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Perhaps some of you remember that a family in our church - Amy & Michael Main - has had a family from New Orleans living with them since the hurricane. I know the Katrina stories aren't making headlines anymore, but I assure you that the people who were affected by hurricane Katrina are still trying to put their lives together. Michael has written a lot about the six months that the Gomez family have lived with them. There were good times and hard times. Lots of adjustments, certainly. You can read my own entries about this here.

RLP readers donated approximately $3000 to help Katrina victims and the Gomez family in particular. Your gifts made it possible for Amy and Michael to host this family without it being too much of a financial burden on them. Thank you for that.

Now our church is celebrating with the Gomez family, for they have moved into their own apartment. We found them an affordable place right on the bus line as it runs through our part of the town. Our church threw them a shower to help outfit their apartment with some of the things they will need. I have $400 left of your money. I'm combining it with a gift of $2000 from the First Baptist Church of Athens, Texas to supplement their rent at $200 a month for the first year. After that, they will be on their own, and we think they are ready.

I have one last request to make of you. Lee Gomez is a single mother, working and attending classes at the University of Texas in San Antonio. Her daughter Anna is trying to go to college herself. They need a computer for school. We are trying to put together about $500 to buy an inexpensive computer for them. We have a monitor and keyboard and all of that.

If you didn't get a chance to help the first time around, you can easily donate money to help the Gomez family get a computer. Just hit the button and donate.

If by any chance more money than we need for the computer comes in, we will use it to purchase some other things they need. For example, not everyone has a bed yet.

Friends of Mine Who Have Asked for Prayers

In the early 90s I did a weekend Bible study retreat, along with a lot of other ministers, at a church in Plano, Texas. In my group was a delightful 8th grade girl named Sarah. She was absolutely precious and we became friends. I went back the next year to lead her 9th grade group. After that I saw her at youth camps and here and there over the years. Somehow we've kept in touch all this time. Sarah is married now and is a teacher in Plano. Recently she and her husband Scott had their first child. His name is Thomas. He's quite adorable, of course. But recently they discovered that Thomas has a brain tumor. As you can imagine, Scott and Sarah are frightened, and all of us who love them are staying in touch with them and praying with them.

Sarah asked me to let you know that if you are the praying sort, they would love for you to drop by their blog. If you would include Sarah and Scott and little Thomas in your prayers, we would be grateful.

rlp

I know the hurricane is already becoming a fading memory for many, but the business of caring for displaced people continues with no end in sight. Since so many of you have sent money to help with this effort, I want to provide you with a report of how things are going.

For news about the Gomez family, check out Michael Main's blog. The adventures of this wonderful family's recovery will likely provide him with blog fodder for some time to come.

My friend Steve Davis was moved from his first shelter to one set aside for people from South Texas. Most of these people are being shipped back home, but the expense of taking care of them was tremendous. The hardest cases were hundreds of mentally challenged patients from various hospitals near the coast.

Steve's New Shelter Location in San Antonio

Steve at the Blossom Shelter

Inside the Blossom Shelter - click for larger picture

Steve called me yesterday to tell me he will be moving to yet another shelter. There is a lot of shifting of personnel as people leave shelters to go home or to other places.

RLP Hurricane Fund Report:

Money given by Real Live Preacher readers and friends - $3713

Money spent so far - $1400
    $400 to Steve Davis for medical supplies and needs at his first shelter.
     $200 to the Gomez family when I picked them up from the Kelley shelter.
     $100 to Amy Main for further immediate needs of the Gomez family.
     $300 to another displaced family living in a motel near us.
     $400 to Amy Main to help with expenses in getting the Gomez family
            registered in school and back on their feet.

Money left - $2313

Steve has already informed me that there are a number of critical needs at his new shelter. I took him to lunch last week, and he told me that a number of volunteers are becoming exhausted. Steve has been working 12-hour days since this all began. The toll on various agencies, etc. is going to get worse. Steve wanted me to tell you that being able to get money quickly when some need arises without having to fill out forms and go through all the red tape has been a HUGE blessing.

I plan to get another $500 to Steve in the next few days.

