8 Days of Hope
It has been on my heart since hurricane Ian hit my new home of Fort Myers to go and help the victims in need. The day it hit, I got surgery and my doctor recommended I don’t go into any toxic water. Today I finally got the opportunity to serve my fellow Floridians and it felt amazing! Not surprisingly, even after a month this area needs a lot of help.
Last week I went to summit church and they announced they were partnering with “8 Days of Hope”, a disaster relief non-profit, to help clear out peoples water logged homes. I signed up not really knowing what to expect. I didn’t know what a small group of people was really able to accomplish. I mean this whole coast was decimated! Billions of dollars worth of damage, could a churches congregation really make a difference?
This morning I was pleasantly surprised with a room full of 100+ people ready to go clear houses all day! These arn’t just people from Flordia, a lot of these people drove down from Ohio, Georgia, all over the east coast to come help this community! I was in Steves group and we got 2 houses completely cleared out.
As we worked getting everything out of these homes and on to the curb, we prayed, sung worship songs, and tried to picture if this was our homes how we might feel. Most of us, me included, couldn’t imagine something like this happening in our lifetimes to our houses and our stuff. One day there, next day completely ruined. As we pulled out peoples belongings and took out their walls to be replaced, I couldn’t help but to feel really grateful. I live less than 4 miles away and our house was completely unscathed. Not a shingle out of place. I thanked God I was able to use my physical abilities to help people feel hope after their lives being turned upside down.
Steve, our group leader, said he’s done over 50 disaster relief missions across the country and it brings out the best AND worst in people.
He told us a story of how people will goto victims houses the day after a hurricane and say they will clear away everything for 8 thousand dollars. After being paid, looking official with paperwork, they will just leave never to be seen again without doing any work! I feel blessed Jesus gave me the opportunity to have the time freedom and physical ability to help for free of charge!
The black line is the water line! Thats how far up it was sitting for days.
Before on 2nd house we did
After on 1st house we did
This was my first time volunteering in this capacity for people in need after a disaster and it was a great experience! Hard work, but well worth the effort. It was very fulfilling to hear the appreciation from the owners knowing that we made an impact in their lives. I plan to serve this way again in the near future. I highly recommend 8 Days of Hope if you are looking to serve or donate. They are very professional in how they handle these situations and the prayers before and after showed me that they truly were doing this for Jesus Christ. God bless you and I hope you were inspired by this blog to go serve yourself.
