were deeply touched by what we saw and what we experienced. We grew spiritually and we gained new understandings about missions and God's calling. We built new relationships and brought Christ and the Kingdom to others. But most of all, we were blessed by God over and over for saying "yes" when He called us. I hope and pray that each of you will hear the voice of God calling you to serve Him in some unique way.
Christopher Dare serves as associate minister of First United Methodist Church in Logansport, Ind.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008