house blessing for lillian

Lillian, her brother-in-law and Tim

Friday night we blessed Lillian’s home in Galveston.  It was a wonderful time.  Lillian frequently expressed her gratitude for all the volunteers and their work.  She absolutely loves her new home and sees it as a place to bless others.  Both Lillian’s brother and brother in law are ministers, one in LaMarque and one in League City.  What a pleasure to meet and spend time with her family.  Lillian surprised us by having a meal afterward.  Apparently, the family also sings as a quartet.  They sang a beautiful version of “The Lord’s Prayer.”  It was wonderful.  There is nothing like the deep spirituality of the African American church- I loved experiencing it right in Lillian’s living room.

Lillian had just moved back into her home one month ago, 15 months after Ike hit.  She had been living with her daughter in Beaumont.  She told us stories of her suffering and of her strong faith.  She has trusted in God to provide for her, and she is more than blessed.  What a joy to be in her presence as she continually rejoices over her new home.  She was also incredibly blessed by each of the gifts from our friends in PA and NY-birdhouse from Randy, wall hangings from Liz, and a garden starter set from Ruth. 

To listen to Lillian’s family singing, click here:

Lee with Lillian's brother and sister

Gifts for Lillian

Lillian receives the birdhouse

Fellowship with Lillian's family

judy’s story

Judy is a 60-year-old woman who recently moved back to her condo in Galveston.  For the past many months, she has been living through DHAP in a Dallas apartment.  She has been quickly running out of finances paying the utilities on both apartments and recently also had the expense of moving back to Galveston as her DHAP was ending.  Her condo is liveable, but Judy says the exterior wall has been damaged and leaks.  Whoever repairs the condos replaced the sheetrock only and did not repair the exterior wall.  Judy says she can smell mildew in the apartment.  I truly can’t because of the cigarette smoke that my nose is much more sensitive to.  One of the construction managers will have to check it out to see if they can help.  Judy says her homeowners insurance won’t cover repairs, and she doesn’t have the money since she is on disability.  Judy had purchased  a new fridge the summer before ike hit, but the fridge was thrown out after the hurricane because there was food left in it.  Her stove is also not working.  Hopefully, we will be able to help Judy get a stove and fridge through the unmet needs committee.  We are taking her case there on Thursday and hopefully will have the appliances by next week.  Judy has been limited in what she can cook and how she can store it without a fridge.  She has been buying bags of ice, but it is getting expensive.  We are looking forward to helping her out of that part of the situation at least.  Judy is a great lady who was referred to us when Tim was calling pastors two weeks ago.  It is amazing how people get connected to us- what a blessing that we can find people who need help and by God’s grace provide for them.  🙂  God is good.

Judy and her two dogs Psycho and Goober

Moving back in

debris still visible 14 months after ike

Boat graveyard

The community around Harriet’s house is still laden with evidence of a recent hurricane.  Even though ike struck 14 months ago, it is amazing how many reminders of the storm still remain.  Across the street from Harriet’s house and just north on the street is a boat and camper graveyard.  Homes next door still have not been touched.  There are piles of debris and huge jungles on empty lots nearby.  These are just some of the physical reminders of the storm. 

The emotional toll of the storm is very noticeable in the stress of those we serve.  Harriet has been through a lot.  When she shares her story, she gets choked up and tells me of all her struggles.  Yet she is a woman who quotes Scripture frequently and lives by grace, trying to combat the stress around her.  The stress is noticeable in many others who have still not yet returned to their homes.  FEMA mobile homes will be taken away in March, and I have heard a few stories where people are being forced out earlier.  People don’t know where they will be living in less than 6 months.  I believe the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) is also ending 18 months after the storm.  There is another time of crisis and decision making coming for a whole bunch of people.  Please keep praying that God will help us find these people and deliver them from their situation and restore them to their homes. 

A group from Bellaire UMC in Texas continued the work at Harriet’s house on Saturday.  They removed the unsafe front porch, cleaned the yard, removed some broken fencing, and cleaned out a lot more of the house.  We are so grateful for all the volunteers and their help!  Slowly, they are removing more of the signs of damage and disrepair.  Soon the rebuilding will begin for Harriet.

