Houston Deployment - Oct 2017

It's been a week since I have been home from Houston and I am still trying to process all that God did on this deployment. 
First of all, meeting and working with a new team of Chaplains and Chaplain Coordinators each time is such a blessing.  To learn and glean from the experience of others is priceless.
    
I know it is not about numbers, it is about people, but there is such a need for God's love and hope in these situations that just my partner and I probably prayed with over 100 people (a conservation number), and we had 4 people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!  We were able to bring hope to people that have lost everything and were at the end of themselves.
    
Before the beginning of the year I felt that God was leading me not to commit to any mission trips this year, but to keep myself open for deployment with the Rapid Response Team.  This was hard for me because I love missions, and this year my church was not only sending teams back to South Africa and possibly Thailand, but they were adding a trip to Lebanon.  Still, I stayed obedient and it wasn't until the end of August when the weather reports were telling of major hurricanes on the horizon, that I started to see why.


What is not hard is finding that through my first deployment last year to Baton Rouge, I found my hearts real passion!  Broken and hurting people are everywhere, and hearing the testimonies at church this morning by the team that just returned from South Africa reminded me of that.  It doesn't matter if you are half-way around the world in Durban...

...down south in Houston, Tx....

...or right here at home....

People need the Lord, and we just need to make ourselves available to be used by Him!  The really beautiful part, and I know the Africa team can attest to this, is that language isn't even a barrier.  Three of the salvations and prayers we had were Spanish-speaking home owners (two of which spoke no English at all, and one with broken English), but we were able, with some SP volunteers who spoke it to communicate.

Also, what I found amazing, is that even though I was prepared for some of the people we encountered to be angry with God for the disaster, none were!  They were not bitter or angry.  For the most part they were just thankful that their lives were spared and told us repeatedly that is was "only stuff".  Still, it was 'their stuff' and they knew that most of it couldn't be replaced.  We could only attribute this attitude to God's grace.

So, the biggest takeaway I see here is not to forget those that are suffering loss, trauma or even abuse need our continued prayers, and whenever the door is open to "go into all the world", then GO!

Until next time.......God speed!