CSM Boots On The Ground in Texas

Aaron and team from Birmingham in Texas on recent disaster relief trip 

In response to the flooding in Texas after the hurricane, CSM sent Housing Ministry Project Coordinator Kirsten Agee and her husband Tim to Texas to prepare for CSM Housing Ministry Director Aaron Parsons and a work team from Magic City WoodWorks. They traveled together from Birmingham to be there the entire following week to help partner ministries by installing sheetrock at Hillcrest Baptist Church and repair damage on KeeKee Youman’s house.

Kirsten shared, “We were expecting the area to look like New Orleans with all the blue tarps but it wasn’t like that.  We did notice that a lot of businesses were closed and small piles of debris at the road so either they got the cities cleaned up fast or there wasn’t as much flooding in the areas we went through.  The hotel we stayed in had damage on the 1st floor but the rest of the place was functioning fine.

Kirsten Agee

We got the tour of Hillcrest Baptist Church by their young pastor. They had no damage in the sanctuary which was certainly a God thing since every other building had flooding. They had already done all the gutting necessary for the repairs to be done. They had an electrician in to check the wiring and they got the ‘ok’ to install the sheetrock in every area except their oldest building. Sadly, they are going to have to bring that building up to electrical code before anything else can be done in there, which was not an expense they were counting on. Part of our team finished installing all the sheetrock except in their offices.

Next we went to KeeKee’s house to assess it so we could purchase the materials needed to do her repairs. We determined the only storm damage she had was to her roof as it was leaking in a few places.  The other damage to her house was from several leaking windows that had a lot of rot around them.  We decided that if we didn’t help her, no one else was going to. Tim figured all the materials the team would need and we headed off to Home Depot – a mere ½ mile away. When we asked about a delivery to be made in the next few days they just laughed. HD was about four weeks out on deliveries, so we had to shuttle the materials ourselves. Six trips later, everything was at her house awaiting the team.

That afternoon we went to assess the house of one of the Hillcrest church family. They had about 2 feet of water in their home during the storm. They had already gutted the damage and were ready for work to be done. Unfortunately, they did not have flood insurance. They said they had lived there 50 years & never had flooding. Tim figured up the materials they would need so they could price it out and make a plan. They said they would just have to work at it as they had the funds. Meanwhile, this sweet woman is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and had just had surgery. We were sad to leave them, but learned that the damage in Texas is deeper and more difficult than the eye can easily see.”

Aaron was so moved by the experience in Texas. Most of these guys who traveled to Texas had come to MCWW to learn a trade. Part of their training is to see what it is like to serve, which is why they decided to do this trip with Aaron. He says that at first the guys were hesitant about the work involved, so he broke them up into groups to work on different projects. Aaron was able to work with the same guys the whole time on the roofing and had a great time to watch them enjoy serving while working hard and well. They had Bible study in the evenings where the guys would give examples of things that touched them during the day. The mission was intended to not only serve, but also to minister to and alongside the team from MCWW in a way that was life-giving. The church also served them by feeding them, giving them a taste of Texas.

When KeeKee shared her story of what all she has been doing since the hurricane and how she has been serving so selflessly, the work crew from Birmingham was overwhelmed at how much she had sacrificed to help others after the storm. Giving her contact information out to neighbors in need, she basically gave up her life for the six weeks following the storm. After hearing her story, the team felt that it was a really good reason to be there serving. Then the church leadership told them that the work they completed in two days would have taken the church team three weeks. They were so very thankful for that, and the crew was humbled to have served them.

Aaron laughed, "Fifteen guys in a house with one shower…  It was fun. Every evening was a lottery to get in the shower. Part of the bonding process was staying together. Several of the guys are interested in doing work with CSM in Birmingham. Made some great friends. It was an incredible trip."

Magic City WoodWorks posted after the trip, “This time last week our team was in Port Arthur, TX. We had the honor of serving an amazing family and church who put it all on the line during the recent hurricane that hit Houston and surrounding areas so hard. We went down to help but quickly realized that our team greatly benefited as well. We had a blast on our 11 hour van rides (yes, one van). We became roommates for a week. We stopped in Louisiana and ate alligator (cultural experience). We honked the horn like crazy passing state lines. We took our skills and talents and put them to work for our neighbors to the southwest and did our best to leave it better than we found it. Thanks to @csmission and RJ Mechanical for everything. If you have ever thought about shutting down your operation before to go serve after a catastrophe strikes, you should. It's an amazing double sided experience that we will cherish forever. Texas Forever.”