Thanks for your generosity. You are making a HUGE difference! If anyone still wishes to send money, use my Paypal button and specify for hurricane relief in the comments box. I'm being frugal with your funds, but the work will continue for quite some time.

rlp

15 September 2005

Wide Angle Shot - Click for a larger image

This is one of many hangers being used as a shelter at Kelley Air Force Base in San Antonio. This is how it appeared on the afternoon of September 15th, 2005. The shelter looks like a small city. There are booths and tables setup to help people connect with banks, employees, family, and government agencies of all kinds. Thousands of people are walking in every direction. Even the Mexican army has shown up to lend support.

Everyone is waiting for something. Waiting to hear from a bank; waiting to hear from a loved one; waiting to hear about money or jobs or something they are hoping for. People are sitting on cots and in chairs, waiting and waiting.

rlp

Hello everyone,

It's been crazy down here in Texas. Let me give you a few updates:

Katrina Update:
Amy and Michael Main now have a family living in their home. You can read more about it on their blogs. They are running point with our church backing them up. I think I may be driving the older son back down to the Kelley Air Force Base shelter tomorrow. He's going to move in with a cousin in Houston, and they have a free bus running from our main shelter to Houston.

Another woman in our church has "adopted" a displaced family. She's also the contact person with us helping. These folks aren't as desperate. They have a hotel room, which is nice, but they certainly have a lot of other needs.

Your donations are now well over $2000. I've given Steve Davis $300. His shelter is filled with people who have medical needs. I'm going to give him another $300 for various prescription medicines.

I gave $300 to each of the families we are helping. Amy took them to Walmart to buy clothing and various other items they are needing. I've had Amy's cooking, so I KNOW they aren't hungry anymore!

Thank you so much for your help. Really, having access to money makes this kind of help so much easier. Instead of scrambling around trying to figure out how to pay for stuff, we can concentrate more on managing the process of helping these people rebuild.

We are frugal with your gifts and are using them well. I'll keep you posted.

Christmas Audio Book Update:
I picked up the master copy of "A Christmas Story You've Never Heard" yesterday. Should have the cover art by Friday. I signed a download contract with IODA to distribute this audio book through various download outlets. That means you will be able to download a copy at Itunes or Amazon.com or other places. Not sure where yet. Or you will be able to buy a CD with a cover and other information at this website.

I think it turned out well. The only weakness is my reading. Being as objective as I can, I would say that I'm not bad, but I'm clearly not a professional. I hope to do better next time. Hopefully the personal nature of having the author read his own work will be worth the tradeoff.

The CD has 12 tracks. An introduction and the 8 chapters of the story. Track 10 is me talking about the origins of the story. This track is very conversational - one take and no script. I talked Ben into including a couple of tracks of his wonderful guitar music. The music he did for the chapter about Elias the retired shepherd/angel is charming. You'll be able to hear it by itself if you want.

Sometime in the next week or so I'll make a sample mp3 that you can download. This has been a lot of fun, and we're almost done. Should easily be ready well before Christmas.

Christian Century Essay Coming:
It's been hard to write for some reason. Probably because of all the focus on Katrina and the Christmas story. I sent an essay to Christian Century a week ago. The editor I work with sent it back with a very gentle reply. Kind of a "Nice idea. Why don't you send it to me when you've finished it." sort of reply. But in the most gentle terms.

She was absolutely correct, as usual. It was a nice idea, but I was all over the place. With a second look at it, I can't believe I even sent it in. It's strange how sometimes you can't hear your own writing. You just can't hear it for some reason. And then someone says something and suddenly it's clear.

So yesterday I shut myself in an upstairs room at the church and swore I would not leave until it was done. Six hours it took me. (Okay, I did leave for lunch but came right back.) SIX HOURS! And that was just to fix something that I thought was done.

This thing called writing can be incredibly hard at times. Sometimes it just flows out of you and sometimes it feels like hammering a railroad spike into a wall with your forehead.

We'll see what CC says. One way or another, it will be online soon.

peace,

rlp

It's funny. I thought that when my kids got back into school, I would have all this extra time for writing. It hasn't worked out that way, but there are more important things that need to be done right now.

There are several shelters here in San Antonio. The biggest one is at Kelly Air Force Base. I understand there are about 20,000 people there. My friend Steve works at a smaller shelter which is designated for people with disabilities and serious health needs. A number of the people there are in wheelchairs. Some look to me like they might have been in nursing homes.

