Emotional toll of a disaster

Sam, a homeowner in Cedar Rapids shared these words, "one minute I am sad, the next minute I am angry, the next minute I have hope, the next minute I can't think. I can't sleep at night and I have no energy. I just want to cry, but people tell me to suck it up and stop being so sad."

I have heard these thoughts expressed in different ways over and over. This is a crisis situation in the lives of people. It is so important just to let people talk. It is important to let people know that many of their emotions are normal. It is amazing to see the look on their face when they are reassured that they are not going crazy.

For some people they have the ability and strength to recover. For the sick and the elderly it is a much greater challenge. Can you imagine walking in to your home to find everything destroyed and then have to take load after load of all your possessions and add them to the pile of debris lined up along your street as far as you can see. Every time the homeowner takes another load to the curb another part of their life is thrown away.

As Christians in a disaster one of the greatest things we can do is listen. Go to these areas and ask questions and let people talk. Pray for people, it is a wonderful privilege and opportunity during a time like this.

We had the opportunity to pray for Sam on Thursday. When we met Sam again on Saturday she said, "I know God sent you to me. When you prayed for me on Thursday, I had tingles all over my body. God showed me that he cared."

Thanks God for His touch!!! He is the Healer!!!

What is a disaster?

A typical home in a disaster!!!

Over the next few days I am going to try and share a few things that make a disaster area. I am going to share some pictures to help people understand what makes a disaster area so difficult to live in and what people who live in these areas face on a daily basis.

My first real exposure to disaster and disaster relief was hurricane Katrina. I had been in challenging places and seen burned down houses, and water soaked houses and over flooded rivers that caused challenges but words cant describe what I saw there. Trees through the middle of houses, houses in the middle of streets, cars flipped upside down, and chaos as far as the eye could see.

I think one of the things that define a disaster relief area is the widespread destruction. It is not just a couple of houses on a block, or a house that gets flattened by a tree, but it is devastation that goes on for miles. Everyone for miles is effected. Everyone!!! No one is exempt. If you live in that area, you have a problem.

Here in Cedar Rapids, the problem was widespread flooding. Over 1300 city blocks were under water. Every house on every street had up to 15 feet of water in it. Every single thing a person owns is lost. Everything!!! No exceptions.

Your neighbour cant come to help you rebuild, or strip out your home, or carry debris to the curb either. Why? Because they have the very same problem. That is why people need help from those out side the disaster area.

I hope this helps to paint a bit of a picture of what a disaster is like. Stay tuned tomorrow as I expand on some other characteristics of a disaster. Maybe these pictures will help you to understand what every house looks like, and why there is such a need for assistance.

Buying a duck named Sparky

Another damaged home in Cedar Rapids, over 4,000 homes were flooded

When we met Sam and she shared her story of loss, she also shared her hope for the future. One of the things she desired was to move away from the river and up to a place of higher ground. If she could do that she would like to live in the country and have a horse and a duck pond. In the duckpond she wanted to have a duck and name him Sparky.

So I had a thought. Why not go and buy her a duck. Not a real duck, that might be hard to find. But a plastic duck that could be something to remind her of us and what she shared with us. Maybe a funny reminder of hope. The duck was purchased and will be delivered today.

Sometimes in ministry we need to be creative. I must confess I have never done duck ministry before but I am looking forward to giving "Sparky" to Sam. I hope it brings some levity to her and shows her that we care and God does as well.

We are going to help Sam by taking lots of pictures for her so she can prove her damage to her insurance company and FEMA if necessary. We are also going to help her sort through some of her belongings to see if we might be able to salvage a few things of importance.

It may seem like small things to do, maybe insignificant but I believe it can make a difference.

Do you know anybody that needs a "duck"? Maybe you can make a difference in their life too.

God's Providential leading

I love it when the Hand of God leads us to where He desires for us to be. Today was another one of those spectacular days to see God at work. Actually the story starts back about 7 weeks before.

A very bad flood came to my hometown of Fredericton, NB. When the flood came an organization came to offer flood relief, the SP team. Along with SP team came another group called the Rapid Response Team, who serve as chaplains in crisis situations. I had the privilege of being able to work with both and also to be accepted as a chaplain with the RR Team.

Now I find myself in the midwest, doing disaster relief set up. After making a phone call I found out that the SP team is set up here also just an hour from where we are staying. The RR Team is also on their way here next week too. So I now have instant rapport with them in order to partner with them.

Yesterday we spent the day in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The devastation is immense. It brought back memories for me of the Gulf Coast and Katrina. It is not near as bad, but make no mistake it is terrible. The streets are lined with debris and the smell of devastation is in the air.

House is laying upside down on the road with the Cedar river behind it.

We drove down one street close to the river and for some reason(I would say God's leading) we moved off that street to one that was a block further away from the river as we drove down this street we saw even more tragedy.

In front of one of the houses was an older lady, working through the debris left in front of her home. We stopped and talked with Sam. Sam is suffering from the crisis. As we were sharing with Sam she said this, "Today I was feeling all alone and I asked God to send me someone to help me and talk to me today." Well here we were lead by God to talk to Sam and talk and pray with her. God is good!!!

Sam is in the middle, as we shared with her.