November 6- an eventful day!
Today was an eventful day! Early this morning, ministry partners of Somebody Cares, Mark Roye and Bob Ball found one of the local churches a desperately needed fork-lift that can be used to load and unload the thousands of pounds of resources that are arriving every day! Since the storm, volunteers have been manually loading and unloading EVERYTHING that has been donated! Once they saw the need, Mark and Bob kicked into HIGH gear and it was NO time before the forklift showed up! This is the beauty of the Somebody Cares Net that Works!
Today preparations were well underway to deal with the latest forecasted storm threatening the homes on Staten Island! Even FEMA was busy evacuating their beachfront site by early afternoon today. By the time the bad weather is forecast to arrive, they will be long gone ffrom this site! It made me sad to think of all the families that will be forced to leave once again….and so soon after the last storm forced itself into their existence.
Tonight many of the local pastors held another follow-up meeting to strategize and energize their congregations as they continue the road to recovery! These Pastors are loving each other AND loving their community! Terry and I feel it is such a gift to be able to serve them!
Reverend Daniel Delgado of House of Victory here on the Island opened the meeting tonight with this scripture from Nehemiah 1:
“It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan[a] the citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
4 So it was, when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; 9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ 10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
When the meeting was over just after ten, we turned our eyes toward the election and as we pondered the results, I couldn’t help but think of our nation, where we have been and where we appear to be going, and I thought of Nehemiah 1…..
No matter the source, may we all experience His mercy in the storms of this life! May we all keep our eyes on the Author and the Finisher of our faith!
When crisis comes, it seems like everything suddenly is going backwards! It seems that times are dark and difficult. But as the Lord shows up and His Church connects with volunteers, officials and those in need, things begin to improve and the load gets lighter. Often, things end up better than even before! We pray that each of us can RISE TO THE TIME IN HIM!