As we've explored the reality of this situation, our church building is probably not going to be suitable as a place for a displaced family to live. It's outside of town. No bus access. Very isolated. People need to be able to get around and get to schools easily. Amy and Michael Main have volunteered their home, so we've been waiting for the right family to come to us. Long time RLP readers know Amy and Michael as "Pepe and Evangelina." Michael has his own blog called, "The Main Point."

Tonight I got a call from a college and seminary friend, Kyle Henderson, who is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Athens, Texas. Their church is a shelter for Katrina victims who are in Athens. They had a woman and her three children there who were separated from their father. They found him here in San Antonio at Kelley Air Force Base, and someone from their church drove them here to be reunited with him. They are a hard working family and want to build a new life for themselves here.

The situation at Kelley is good as an emergency stopgap, but these people need personal help. I guess everyone needs personal help, but things have fallen into place and I guess we're the ones to help these folks. I spoke with the woman on the phone tonight. She's making arrangements with FEMA, and they will move into Amy and Michael's upstairs, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Their youngest boy will enroll in our high school and the older kids are looking for jobs and hope to enroll in college at UTSA in San Antonio.

Our church friends will help these folks put things back together and start a new life here. RLP donations are now at $2500. Steve needs some more money, so I plan to give him some more on Monday or Tuesday. And then we can use some of your money to help this family start their new life.

Again, thanks for your generosity.

This Broke My Heart

In the flurry of phone calls tonight, I tried dialing a 504 area code number that was given to me. I thought it was for someone who works with FEMA and was here in San Antonio. No one answered so I hung up. A couple of minutes later I got a frantic phone call from a woman with a beautiful and gentle Southern accent.

"Someone called my mobile number. Who is this?"

I told her that I was a pastor in San Antonio trying to get in touch with a family from New Orleans who are in a local shelter. She sounded very disappointed. She told me that she was from New Orleans and is sheltering in South Carolina. She can't find her fiancé and has heard nothing about him. Every time her phone rings she hopes it is him. We talked for a few minutes and she asked for prayer. I assured her that our church would stop for a moment next Sunday and pray for them. I asked if she had internet access and she doesn't, so Jeanene and I are trying to help her find him. His name is Kevin Lee LaRoque. He is 50. Here is the page the Red Cross setup for him. I've kept her phone number and would love to be able to call her with good news.

I know it's a long shot, but if anyone has time to run computer searches, maybe one of us will find him.

rlp

I'm reporting this in some detail because this good work came from YOU. Your donations helped today in a very tangible way.

Steve Davis of Baptist Child and Family Services and CERI (Children's Emergency Relief International) has been a friend of mine for about 15 years. He organized our recent trip to Moldova to work with orphans and other displaced children. Steve's base of operations is in Houston, but he has come to San Antonio for a few months to run one of the shelters for Katrina victims. Since I already knew Steve, I decided it would make sense to work with him.

The BCFS/CERI Shelter in South San Antonio

I called him on Monday and told him I had about $800 from RLP readers, along with a lot of volunteers from our church. "Tell me what you need," I said.

As it turns out, generous donations of clothing and diapers have made the shelter look like a thrift store. "No more clothes," he said. "What's needed is cash on hand for bus tickets and to handle the scores of individual situations that arise by the hour." From what I saw, most of the folks at the shelter were in wheelchairs and suffering from a variety of ailments. Steve quietly mentioned that a critical need for adult diapers had arisen, among other things.

That's all I needed to hear. This morning I put $400 cash into his hand and said, "Use it for all the little things you are going to need over the next week or so. I'll check back with you later. (Don't you love it when there is absolutely NO red tape? You gave the money to me. I found a good way to use it. I drove over and put the cash in his hand!)

Steve at the check-in station

"We also could use some help with laundry," he said. "We have folks who have clothes, but they have no way to wash them." You know, I never thought about laundry. If you have a shelter full of people, the laundry needs alone are huge.

So it seems our church is on laundry duty. I loaded up bags of laundry and brought them to our Wednesday night meal. I asked people to grab a bag or two. I'll collect them tomorrow and bring them back Friday. What Steve needs, we will do. Whatever needs to be bought, I'll use the rest of your money to buy. I'll call him Friday morning and see what he needs before I head down there with the clean laundry.

