San Angelo Flood Relief Continues

By CHRIS DRIVER
Baptist Progress Editor

It has been over a month since the massive flooding across the state of Texas. A lot has been done in way of relief for those impacted in July, but the work is far from complete. The BMA Disaster Relief team from Just the Crumbs (JTC) ministry has been on the ground in San Angelo since the beginning and has made a huge impact on the community alongside Grace Temple Baptist Church, San Angelo.

The cleanup continues in flood ravaged San Angelo

Lavon Haden, founder of JTC reports that they are feeding 250+ meals and almost a pallet of bottled water a day to individuals and families still struggling to get back in their homes more than a month since the floods.

To add to the struggles, it has recently come to the attention of Haden and his team that the water in several of the areas has tested positive for E. coli bacteria, rendering the water undrinkable and unusable. Haden explains that the positive test for E. coli means that people in the affected areas cannot even wash their hands until it is treated and tests clear.
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“We are in desperate need of for water. We gave out an entire pallet of bottled water today and expect that to continue until the water gets usable again,” says Haden.

But the meals and water are only part of what JTC is doing in San Angelo. They are also leading teams of volunteers out into the homes of the flood victims in an effort to get the homes livable as fast as possible.

“We are working in the areas that were flooded. While there wasn’t a lot of exterior damage to the homes or trees down, the houses were completely flooded and are unlivable until they are gutted and mucked out,” explains Haden.

Haden describes the area as being heavily populated with seniors who are renting their homes. Many of them are waiting on landlords to get their homes ready to move back in but because of the widespread nature of the flood, that will be a while. So, JTC is doing their best to serve them with hot meals and prayers.

But JTC is not alone. Standing side by side with them day after day are volunteers from Grace Temple, San Angelo. Led by pastor Chris Sweet, the people of Grace Temple are serving and loving on the people of San Angelo.

Lavon Haden making it happen

Everyone has a job to do

Grace Temple is the staging area for the JTC food distribution. Volunteers from Grace Temple are not only faithfully handing out meals and water every day, they are taking the time to minister to the spiritual needs of this community that has been so devastated by the floods.

“Our best interactions have come as we pray for people after they have been handed their meal,” says Sweet. As cars come by, the people of Grace Temple offer the opportunity to pull aside and be prayed for. Over the last month, these prayer requests have given them more opportunities to minister to people in their darkest hours and to hear testimonies about how their efforts and their prayers are making a difference.

“We had one couple return to celebrate with us about finding a job after we had taken the time to pray for it the day before,” beams Sweet. He goes on to say, “We had another family come through who didn’t have electricity. Their house was pretty much ruined. As one of our members spoke with them, and then prayed with them, he followed up by calling one of our other members who is an electrician. The electrician went over to help. The woman was worried they couldn’t afford the work he had to do. To which our member simply said, ‘You won’t need that much. I’m donating my time.’”

Volunteers getting the meals ready to go

250+ hot meals going out every day in San Angelo

Volunteers getting the meals ready to go

Volunteers loading up meals to take into the community

Hot meals and big prayers

The church also found out someone had been getting a meal and then turning around and selling it to a woman for $5. So the church prepared her a meal and took it to her and gave her $5 for the previous day’s meal. She came to the church and brought a thank you card that told her story of living in San Angelo for five years and having never been treated so good as she has since the people of Grace Temple have been ministering to her. Pastor Chris fully expects the stories to continue to come as they continue to be faithful to not only minister to the physical needs but to the spiritual needs that have come in the wake of this devastating flood.

But Grace Temple and JTC cannot do this alone. They need our help. Texans help Texans. But more than that, BMA of Texas churches never back down from a chance to come to the aid of our own.

There is a big need for water, monetary donations and volunteers to help with the kitchen duties and home clean-up. If you can help or would like to know more about how to help, go to www.bmaglobal.org/disasterrelief or contact Mike Angus at 228- 669-1108 or Beth at 662-582-6667.

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