Diaster Relief Bastrop and more

I received another call out for Diaster Relief feeding in Bastrop. On Thursday, Oct. 20, I arrived at the First Baptist Church annex on Highway 71 West of Bastrop. The huge yellow tent is our kitchen.

The cooking crew, which had been working for several weeks, was leaving. The first thing I was asked by the supervisor was if I was the new head cook. I recoiled, taken aback. I'd just come to help cook, not run the show!

This is the team that left the following morning, leaving me praying for reinforcements. We were feeding up to 100 volunteers who were assisting the owners of burned out homes to recover any valuables, clean ash and chard belonging from their devistated homes, and to cut and removed burned trees.

Volunteer units from Tennessee, Utah, California, Lousiana, Alabama as well as other regions of Texas had been assisting.

Up at 4;30 AM, we cooked in the tent and fed the volunteers inside the warehouse-like building before they started their day's work before the sun rose.

By noon my prayers had been answered and three volunteer cooks arrived, with two additional volunteers arriving before dinner.

Dish washing was done in another tent set up with huge plastic "horse troughs". We early risers had to be careful to gently shoo off a persistant skunk and his raccoon friends.


Monday morning before daylight and breakfast, I left Bastrop to drive to East Texas Baptist Encampment near Newton, Tx. Before leaving Bastrop I noted that Baptist volunteers had completed 172 cleanup jobs, had 190 job requests remaining and would be working until after the first of the new year. 392 contacts had been made to share the Love of God with 80 people giving their lives to the Lord.

More that 1,700 homes burned, but God is still in control.

As Isiah 61:3 says, God provides beauty instead of ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of dispair.

At the Newton encampent, within an hour of arrival, I was back in the kitchen. This time not in a tent.

I participated in several training classes including specialty feeding. Those of us wanting to learn more about feeding did all the cooking and cleanup under a master chef who donated his time and expertise.
Here, we are preparing to serve biscuits and gravy, and breakfast to about 100 volunteers who came to learn more about serving with Diaster Relief.

In addition to feeding training, I learned how to assist in mud out, the assessment and clean up done after a hurricane or flooding. "You Can Tell It" was a class on how to witness to the people we serve. In the evenings we had Bible study, singing and devotional time. How bless we all were with the teaching of Ryan Dalgliesh, a dynamic, inspriational and extremely knowledgeable speaker from San Angelo.

With all the cooking, it was a pleasure to wash dishes, pots and pans indoors with a sanitizer! And helpers.


I don't look forward to disasters, but I'm greatful to have had the opportunity to learn skills to help and serve in that event.

Christian Witnesses

The Golden Triangle area is readying for the 2011 Bill Glass campaign, Champions for Life.
The latter part of November and the first of December we will experience the love of the Lord as Christian athletes, bikers and others will rally to witness in 76 elementary schools and all the local prisons.

To kick off Champions for Life, Robert Smith pastor of Pinewood Baptist Church and the Cowboy Church on Highway 105 East of Sour Lake invited families to visit the cowboy church on Saturday. Isn't this cowpoke having fun!

We were entertained and enlightened by Zach Dishman, professional bareback bronc rider, who gave his testimony to an enthusiastic crowd. He talked about his faith as he has overcome many injuries, and trials of being a Christian in a sport that is "pretty wild". He encouraged everyone to follow their dreams.



After enjoying cowboy stew, lots of beans and hotdogs, the wanna'be cowboys toasted marshmellows for s'mores and sang
choruses along with guitars.

Devin Wyman, pro football lineman, was the keynote speaker for the kick off Champions for Life banquet. Devin played in the Super Bowl as a rookie defensive lineman with the Patriots and has played for other professional teams.

6'8" tall, weighting 335 pounds, he can bench press over 500 pounds and run th 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds.

Devin encourages kids to be successful and trust the Lord as he speaks in schools through out the country. He tells them then can make a "U" turn in their lives as he demonstrates folding a stainless steel skillet into a taco. He will be visiting area schools in November.

Bikers serve the Lord. Last Sunday I visited Pinewood Baptist Church to experience a biker rally. Over fifty bikers congregated at the church to worship and to listen to the testmony of"Big Al" Aceves.

"Big Al" was a ganster, drug abuser and frequently in prison. He grew up in an abusive family and on the streets of Los Angeles. After two tours in the Army in Viet Nam, he returned to a life of crime and started the Mongoul Nation motorcycle gang.
Through the persistance and love of a friend, "Big Al" accepted the Lord and made a complete turn around in his life. He works with other bikers in Christian bike clubs and at rallys. He has a Christian rehab for men on parole from prison.

"Big Al" was on his knees in prayer for the bikers' rally that left the church and rode to pray at area prisons in preparation for prison ministry in December.

We may not have exciting stories or be champions, but we all have a testimony of faith to share.

October Birthdays. 5,10 and 93 years young

Saturday, Oct. 1, we joined birthday girl, Gianna, her mom, Cora, baby sister, Genay, and a passel of little girls to celebrate Gianna's fifth birthday. The "Hello, Kitty"theme was well received with reverberating loud "Meows" coming from the jumpy house.

Gianna and her friends donned ruffley net tutu's and kitty-cat ears. Keeping an eye on running, squeeling little girls was a challenge, like herding cats!