Yours Truly With Our First Load of Laundry

I'm so grateful for your generosity! I'll keep you posted on what's happening.

rlp

Because we are so close to the the Gulf, Texas is blessed to be able to help in very tangible ways. I understand we have 250,000 people in Texas looking for help, money, jobs, a new life. All the major cities are in crisis mode with such a large influx of people in need. San Antonio is right in the thick of it.

I'm in contact with a friend who will be working for the next few months trying to help the families pouring into San Antonio. Steve works for a children's agency in Houston. He has been assigned to San Antonio, along with a number of others. It looks like I'll be able to spend at least one day a week working at the shelters. I'm glad to get a chance to do some "hands-on" work.

I've received over $700 from rlp readers, which is wonderful! I am fortunate to be your hands and your arms as we reach out to do good in the world. I called Steve this morning and said, "I've got money from rlp readers. What do you want me to do with it?" He's going to call me later today and tell me what the most critical need is in that moment. I'll jump up, go to the store, and make our delivery.

It turns out they may be okay with diapers and baby supplies for now. There is a real need for money to buy bus tickets for people who have family in other parts of the country who will take them in. They just need a bus ticket to get there. So it looks like the first batch of money you sent may go to help people get to places where they can stay and rebuild their lives. We'll see.

God bless you for your generosity!

I'll keep you informed of what you and I are doing together. I'll post some pictures if I can.

peace,

rlp

As the week went by, I became more and more uncomfortable with the idea of having a "normal" worship service today. I couldn't bear the idea of doing our normal things and then praying for the victims of Katrina somewhere in the middle of the service. So we began our worship by talking about what we can do. It felt right. I felt good about praying after we had pledged ourselves to be involved with tangible, physical needs.

So here's what our church is going to do. Four things.

First, displaced and homeless people are being sheltered in a couple of locations in San Antonio. At Kelley Air Force Base and in an unused mall. The need for baby supplies is critical. So we are going to gather diapers, bottles, formula...you know, baby stuff. Someone will drive it directly to one of those locations on Tuesday.

Second, Jeanene's hospital already has patients from the Gulf region. Some are from hospitals in New Orleans. Others are people with health needs that became critical after they left town. Many of them came in with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and more are coming. Jeanene's hospital needs clothing for these people.

We're going to put together outfits in bags. Pants, underwear, socks, and a shirt in each bag. Jeanene will be taking those to the hospital all week long.

Third, we are going to approach one of several possible organizations that is pairing homeless families with host homes. We don't know the details of how this will work yet, but one family in our church has an upstairs area in their house that is vacant. They have volunteered. Our education building has showers and could perhaps house a family or even two if needed. We'll just have our bible studies elsewhere for the time being. We'll begin the process by connecting with an organization that is helping to make this happen, but we don't know when this will take place.

Fourth, we will want to provide food and supplies for any families that end up with us, so everyone in our church is encouraged to buy a few extra goods at the store when shopping. These will be put in a pantry at the church for families that end up at our church or at one of our homes.

In the event that we do not get to host a family, we'll simply donate the food to someone who does have a family.

I have gotten emails and comments from people far away who would like to be a part of this. No problem. Just click the "Support RLP with Paypal" link, (top left) and make a notation in the comment area that you wish your gift to be used for families in need.

I will take your money and go straight to the store to buy baby supplies, food, or clothing for people that we are helping. Every cent will go to a family in need. As things progress, I'll keep you posted on what happens.

This is the way it will get done. One family at a time.

rlp

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

                                                 Matthew 25:34-40

As we all know from watching endless hours of CNN, the disaster along the Gulf of Mexico is bigger than anyone imagined. Many hard questions are being asked of our government. It is hard for us to understand how we can be so efficient at war, but take days to respond in force when people are in desperate need in one of our own cities. That's a good question to ask, and it WILL be asked in days to come.

But let's set that question aside for now.

Right now we need to know what we can do to help. Large agencies will handle the relief efforts in large ways. The Salvation Army, The Red Cross, and others will be tackling the many large problems that are coming and are here now. Thank God for them. They need our help and our generous donations.

As each displaced family begins to try to build anew, what will be needed are smaller groups of people who can help one or two families. In the weeks, months, perhaps years to come, each family will have their own set of needs and challenges. That's where you and I come in.

