Imagine you turned on the television and your mayor was telling you to "get your butt out" of town. You had a few hours to pack up 2 suitcases worth of stuff and get on a plane. What would you take?
I walked into church this morning and my heart just broke. Our church is one of 3 in Nashville that was a Red Cross shelter for Gustov evacuees - and they sent us 2 more busloads than we had capacity to house. People were laying in the hallways, kids sleeping on suitcases, it was wall to wall people. They'd traveled all night and arrived in the early hours of the morning.
Fortunately the overflow was soon loaded back up and bussed out to MTSU. But there are about 200 people who now call our gymansium "home." They have no idea how long they will be there. They packed 3 or 4 days worth of clothes. And by mid afternoon they were bored silly.
So we went home and gathered up a bunch of board games, old magazines, construction paper and crayons. My daughter and I made a Dollar General run and bought some crossword puzzle books and word searches. We returned to the church and set up a kids area with videos and just listened to people tell their stories.
I'm blessed to be part of an amazing church that just opens their doors and takes care of people. From ESL classes to JFON clinics to housing for traveling youth groups, our congregation truly does live out the United Methodist slogan of "Open Minds. Open Hearts. Open Doors." But no matter how many people we had up there working to feed, clothe, and clean our guests, no one could give them what they really needed. We couldn't tell them where their friends and family were. We didn't know who had gotten out and who had stayed behind. We couldn't give them the comfort that everything and everyone was going to be ok back home.
So we wait. And while we wait we listen, we play, we encourage and we pray.
18 comments:
The opened doors of your congregation really shows the true meaning of fellowship, regardless of belief systems. Well done.
Hmmmm Medicines, insurance papers, ID's, Ipods, laptops (even if I couldn't use it at least it would be with me and not destroyed) clothes, blanket or stuffed animal for each kid ( they are teenagers but in that situtation I would imagine they'd need something from home just like the little kids. credit cards, the cash in my Nashville Fund LOL, phone numbers, checkbook, pictures of the house and yard, probably as many pictures as I could grab out of frames. First aid kit.
Now if I was driving to evacuate, every single one of my scrapbooks would be in the back of my truck. Along with pillows, sleeping bags, along with everything mentioned above.
From past experience, how can you not leave??? The city and govt are just not in a better place, yet. However, I did see that now it was mandatory to evacuate your pet with you--Yeay!
Good list Pammy... I wouldn't have even thought about things like insurance papers.
A friend at church has parents in Slidell, LA. They weren't leaving because they had 5 dogs and no way to take them with them.
I guess there are reasons for staying, but I just can't imagine what would be that big of a reason for me.
but they'll evacuate your pets with/for you. They showed on the news how they tagged you and your pet, so they couldn't lose you. They even had crates and a semi with ac. Could that just have been in new orleans?
Joyce,
I tired to think of the things we've carried with us every time we've moved. 15 moves in 25 years......you get pretty good at knowing what to carry with you. LOL
The one thing I forgot to mention was our cellphones and chargers.
Great blog post Joyce. We are in the heart of Evangeline Parish and are staying at the in-laws up the road. My hubby works at the prison and I work at the paper, so we couldn't leave. My hubby will likely be stuck riding out the storm at the prison while I am at his parents' house. We will be getting hit hard, but by the time it reaches us in central LA, it will be down to a cat 1 - still bad. I have things packed and ready to go and will head over to the in-laws early in the morning before it hits the fan.
My friend, who now lives in New Iberia, came up to stay at her parents' home during the storm. God only knows what she will go back to down there after this is over with.
Obviously, this will be my last post for a while. We will be out of power for at least a week - probably more. I'll post and let you guys know how things are as soon as I possibly can. Please pray for everyone. This will be U-G-L-Y!
Heather
I really hope all the people here who lives in the Gustav area will be alright!! I will pray for them.
I would have packed all my pics, especially from the kids where younger thats not on my laptop. My laptop, cellphone, iPod, Insurance papers, my meds.
Some clothes for the next days, I would have gone thru my house to she what I really couldn't replace and grabbed that. If I had room for it, I would have taken my Garth backpack with all my Garth stuff in. All the chargers I needed. Camera.
I think my suitcases are stuffed already ;)
And I had to do something about the two horses. I would have had to get them to a safe place. But I don't think I would have risked my life or my kids life for them. Sorry horsey.. Love them, but kids are definitely first!
Wonderful that you and your church are helping out, J. It must be hard to witness the distress of so many other people.
I am not sure I would pack the right things. Never been in a situation like that. High on my list would be the Nintendo DS Lites for the kids. That will keep them busy for a while.
J, Bless your heart for what you and your church is doing to help. For those of you with Directv, they are broadcasting WDSU from New Orleans on channel 361.
Stay safe Heather! We're definitely keeping you and Mary Ann & J.D. and everyone down there in our prayers!
Oh -- and XM 247 was broadcasting the New Orleans radio station -- not sure if they're still on the air this morning.
What a wonderful thing you and your church are doing for the evacuees.
Having never been in a possible evacuation situation, I've never given a thought to what I would pack and take. The suggestions from the others here are excellent.
To Heather and Maryann and all the others in the path of Gustav, my thoughts are with you.
A good thing to invest in is a fireproof lock box. We have 2; one has our passports, birth certificates, wills, all important papers in one handy box with a carry handle. The second one has all my photo negatives in it.
J, Thanks for the tip on 247. They are doing a great job in getting info out.
Just wanted to let everyone know we made it through with no major damage - just the expected tree limbs and a few fallen roof shingles. We got power back at my house yesterday - so I had a lot of cleaning to do and a ton of piled up laundry LOL! But my area was among the hardest hit and many were not so lucky. I got a ton of pics of the damage while driving around for the paper.
Now, we are waiting to see what Gustav's evil btorther Ike will do next week. UGH!
J.D. and I made it back today from Spring Hill, Tennessee. I pack my van with all my important papers, as many pictures as I can carry, and for the last three years I have made photo CD's so I always take those and they do not take alot of space. We also make a picture of each room of our house and I have an appliance file with information for any appliances I have purchased. That is important for flood and home owner's insurance. I also always take my two GB books. I also take two family bibles. We have a van so this besides clothes, medicines, and toiletries all fit inside. I did move some items to the top floor of my son's house because it is just impossible to take everything. I also use space bags to pack clothes and that saves room. You can tell I have done this a few times in my life.
Joyce, your church is doing a wonderful thing. If it were not for the many faith based groups that came to help after Katrina, many people, especially the elderly, could not have come home.
J.D. and I made it back today from Spring Hill, Tennessee. I pack my van with all my important papers, as many pictures as I can carry, and for the last three years I have made photo CD's so I always take those and they do not take alot of space. We also make a picture of each room of our house and I have an appliance file with information for any appliances I have purchased. That is important for flood and home owner's insurance. I also always take my two GB books. I also take two family bibles. We have a van so this besides clothes, medicines, and toiletries all fit inside. I did move some items to the top floor of my son's house because it is just impossible to take everything. I also use space bags to pack clothes and that saves room. You can tell I have done this a few times in my life.
Joyce, your church is doing a wonderful thing. If it were not for the many faith based groups that came to help after Katrina, many people, especially the elderly, could not have come home.
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