On August 13, 2025 we began to work on Jane’s* house. On August 11, 2026 we celebrated the completion of that work – one full year of intense home-rebuilding and even more intense relationship building. But the end of the rebuilding is not the end of the relationship.
Here is a short video showing the physical rebuilding, but also showing some of the teams who came from all across the country to help, the staff who were there week in and week out, and Jane, who became more and more open to God and more and more attached to the people who were helping.
By the end of the year Jane was saying things like “All that you have done . . . it’s bringing me back to God.” She learned to pray out loud for the teams in her home. She remembered the value of the Bible, and of daily time with God. Just last week I walked into her re-built, re-furnished home and there on the arm of her chair was an open Bible. She’d been having a daily devotional time recommended by a friend. At the moving-in celebration we were joined by a group of executives from the long term recovery organization that paid for the materials used in Jane’s rebuild. As she was giving them a tour of her home, she repeatedly gave glory to God for the things he had done.
Even that is not the end. Just days later we were back in Jane’s home, helping her move boxes of dishes and knick-knacks from her trailer to her house. And we’re working in a couple of houses just down the road from her. In one case the house has no toilets, so we’ll be running down to Jane’s house to use the bathroom. The point is not to impose on a tired homeowner, it’s to keep the relationships going so that God can, if he wants, use us to further her growth in Christ.
That’s what God allows us to do.
And this is only one of the impacts that your support can make possible when disaster strikes. To see all our response sites, visit https://www.efca.org/crisis-response. If you would like to serve in Fort Myers, whether for a week or longer, we would be thrilled. Drop us a note or give us a call! (Gail 281-797-8932; gail.degray@efca.org; Bob 281-787-7130; bob.degray@efca.org.) If you would like to support Gail and I, (always needed and appreciated – travel is expensive!), here is the link to our giving site: Bob and Gail DeGray
*Note 1: Jane is a pseudonym for this homeowner. You can read part of her story here.
Note 2: The little boy on Jane’s mantle is a treasured possession, almost the first thing Jane brought back into her home. You can read a post by another staff person here.