Tomorrow morning our worship service will center largely around how our small church is being called to help. I don't know what we will decide to do, but I'm of a mind to take care of that business before we take care of the business of praying, singing, and preaching.

I am not the president of our church. I am not in charge of decisions like this. I am but one of the servants of Christ. So I can't tell you exactly what we are going to do. I can tell you that my wife went to her hospital today and worked for 8 hours. (She is a chaplain) She and the other employees of Southeast Baptist Hospital met individuals, not statistics. One older man arrived with nothing but the clothes on his back. He has no idea where his wife and family are. Jeanene opened the plastic bag where his clothes were stored and was stunned by the awful smell. He hadn't changed his clothes since the hurricane hit. They got the sizes off the tags and took a quick survey. One nurse said, "That's my husband's size." She left immediately, went home, and came back with an armful of clothing.

This is the kind of thing that needs to happen. And it will happen. We are a generous people at heart. I believe that.

Our church has a building with showers. We could house people there. Since we live in San Antonio, we are already getting refugees. Houston has the more immediate and dire needs, but we'll do our part. I've gotten emails from Real Live Preacher readers, wondering how they can help. Certainly you can give money to the large relief organizations. You'll have no trouble finding them. God bless you for that.

Tomorrow I will tell you what Covenant Baptist Church can and will do. If you desire to help some individuals, there will be a way for you to do that through us.

I'll write again Sunday evening and tell you more.

rlp

On Thursday some of the people who visit here regularly gathered in the chat room to pray. I didn't organize it or plan it, nor was I involved in any way other than as a simple participant. This sprang naturally out of the friendships that have grown in the chat room. I can't tell you how happy that makes me. I dropped in that evening and found people talking about the disaster on the Gulf coast. Every once in awhile someone would write a prayer and others would respond.

Our Christian spiritual tradition teaches us that the prayers of the people are powerful and matter in this world. Sadly, we often think of prayer as something to be done at a formal moment, like in church or at the table. Others get bogged down in thinking about what prayers do or do not do. That's often been my problem.

Praying is a simple thing. Turning one's heart and mind toward the source of goodness. The exact mechanism by which prayers work is unknown. Nor do we know much about how God does or does not work in our world. Clearly we are often left to struggle and grow through great evil and times of difficulty.

I find that it helps my spirit to gather with other people who are worshipping at the altar of goodness and mercy. We call that altar the very being and presence of God.

Here are a couple of prayers that were offered in that chatroom that evening. I'm posting them at the request of those who were there.

[name changed] 10:08 pm: Our wondrous Creator, in recent days we have been shocked by the devastation from mindless forces of nature. The great evil we see makes us wonder if you really have anything to do with our lives here on earth. We wonder if you truly care about us as individuals. What we read in the scriptures seems impossible based on what we see in the world. (more coming...)

[name changed] 10:09 pm: In times like these we pray out of devotion, commitment, and in obedience to Christ, who prayed like a little child. We pray even if we despair. (more coming...)

[name changed] 10:10 pm: Be with our brothers and sisters in the gulf coast areas. They are struggling to survive. They are grieving those who did not survive. And they are facing the kind of evil that comes when selfishness reaches it's deepest levels. Surely we know the presence of evil in this world. (last bit coming...)

[name changed] 10:11 pm: Bless and keep them in the middle of this tragedy, we pray. And shore up our faith for it fails us sometimes. We are weak, though we would be strong. Do not forsake us, but strengthen us so that our living would be as full of love as our praying. Amen.

[name changed] 10:12 pm: Amen
[name changed] 10:12 pm: Amen
[name changed] 10:12 pm: Amen. That was lovely.
[name changed] 10:12 pm: amen.

[name changed] 10:20 pm: Oh, Spirit of Justice and Mercy, let us be wise as we begin to find answers to the question "Why?" Let us be careful in who is held accountable, but let us also be unflinching in seeing what needs to be seen. Oh, dear God, let us not cry "Peace, Peace" in the face of war. Let us not hide our eyes. Free us from apathy. Free us from powerlessness. Free us from our fear. Let us be strong and good and compassionate and welcoming. Help us, O God of Peace and Love, be a part of building a better world. A world that you can be proud of. A world that we can be proud of. Help us remember that the Kinship of God is within us. Amen.

[name changed] 10:25 pm: Amen

rlp