Father, please help us remove more of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burdens that are on those affected by hurricane ike.  May we fill them instead with hope as we share your love.  Please send the workers to bring your freedom to these people.

Debris in the boat graveyard

Volunteers clean out the house

No more unsafe porch

Huge fallen tree in Harriet's backyard

 

 

tour of harriet’s house

For a tour of Harriet’s house, check out our lovely video.  Hope you’ll come to Galveston soon!  Maybe you’ll get to work on Harriet’s house…

You can also check it out on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfWYfQwZCEA.

harriet’s house

This week, I had the opportunity to finally meet Harriet, a lady whose story Tim told a few weeks ago.  She is a really nice 87-year-old woman who lived in the home below prior to Hurricane Ike.  Looks like the house had about 4 feet of water in it.  14 months after ike, the walls and floors are still covered with mold and mud.  We are looking forward to getting a team in there to clean it out.  It needs some serious work. 

I met Harriet Friday evening and also her son William who is currently sleeping on her couch.  Harriet shared with me about all of the suffering she has been through since the storm and how concerned she is about her son, who does not believe in God or have a job at this time.  After the storm, Harriet and William were separated, and he was living at her destroyed house.  When she found out he was there, Harriet went out to get him.  What a beautiful example of a mother’s love and a heartbreaking story of poverty.  Harriet is a woman of strong faith who is just waiting for God to provide for her.  She has very little resources  She makes less than $600 a month in social security, which is hardly enough to live on at all.  She is a very dear lady who faithfully attends a Methodist church in Galveston.  She had a fall from the bus in October and has knee pain as a result.  She sleeps on a matress and box spring on the floor and has very little furniture in her apartment.  She seems to be a good steward of her FEMA money and is just waiting for volunteers to help.  To me, her situation is heartbreaking.  Would I want to see Tim’s Nana in this situation ever?  No way!  And it would never happen because our family doesn’ t live in poverty.  But Harriet and her son do.  If you look at the pictures below, you can see the type of house she used to live in.  When you talk with Harriet, you can see how even providing food is a struggle for her.  She is a year behind on her taxes, and a case worker is looking in to having them paid, but if not, somehow Harriet says she will pay it herself.  What a dear lady.  With all the financial stresses of this past year, how can she possibly afford it?  Yet, she knows it is a step she must take to have her house repaired.  I am so blessed to be working with her and can’t wait to finish up her paperwork so that she can get some volunteer assistance.  Please keep Harriet in your prayers.

This Saturday, Alan and I met at the house to look at what needs to be removed.  Alan put plywood over the doors to secure the house.  The city had ordered the property to be sealed off in 15 days and her to start repairs within 90 days after a court hearing in October.  That just seems crazy to me, to have a hearing for an 87-year-old lady with such tight time constraints.  Anyway, God is providing for both of those things to happen.  But I wonder if there are others in a similar situation and how we can find them…

Harriet's house

Harriet's house sealed with plywood

Moldy front room of house

Side room of house

Moldy walls and floor

Nasty kitchen

Back rooms

telling the story

Hatboro Baptist Worship Team

Hatboro Baptist Church

Part of the time we were in PA, we also got to tell the story of Galveston.  Tim preached at Hatboro Baptist, and Tim and I spoke at Plymouth Valley Community Church’s mission night.  We have partnered with Hatboro on previous mission trips, so it was great to see many familiar faces there.  Tim went to nursery school at Plymouth Valley, and we also know the pastor and his wife from being part of the association.  Both congregations seem interested in helping out more on the Gulf Coast and are hoping to schedule relief trips soon!   We love telling the story of what God is doing in the Galveston area.  We are grateful for the many opportunities he’s given us to tell his story.  We are also grateful for the leadership who is so willing to let us share and be partners in ministry! 

Plymouth Valley Community Church

Tim's nursery school picture

 
Also ABCOPAD, the region American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware is putting together a trip for January.  Maybe you would want to partner with them and come down!  Check out the details at http://www.abcopad.org/Mission_Resources/GalvestonTexasMissionTrip.aspx.  Mark, who is the central area minister and website coordinator, has been doing a lot of work organizing it.  We are looking forward to seeing what God will do through this trip!