CSM is connecting resources with needs, and honored to be “boots on the ground” for the Body of Christ in many places.

Hurricane Alley

The day after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, we started receiving calls asking if we were going to collect donations and send supplies. Tracy said, “Wait. Wait and see where God is working and how we can work with Him.” Everyday there are overwhelming needs and we can jump to action in many different directions, or we can wait and pray and see where He is leading us.

By day two, we had connected with a national disaster relief agency who we have worked with in the past and who shares the same heart and mission of empowering the local church by providing support and logistical help when needed. This was the perfect group to partner with for these disaster relief efforts. They had workers in the affected areas assessing what was needed at each location so we could customize the supplies for them.

As you know, this has turned out to be an incredibly destructive hurricane season. We have had the opportunity to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico because of your generosity and support.

Twenty-four trucks were sent to Texas with locations in Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Baytown, Rosenburg, Texas City, and Nederland carrying 486,362 pounds of relief supplies! Nine trucks were sent to Florida with locations in Bradenton, Ft Myers, and Hialeah Gardens bringing 237,797 pounds of supplies ready to help the people. Members from our Housing Ministry team and CSM volunteers are on their way to Texas to help with some of the rebuilding efforts this week.

Last week, we sent a container to Puerto Rico with 14,000 pounds of critically needed supplies, including water filtration buckets and bicycles donated from individuals and Bob’s Bikes of Homewood. We are so honored to be a conduit for your outpouring of love and support to those in desperate need around the country.

A Storm of Volunteers and Donors

This month has brought about unique challenges for the Christian Service Mission family of volunteers and contributors.  We usually have projects and volunteers planned out months in advance, but this month's natural disasters led us to rely more heavily on maximum preparation in a minimal amount of time. As soon as Hurricane Harvey was projected to reach Texas, we started preparing the warehouse for the receiving, organizing and shipping of hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations to send to the victims in Texas. Partnering with the City of Birmingham, we collected over 600,000 pounds and have sent 29 trucks of various shapes and sizes to Texas and Florida filled with items needed to rebuild.

With that being said, our list of emergency and short-notice volunteers definitely came into play for the early part of September. We had 250 volunteers from all over taking time off of work and school to work with us in the effort to connect all of these resources God placed in our hands (and in the warehouse) with the needs created by this disaster. Churches sent their staff members, youth leaders, and pastors.  Businesses sent their employees. Parents brought their kids.  The warehouse has been in non-stop motion for the last two weeks with volunteers unloading donations from trucks, sorting items in our warehouse, and loading them back onto trucks to send out to multiple cities in Texas.

 

The relief response has been a beautiful demonstration of how CSM connects resources with needs in a Gospel-centered and Gospel-focused way.  Families, organizations, churches and individuals donated tangible resources like canned goods, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, and money. Individuals that had available time or those that decided to make time to help others showed up to lend a hand. Truck drivers and owners of trucking companies donated tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and whatever else they had to bring to our warehouse. The donations were transported to Texas and distributed to the churches, faith-based organizations, families and individuals that needed them most. And now we are doing it all over again in Florida.

God is an awesome God and his servants are some awesome people!  Thank you all for your donations and support that help us reach people affected most by these storms as they seek to start life anew in the midst of tribulation and devastation.Please contact us if you would like to assist with the remaining disaster relief work we are coordinating and resourcing. michaelb@csmission.org

 

 

  

 

 

Donors have come from corporations, individuals, families, and even children collecting supplies to help out. They have driven from Huntsville and Talladega in rented trucks, borrowed vehicles, and even horse trailers. Whatever they could find to deliver supplies here! We are honored to receive these supplies and want to be good stewards of all that was collected with care and brought here. We tried to capture all the smiling faces but missed many because so many donations were coming in. What a blessing! Here are some of the people who helped collect and transport donations to CSM!

Blount County Pharmacy

Top Trails near Talladega

Unity Baptist Church, Kimberly

Friends from Huntsville

Guiding Light Church

Pell City Police Department

Arian Jack and friends

Hoover Fire Department

Gardendale First Baptist and Fire Rescue

Universal trucking company and volunteer driver taking donations to Houston!

DEX.YP employees donated hygiene kits

Donations galore!

