Bob and I are privileged to serve with ReachGlobal Crisis Response on responses that come in many shapes and sizes. The work we have been doing in SW Florida, cleaning up after Hurricane Ian is a major operation requiring staff, volunteers, and a home-base facility. We have spent the past two years cleaning up storm damage, rebuilding homes, and, most importantly, rebuilding lives by sharing the good news of Jesus with those in need through one-on-one conversations and trauma based Bible study groups.
There are other ways we are able to serve the Lord and see His hand at work in hard places. These jobs are smaller scale and “behind the scenes”, but they are no less important to Christ’s Kingdom:
Responding to a Tornado: On Tuesday, May 21, 2024 an F4 tornado struck the town of Greenfield, Iowa, wiping a diagonal path through the town, and narrowly missing Cornerstone Fellowship, an EFCA church. Within 24 hours, a small team of staff from ReachGlobal Crisis Response arrived to help the church figure out how to come alongside their church members and their community. Our staff was able to offer practical, physical help, as well as emotional and spiritual care. Crisis Response ended up setting up a short-term physical response to bring small teams of workers into the area to help clean up wreckage, including debris scattered across miles and miles of cornfields. Trust me, the farmers were grateful!
About two weeks into this response Katrina Welch and I were invited to Greenfield to help the staff begin a trauma based Bible study at Cornerstone. These Bible studies are designed help people face the hard questions that surface in the aftermath of a crisis: “How could a good God allow such bad things to happen?”, “Where was God when we needed him?”, “Does God really care?”. With people gathered around tables in small groups, we invited them to share their tornado stories and considered a few scriptures that point to God’s presence and care in hard times. We watched the Holy Spirit work in these challenging conversations to draw people to Himself and begin the healing process. There were tears, there was laughter, and there was the opportunity to come together in prayer for one another and for their community. It was a beautiful thing to behold! Our evening together turned into a multi-week gathering where church members and their neighbors gathered to help each other walk toward God rather than away from him in this very hard season of their lives.
The clean-up work in Greenfield has ended now, and the volunteers and Crisis Response staff have all gone home, but the ministry of Cornerstone Fellowship continues. Please join us in praying that the work that God began in the hearts of men, women and children will continue for many months and even years as they work together to rebuild the community of Greenfield, Iowa.
Responding to a Flood: Shortly after our trip to Greenfield, Katrina and I were on the road to Iowa again – this time in response to a flood that devastated the town of Spencer, Iowa, the home of Crosswinds Evangelical Free Church. The town of Spencer is divided by the Little Sioux River, which poured over its banks, submerging over 4,000 homes and businesses. Crosswinds EFCA stepped up to provide shelter to many displaced families immediately after the storm, but they were asking themselves, “What now?”. They wondered how they could continue to help the people in their church and community who were impacted by this crisis without undertaking a major “rebuild” ministry.
Katrina and I came to Cornerstone to present our Basic Trauma Care Training which focuses on how to have one-on-one healing conversations with hurting people. “People over Projects” is one of our mottos because although the physical projects are obvious needs in the aftermath of a crisis, the emotional, spiritual and relational needs of people must not be overlooked. When they are ignored, homes may be rebuilt even as lives continue to be destroyed in the aftermath of the crisis. Cornerstone decided that their energy would best be spent by preparing to help with the emotional and spiritual healing process for people in their community.
Across two evenings the Lord gathered over 50 people eager to be equipped to have helpful and healing conversations with people impacted by the flood. They learned to ask questions that invite hurting people to tell their stories, to listen in ways that help people to feel seen and understood, and to gently point them to Jesus who is our help, our hope, and our healing. There is more to stepping toward a crisis than picking up a hammer. Being trained to have healing conversations with hurting people is a great way to make a difference in Jesus’ name one person at a time.
If you, a group of friends, or your church family are interested in the Basic Trauma Care Training offered By ReachGlobal Crisis Response, please drop me a note, at gail.degray@efca.org.
Responding to a Pregnancy: Sometimes our crisis work is smaller than a community and a church – even as small as a family. Back in June we learned that our daughter, Tina, and her husband, Paul, were expecting babies number two AND three! That’s right – we have twin granddaughters on the way! We received this news with great delight but also with some trepidation knowing that twins can be, well, complicated…. and some of those complications have developed. The babies are doing well, but are dealing with a complication that has knocked Tina off her feet – quite literally! Although not on full bed rest, Tina is required to be horizontal for as many hours of the day as possible in order to avoid hospitalization (bed rest the hard way) and/or a premature delivery of the twins.
With an active two-year-old on hand, it was clear that Tina would need some extra help, so we made the tough decision for me to come home while Bob stayed on in Florida to continue our work with the Ian Response. It is hard to be apart in a season when we anticipated being able to work side by side, but right now it seems that this is what the Lord has in store for us. I am helping out Tina and Paul by caring for Armando and keeping up basic household tasks – especially as Paul juggles work and his last couple of months of coursework for his degree – go Paul!! We don’t often get a prize for our crisis responding work, but we anticipate and pray for two healthy granddaughters to add to our happy collection! Please pray with us that the Lord would grant Tina a safe and healthy pregnancy and an on time delivery. We will keep you posted!!