Mark also posted our presentation at Plymouth Valley on the ABCOPAD website.  We are very grateful he recorded it for us! 

Check it out: http://www.abcopad.org/Areas/PlymouthValleyHostsMissionariesTimAndJennSchwartz.aspx

Galveston Clergy Think-Posium

 

A couple of weeks ago we sat down with Pastor Bert from Moody Memorial UMC to discuss the community and recovery.  The discussion stirred my imagination and has since gotten me working on a couple of projects.  One of these projects is the Galveston Clergy Think-posium.   Pastor Bert spoke about how the clergy in Galveston really hasn’t worked together too much in the past.  So, we are working on the Glaveston Clergy Think-posium.  It is a luncheon on Nov. 2 for Galveston Clergy (we sent out 63 invitations this week – see below) that is intended to stimulate the imaginations and cooperation of the clergy.  We will provide a lunch for everyone that attends and give them a case study to read.  The case study is going to be about a family that we have encountered in recovery.  For the rest of the time together, we will brainstorm ideas about how to lift this family out of poverty.  Maybe if we could do it for one family, we could gain some ideas to apply to the entire island.  Here is the letter we sent out:

Dear Fellow Clergy Member –                                                                     October 6, 2009

You are invited to join us on November 2, 2009 for the first Galveston Clergy Think-posium.  The Think-posium will be held at Crockett Place United Methodist Church at 50^th and R Sts. From 11:20 am – 1:30 pm, and is a partnership of the United Methodist Disaster Recovery. 

The Galveston Clergy Think-posium is a gathering of religious leaders on the island intended to stimulate the imagination and cooperation of the clergy.  Our time together will start with a lunch and fellowship time.  During this time, you will receive a case study of a poverty stricken family in Galveston that was affected by Hurricane Ike.  After you review the case study, we will participate in a round table discussion/brainstorming session focused on how we would lift this family out of poverty to a sustainable life of fullness and peace.  Our hope is that through the interplay of clergy from all different backgrounds and corners of the island we will be able to brainstorm creative ways of bringing hope to the island. 

This Think-posium provides a couple of opportunities for you.  First, we are delighted to offer you a free lunch that will be a catered BBQ luncheon.  Come, relax and take a deep breath as you begin the course of a new week.  Secondly, it is an opportunity for you to connect with other clergy in the Galveston area.  If we have learned anything from Hurricane Ike, it is that we are all in this together – every person was affected by the storm.  It is time for us to work together for a better Galveston.  We desire to start taking steps forward in collaboration of Galveston clergy.

Thirdly, it is our hope that our time together will be a time that stimulates your professional imagination.  We have heard numerous times about how people are waiting for Galveston to get back to where it was before Hurricane Ike.  We are not satisfied with that desire.  We want Galveston to get to a place better than it was before the storm.  We desire people of this island to be lifted up out of poverty and able to live a life of fullness and peace.       

It is our hope that you and any other clergy in your ministry setting will join us for the Galveston Clergy Think-posium.  Please RSVP for the event by Tuesday, October 27^th by calling Tim at 484-645-0867 or emailing Thinkposium@aol.com. 

Grace and Peace to you!

Rev. Tim Schwartz

United Methodist Disaster Recovery

and Interim Minister

Primera Iglesia Bautista, Galveston

blessings for yvonne

Yvonne and Jenn

Perhaps you remember Yvonne from Bayou Vista and have been following her story on the blog?  Yvonne is a 40 some year old woman who I have been working with and advocating for since April.  I wanted to share an update on where she is at and how God has been blessing her in recent weeks.

