It has been a busy month to say the least. It feels like we have been non-stop for months and not the single month of September. Why? My thoughts while I have a clear head this morning.
First is the wait… Waiting for a storm to hit is worse than waiting for a loved one to come out of surgery! I mean it is a long three or four days. Television coverage, and impending doom occupies your time for that period of time. Non-stop coverage and then finally when the storm begins to hit, you hope and pray you will survive what is happening.
For us, the storm hit and it hit hard. We [our home] survived, minor damage to property, and that is something that we can be thankful for. But the area, the surrounding communities were not so lucky.
Once the winds cleared out and the rains past, we did what we do best and that is serve, cook and feed people. We did that and actually are still doing that. The first week in Lacombe, our team was the only team in Lacombe serving the people of Lacombe. The second week we cooked for a few days and finally turned the community cooking over to other groups who got their legs under them and started serving.
As the weeks have gone by, we have continued to cook and serve those communities in need. That desire to serve has taken us away from our base area and moved us into the surrounding communities. As we travel further south, those areas are severely damaged and I can imagine we will be cooking there for the next month to help them in their recovery process.
This whole time as we have been cooking, in the back of my mind I have worried about how were we going to pay for all of this. Food cost, paper products, fuel, it all adds up. Donations had been up at first and then slowed down. Cost kept going up and we kept cooking. I kept thinking about the words of the gospel the other day “I believe, help my unbelief.” Would the financial support and volunteers continue?
The answer of course was “YES”
Thank you, thank you to the churches, the businesses, the individuals who have believed in what we are doing and have supported us by writing checks and volunteering to work and serve their brothers and sisters in this area.
Most of the national relief agencies have begun pulling out of this area. Electricity continues to be restored, to the untrained eye, things might seem better… But the reality is that things are not better for many. There is still suffering on the very basic level. Food insecurity is still there for many who were in the path of this storm. Homes were destroyed, many people in the southern parishes are just trying to survive. Hopefully we who are local will not forget the hurt that our neighbors are experiencing an hour or two away.
Thank you again for your prayers, your love and your support!
Forged By Fire 