Ashley from 98.7 Jamz!

 

Oak Mountain High School

St. Vincent's Blount County

Boots On The Ground For The Body of Christ

At this time, we are still heavy into Texas and Florida disaster relief.
We have ministry partners invested in sharing needed assistance
and hope through the Gospel in Houston, Beaumont,
Baytown, Port Arthur and now in the Miami and Tampa areas.

This past weekend, we got to see how God works through His people. One of our partner churches got a call this past Saturday, requesting housing for 40-50 people from a church in Tallahassee, Florida who were escaping the storm, including pastors General and Tinisha Bryant with their kids and other church staff and members. One of our main ministry partners in the Tarrant area had just renovated a dorm-style facility with enough bed space for over 50 people. When Tracy went to check and see if it was possible to open that building for this group, already headed toward Birmingham, he found a large group of church members there cleaning the building! They had planned for a “serve day” a few weeks before, and the building was in tip-top shape. The only things needed were twin mattresses, towels and linens, and food to feed the guests.

Meanwhile, back at CSM, a full-size moving truck backed up to our dock to load supplies to take to Texas, but we had pretty much given all we had away. In the meantime, a semi-truck broke down near Gadsden on its way to Florida with relief donations. The Boy Scouts offered to unload the container so that it could make its way to where it was needed, and brought the contents to CSM. CSM staff and a few volunteers were (miraculously) still here (on a Saturday) to help unload when the truck arrived, and load the moving truck ready to deliver.

Tracy was still at the church trying to make a plan with the staff for resourcing the needs there, and got a call from that driver. He had left CSM with a full load, but had been stopped at the weigh station for being 14,000 pounds over. Tracy asked him where he was, and found that the driver was only one mile away! You guessed it, when they unloaded the extra weight, the contents of the boxes included new towels, linens, diapers and an abundance of food. We had mattresses back in the warehouse, and every single need was supplied. You cannot make this stuff up!

We can assure you that your donations are strategically delivering relief and encouragement to people through faith-based organizations. We will continue to collect supplies and donations for hurricane relief, invest in partners who are committed to the Gospel, and invite you to be the hands and feet of the Body of Christ with us.

Right Direction Christian Center Asst. Pastor and family from Tallahassee, FL

Benjamin and Kerry Ann Rapheal, Nicholas, Jakin (r) and Mary

Evacuees enjoying God's abundant and timely provision

Plenty of towels!

Items that saved the day

CSM Giving Back Through Disaster Relief

Willie loading pallet after pallet onto the trucks delivering relief supplies and food

The past year has been hard for our country, but the Lord has heard the prayer of His people. While families were busy celebrating Christmas Day 2015, a tornado devastated the Hopewell community of western Birmingham. CSM was able to mobilize over 700 volunteers and help collect and distribute 200,000 lbs. of food and supplies over several months, and the work still continues.

Louisiana floods hit the Baton Rouge region hard, and Birmingham responded with amazing support for the people. The City of Birmingham and CSM were able to collect and supply four semi-truck loads of supplies to communities there. Additionally, in partnership with organizations, churches and CSM partners, we sent two teams and five more trucks for a total investment of 150,000 pounds of requested supplies.

Supplies of water in abundance

Hurricane Matthew hit last week, and we have two trucks leaving next week to help in the relief efforts. We are partnering with churches, organizations, individuals and the City of Birmingham to meet the needs of people in North Carolina. We will serve our suffering neighbors with about 40,000 pounds of supplies.

Our primary ministry focus is responsible, sustainable care for our communities. But CSM spends about 10% of our time helping with relief efforts in our city, state and country. The Lord has blessed us with a great group of partners to be a part of the Living Gospel in these extreme circumstances.

Since the super-storms of 2011, CSM has been able to mobilize thousands of volunteers and materials to help communities by unexpected disasters. 80,000 square feet of warehouse space and loading docks allow CSM to receive hundreds of thousands of pounds of food, with more than 1,000 pallets of resources typically in the Ministry Center at any given time.

With our expansive warehouse space, procurement abilities, and logistical experience, CSM is an ideal hub for the disaster relief process and has become the command station for the faith-based and broader community to immediately mobilize volunteers and resources when a crisis situation occurs. But it is your assistance and concern for others that makes it possible for CSM to respond to these needs, and we thank you!

Birmingham Police Academy volunteered to help