• Yvonne is finally out of her apartment.  We helped her move her stuff so that she could be set free from the financial drain of living there.  Yvonne is currently living with her dad and he is taking her to work.  She is sleeping on the floor of his house but at least she is free. 
• Yvonne received a construction grant from GCR2 a few weeks ago so that we could fund finishing her house.
• Her house is almost complete.  I had a plumber in there last week fix the plumbing to the bathroom so the toilet and shower now work.  If she wants to stay at the house to organize her stuff, now she can.
• However, Yvonne has no transportation- until this week!  Yvonne received an unmet needs grant from GCR2 to pay for repairs on her car.  If you remember, Yvonne’s car was set fire in June.  She had an additional old car sitting at her sister’s house that needed much repair.  Yvonne had been struggling financially with a mortgage and renting the apartment and had no resources to pay for car repairs.  She had been literally stuck without any form of transportation and very little money.  Yet with a bit of work on my part, she is now blessed with a repaired car.  Once the check comes she can pick it up.  She will be free of another burden and will be able to drive to her house and work.
• Yvonne is getting a fridge.  I called Help 4 Galveston, a relief organization in Galveston, and they promised a fridge.  So now Yvonne will be able to keep cold groceries in her house.
• We will be finishing up a few details on the house next week- installing the sinks, AC, doorknobs, replacing glass on a broken window, repairing sheetrock holes from the plumber, etc.  Things are really coming together, praise God!

I will be honest with you… this case has tried my patience and taught me more about compassion and love.  It has consumed much of my time, thoughts, and prayers.  When we first talked there were many complicated issues and stresses.  Gradually, we have been able to work through them together, and God is setting her free.  When I spoke with Yvonne on the phone she was incredibly grateful for all our work and told me how blessed she felt.  As I put things in perspective, I am amazed at how far God has taken us through all the struggles of the past few months.  I pray that in all of this Yvonne would know how much God loves her, that she is not forgotten.  We see her as a person who is worthy of redemption and care about her enough to advocate on her behalf.  Through all the heartache, crisis, and stress, God has revealed himself.  He is setting the captives free and healing the broken hearted.  And I see the mission of Jesus in that redemption.  And I praise God and stand in awe of him.  I am amazed to be used by him.  I am so grateful God brought us here to Galveston.  If I can help one person put their life back together, I feel so blessed.  In Yvonne’s case, I am in awe of a God who is bigger than all of us yet who has used me to make a difference in her life.  What amazing grace!

new life after ike

Nita

I loved meeting Nita on Friday!  She is exactly the type of person you would want as your grandmother.  She is extrememly fiesty, young at heart, and full of stories.  She is also the strongest hugger I have met in a long time!  As soon as you arrive at her house, you are greeted with a wonderful hug!  Even if she doesn’t know you, she is very grateful for the help.  She is a very sweet lady.  She has been living in the small travel trailer you can see in the picture from the previous entry.  On Saturday, her family was finally able to move the bed back into her house so she could stay there.  Nita is so grateful; it’s been 11 months since she’s been back into her home.

Saturday she showed me her prized possession after ike.  In her backyard, Nita found a small curled piece of her neighbor’s cactus.  She was excited because the cactus was growing roots.  So Nita planted it and gave it a home with her.  She loves that cactus and loves telling its story.  I think it is symbolic of something good that God can bring out of disaster, that there is new life in spite of the hard times.  Nita reminds me of that.  She is a very beautiful lady.  May God bless her as she moves back into her home and may her house be completely finished soon! 

Nita's cactus

blessing the rojas house

 Ever since we met Mrs. Rojas at Primera Iglesia in the spring, she had been telling us she was close to moving back into her house and wanted us to do a house blessing when they moved back in.  So, after numerous health complications with her husband and some setbacks with the house, this past week Mrs. Rojas was ready to do the house blessing.  We had a group of about 15 people there to bless the house.  Jenn and I used the same house blessing service that we have been using with UMCOR (based on Psalm 66).  We present Mr. & Mrs. Rojas with a couple of gifts – a birdhouse made by Randy Dunlap from Pughtown Baptist, as a symbol of the life that the new house brings, and a box of plants and vegetable seeds (donated by my dad’s wife, Ruth), symbolizing how God wants them to use the house to create beauty in their community and world.  Carlos translated everything for us and we ended the night with more than enough food for everyone!

The Rojas home

The Mr. and Mrs. of the house

 

 

Delores and Luci

All gathered in the living room

Carlitos

Celebrating with food too

Family