A team of 6 from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection (Clockwise from left – Doug (Team Leader) , Woody, Ed, Carl, Melissa and Terry) spent a week south of Houston helping with Disaster Relief from the damage caused in Sept, 2017 from Hurricane Harvey. Five of us left early Saturday Feb 3 for the 12+ hour drive through Oklahoma City, Dallas and Houston. Woody met us there as he was already in Texas.
We stayed at the very nice vacant parsonage of the First Methodist church in Angelton, TX – sleeping on cots and air mattresses. We went to 2 church services Sunday morning, and the congregation prayed over us for a successful trip. They also set up a TV for us to watch the Super Bowl, and provided us a big dinner one evening. The “Heart” is in the center of Angelton.
We worked on a house in Danbury TX. The house is 3 – 4 miles from the nearest river, but was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. We met the homeowners, Gordon and Tiana and their 15 year old daughter, who shared their story of the Hurricane and the flood. Being 3 -4 miles from the nearest river, they did not have flood insurance, and lost about everything. Volunteer teams helped them muck out their house in September, and remove 2 – 3 feet of sheetrock and paneling and insulation, then clean out and spray for mold. The family has been living with half walls since then. The Texas Conference of the United Methodist church is working to obtain grants and donations, and schedule volunteer teams to help the family rebuild.
We spent the most part of the first day on “demolition” – removing paneling, sheetrock, nails and stapels, and preparing the house for sheetrock. Gordon and Tiana worked along with us (the daughter was in school) . We ate lunch with the family most days and on occasion was joined by staff from the Texas Conference.
Woody was our “ace” at measuring and cutting sheetrock. Tiana was wondering how the sheetrock mud tasted (she didn’t actually taste it). We stayed energized with Buc ee’s treats. (A south Texas tradition)
We presented the family with a red team shirt with words of encouragement, and signed by each team member – to let them know we’ll continue to be praying for them. #lotsoftears
Our last day was spent hanging the last of the 168 pieces of sheetrock, and then taping and mudding each seam and screw hole.
The daughter was so excited to have walls! She wrote her favorite verse on her wall, and we all wrote our favorite verses.
The team packed up Friday night, and left early Saturday morning. Team “Men in Black (and one sleeping)” drove 12+ hours home. It was 60 degrees in Houston, and 15 degrees in Kansas City when we arrived home. A foggy mist forced us to stop an hour from home to get more deicer. Melissa stopped in Dallas to visit a college with her son, and Woody headed back to his winter home.
The Texas Conference will continue to schedule teams and contractors to complete the house. Tiana shared … “I cried for weeks at night… so overwhelmed… and then I stopped crying … as I was just numb. Last night I cried because I now have hope”. #hopematters Tiana promised that she would keep us updated through the progress.
