Let Us Do Good

Darlene peers out of the window of her Fema trailer. Her face is filled with joy as she watches our team working with mounds of dirt in order to begin the foundation of their new home. I heard her speak with a giggle in her voice. “Oh, it’s looking so good.”

Eleven of us made our way into Gulfport, Mississippi. We are amazed that so much devastation is still seen from Hurricane Katrina that hit a year and a half ago. Our purpose in coming was to assist some of the families in rebuilding.

Darlene invited me into her trailer. She was so excited about our coming to help. In the corner of the room sat her mom crocheting. Darlene’s husband sat down with us and began to share with me some of their experiences concerning the hurricane. He shared pictures with me that proved their loss of their house and most of their possessions. The house was moved from its foundation and broken into two pieces with four foot of water standing in the lower level. Their house stood a block and a half from the ocean, and every house on their street was destroyed. Darlene told me that five days following the storm, rescue people uncovered a seven-year-old boy under the rubbish behind their house. He was still alive but had watched all of his family destroyed by the storm. Her eyes filled with tears.

Three days following the storm she and her family sat with others in a shelter in Panama City, Florida. All at once, she said that the reality hit her that she was homeless. How could this be? Her new living room furniture and carpet that she had enjoyed a few days before was now destroyed. All that they had enjoyed, yes, their home was gone. She said that she began to cry uncontrollably. Yet, Darlene is crying once again as she shares with me the horrors of loss and death.

Could a family still be weeping over the destruction of months gone by? Who will listen to their story when everyone around has experienced similar blows of ruin? Well, God gave to me the privilege of sitting with this family and many others to listen to their stories. I could quickly discover the trauma of many people who needed opportunities to heal. I sat with Darlene and her family for two hours while they told of God’s many interventions of deliverances and blessings in the midst of a crisis never to be forgotten.

I couldn’t bless the families with reconstruction like our male team did, but I could extend our Lord’s compassion through my presence. Romans 12:15 simply says, “…weep with them that weep.” We read in Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” By allowing Darlene to tell her tragic story of loss, I allowed her a release of pain through her speaking. Then, I bowed down in the floor of their trailer, clasped hands with the family, and bore their burden to God in prayer. His Presence flooded the room and, following our tears, came an overflow of joy. “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10.