Sunday, Oct. 2nd was my mother's 93rd birthday. We spent the day with my brother, Alan and his family in Lake Charles. We enjoyed worshiping at East Ridge Baptist Church where he is pastor, and then had a lovely meal with birthday decorations at their home.

Don't you love Great Grandma's tiera and Hawaiian bola!




Not to be left out, we also celebrated my niece, Julianna's 10th birthday at Alan's. Her birthday was actually on Oct. 1.

Granddaughter, Chelsea, who lives in Orlando also celebrated a birthday in September. She is now 17!

As for me, I no longer have birthdays.

Diaster Relief in Bstrop

Friday, Sept. 15, I was called out by Diaster Relief to travel to Bastrop, TX, and assist in feeding volunteers, firefighters, the Red Cross and victums of the devestating wildfires. Although the fires were by that time mostly contained, 130,000 acres of forest and fields had been been burned as well as from 1,700 to 2,000 homes distroyed. Bastrop State Park was smoldering. The smell of ash hung heavy in the still air.

In the center of Bastrop at the fire department I stopped to pray at this sculpture of a firefighter with hand written signs asking for prayer.
Winds had shifted preventing the town center from going up in flames.

In one subdivision that I traveled through on an Emergency Responce Vehicle, 600 homes were distroyed, leaving a very few homes still standing. Thirty-eight families, members of the First Baptist Church, had lost their homes. People told of escaping within minutes of the fires engulfing their homes.

This is part of the cooking team I worked with, cooking meals for 200, twice a day, under a tent in the heat.

The second photo is of Hank emptying chili from a tilt skillet into a cambro for distribution by the Red Cross.

Two of my new friends and co-workers play patty cake with oven mits in front of the convection ovens. We had to take breaks from the hot, heavy work and long hours.

This sign on the side of the ERV (Emergency Responce Vehicle) reads:

Complimentary Food provided by American Red Cross

Southern Baptist Texas Convention.

FEMA provided the food. We cooked and prepared it for distribution, and the Red Cross delivered meals to staging areas.

Karen is helping Frank load cambros (heavy insulated chests containing food) into the ERV. We sent out complete meals in clamshell containters with utinsels, and water to anyone who arrived at the feeding sites.

Frank is preparing to hand boxed meals through a side window to people waiting in line.

Tuesday the Red Cross pulled out. We had teams trained to make assessments and plan for recovery for anyone who asked for help. Teams with chainsaws, and teams trained to clean (called ash out) and restore property arrived to help. I returned home.

Please pray for these families and others who have lost thier homes to whildfires. Continue to pray for rain.

Campers on Mission

Days before tropical storm Lee threatened the Gulf coast, I received a callout for Diaster Relief to feed firefighters in the area West of Fort Worth. The deployment was canceled so I joined a group of Campers on Mission at East Texas Baptist Encampment for a work project. While the men remodeled the camp director's home and women painted, I worked in the kitchen.

Here I am joined by Chris, the camp cook, and Jan and Wanda in the dish room after preparing meals for 35 hungry volunteers. We began the day at 8:00 a.m. with prayer for the victums of Texas fires and others. The rest of the day I helped cook, serve and clean up after meals. After supper we had devotionals and song, and then played games until around 9 p.m.

On Thursday night, I presented a devotional on Isaiah 40:30-31. I asked the volunteers to look at their calling to serve and see where the Lord has verified that they were following His call.

When these unexpected moments hit us, we sometimes call it "A God Thing", as we all experienced Monday morning with clear blue skys and 50 degree temps after heavy rain, mud and the heat.

Interplanitary Race Relations

I don't ususally read about aliens, but this book, "Freedom Race", by Colleen Wait was different.

While tensions and issues of Earth prejudices (race, religion and culture) are being challenged and overcome by humans who believe that all people are created equal, and have basic freedoms, aliens descend to impose their theory of society divided not by race, but by color. The alien leaders have eliminated all religion, and accept no higher power, instead all needs and answers to society's problems are resolved by government leaders who rule with an iron hand.

Are we seeing something like this today? No true equality, no freedom, no individual rights, only government rule. Is the only reace, the human race, headed for extinction?

This book will challenge your thinking.

It may be found at

ColleenWait Writes.blogspot

Amazon.com

Smashwords.com

After the Storm

How many of you readers experienced the aftermath of a hurricane? A tornado? Have you ever tried to live without electricity: lights, TV, wifi, phones, computers? Does drinking water come out of your tap?You've probably never consideredbasic survival. Sactuary, will make you think.

Opps. I don't have a photo of the cover.

Those of us who have experienced the horrors of devistating hurricanes can relate to Claire in Sanctuary by Colleen Wait. Claire leaves a bomb shelter or storm celler to discover a decimated world devoid of humans, animals, and plants. Mountains of debris are all that remain of cities., no elctricity, running water, shelter, food or clothing, so similar to the aftermath of a hurricane or tornado. The wicked world has been distroyed; for what purpose does Claire remain?
Sanctuary is a story of survival, of learning to care for basic needs and the determination to make a new civilization under God that doesn't repeat the political and immoral past.

As I prepare and train through Diaster Relief for the eventual hurricane or other diasters, I found Sanctuary challenged my thinking.

Colleen's books may be found at:
ColleenWaitWrites.blogspot.com
smashwords.com
amazon.com/-/eB0052F5LXE