Tag: Church of Christ

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An Update from the Disaster Assistance Program

Tracy and Mike stop for a picture in between making lunches for locals and volunteers. By the time Alyssa, Tracy and I left Tuscaloosa, there had been over 36,000 lunches served out of that motor home

I like to pass these emails on to the website from time to time to just share what else is happening and how are other ways that we can all connect and help in each other’s lives.  I met Mike Baumgartner while we were in Tuscaloosa helping out at the Church of Christ food and distribution center.  He and his motor home have been all over the country since we last saw them at the end of June.  Currently Mike is in Bastrop, TX helping up with the clean up from the wild-fires that burned over 1554 homes at the beginning of September.   This fire, coming from one of the worst droughts that Texas has ever seen where some are mentioning that it could last up to fifteen years.   The Disaster Assistance team from the Church of Christ is always on the move and even if you aren’t from that particular church, it is still beneficial to take note of what other individuals are doing to help out in other communities.  I know when we helped out with them in Tuscaloosa, we weren’t the only volunteers there that didn’t have an affiliation with the church.

Here is Mike’s latest email….
Many thanks to the thousands of volunteers that have and are helping us. We feel your efforts are much more than a minimum wage estimate. We know that weather you help 1 hr, 1 day, 1 week or more that the time you give is PRICELESS!!!!!!!!

At the present time here in Bastrop, TX at the Bastrop Church of Christ there is only two full time mission groups that are he…lping. Disaster Relief(Nashville) is providing part of the supplies and Disaster Assistance CoC is working onsite 24/7 with the Elders on all phases of this relief effort(homeowner fire damage cleanup, meal prep, supply distribution and all volunteer coordination for these efforts). Like at our past mission works we plan on being here as long as the Elders of Bastrop CoC feel we are needed.

I also want to thank the Elders and the members here at Bastrop CoC for all there help and support. So many of them are here everyday to make sure things are running smoothly. Also many other churches have sent volunteers, supplies and funds to help this work Thank You Thank You Thank You.

As always we still need three things:

Your Prayers
Volunteers
Funds

To Volunteer or Donate go to: www.disasterassistancecoc.com

—
Mike Baumgartner
Disaster Assistance CoC
Combating Natural Disasters with Acts of God
281-881-1876
www.disasterassistancecoc.com

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The Lot

One of the volunteer opportunities that we felt a connection with while we were in Tuscaloosa was helping out with the lunch services and the distribution center at the Church of Christ in Forest Lake.  Despite the church being taken out of commission by the tornado, the church was able to use its resources and get a tent up to get people the house hold necessities required to keep moving forward with their lives as well as a mobile home that was built with a large kitchen in order to assist in disaster relief. Through this kitchen, we served residence and volunteers breakfast and lunches so we knew that people were getting fed.  In our span of assisting the church with their efforts, we served about 8,000 lunches.  

The main reason we kept going back to this particular spot to volunteer was because of the people that were helping out and it was the best possible way to get a one-on-one with the residence to hear what they truly needed.  Those are the moments that we heard the stories that aren’t told in the “success stories” that tell us that Tuscaloosa is alright.  These are the bold reminders that the residence need much more help still and that this can happen anywhere in our large community called the United States.

The other volunteers that we met while we were on the lot were from all over.  Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Texas, Florida, Georgia and so many other states.  The two men running the show were Mike and D.D.  D.D. became our friend instantly and ventured out with us every time we went out to explore Tuscaloosa.  Mike was the director of this particular motor home from the Church of Christ disaster assistance.  If you are interested to find out where he is headed next, you can email him at disasterassistance@gmail.com to get on his email list.

We also had a great chance to meet some of the congregation from the church.  Joe, Debbie and Claudia were our three continuous favorites and now that Alyssa will be down there for a while with her new job, she will be in contact with them.

These pictures are a montage of the people and work we were doing while volunteering at the lot.  This opportunity had such an enormous impact in our journey and we are so thankful for everyone we met while we were there.

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