This past weekend, St. Paul sent a team to Victoria to assist with Harvey Disaster Relief. What we found was heartbreaking. Incredible destruction all the way from Woodsboro to Refugio to Victoria and to Rockport. Our team had the opportunity to be one of the first one dropping off water and supplies in Woodsboro, we had the opportunity to help out our friends at Grace Lutheran Church in Victoria by calling members, and we got to serve in a low income part of Victoria cutting trees off of roofs and pulling them out of the street. Perhaps one of the biggest doors God opened was the call from the Texas District to serve Pastor Tom and his wife, Rita, in Rockport.
Pastor Tom's house had some pretty bad roof damage and needed a tarp. Our team was able to not only bring a tarp for his roof, but also put it up. While they were putting the tarp on the roof, Pastor and Rita continually thanked them and said that morning they had no hope. No one would come to tarp their roof. No one. And right as they were ready to give up, God made a dream come true and sent our team with supplies and the man power to get it done.
Perhaps an even more incredible story that shows the power of God at work is the fact that Pastor Tom's church - Peace Lutheran - had very minimal damage. One corner of the shingles had turned up, but our guys were able to nail it down quickly and fix it. Other than that, no structural damage to their church building. The buildings and places around the church have major damage or were completely wiped out. But God put His hand over Peace Lutheran's building, caused all the trees to fall away from the church, and has helped put them in an incredible place to do ministry and be the church - not the building, but the body of people who deploy to the city to serve!
Here is what St. Paul is up to next and here's how you can help:
PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. Keep our St. Paul family in your prayers as we travel, serve, and love the community of Rockport. Pray for those who have been affected and continue to feel the effects of Harvey. Pray for their safety, courage, and hope. Pray for our first responders and all those working around the clock to provide relief. Pray for Pastor Tom and his wife, Rita, as they continued to work to be a light in their community.
GO. We will be deploying teams starting this weekend to be housed out of Peace Lutheran in Rockport and be deployed to the city to serve and share the love of Jesus. If you'd like to join our team for this weekend,
click here to sign up, and I (Kayla) will send you information!
DONATE. What an incredible response we have had to serving our brothers and sisters across the Coastal Bend and in Houston to provide the supplies they have needed! We were able to give away all of what we had and send it to Woodsboro, Ingleside, Refugio, Victoria, Rockport, and many other places. Thank you, St. Paul, for being so awesome and providing for some needs! Here is the new update on what supplies are needed in these areas:
Bug spray, Ant poison, Work gloves, Chainsaw blades
If you'd like to donate any of these items, you can bring them to the church office 602 Morgan Blvd. and we will store them here to send with our team this weekend.
If you have other donations that aren't on this list, Habitat for Humanity's ReStore located at 1305 Oklahoma St. is still taking donations and we will direct you to them so they can get the supplies to those who need it most.
GIVE. If you'd like to give funds to support disaster relief efforts happening both with our team in Rockport and across our state, below are a few ways to give.
-Monetary donations to St. Paul - if you'd like to give to St. Paul's Disaster relief, you can bring cash, a check, or HEB/Walmart gift cards to St. Paul 602 Morgan Blvd. Please make checks payable to St. Paul Lutheran Church. Or you can give on our website in the
Disaster Relief Fund available here.
-Monetary donations to the Texas District - the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is currently taking donations as well. 100% of the funds you give to the Texas District Diaster Relief fund will go to efforts happening with Harvey. If you'd like to give through them,
click here.
