OBI & Brownsville Assembly of God Bring Hurricane Ivan Relief
Last month waves crested from twenty to thirty feet,
and high winds drove head-on into houses along the Alabama and Florida coast.
Hurricane Ivan brought the worst destruction to ever hit Pensacola. Seizing
the moment to help their community, Pastor Feldschau and his staff called
Operation Blessing for help.
We Responded
Brownsville Assembly of God’s campus was quickly transformed into
a relief center when two large tents were erected in their parking lot.
Cars stacked up for at least a mile, wrapping around the church and down
Mobile Highway. Pastor Feldschau saw people burst into tears when they
saw food being unloaded from Operation Blessing’s trucks. One man
ran up crying, “Please tell me you can give us food! My family hasn’t
eaten in four days and we’re so hungry!” A huge grin beamed
from his face as he carried sacks of food home.
Operation Blessing provided stations with free food and water, while
students and church members staffed the tables. Other stations provided
an opportunity for free cell phone calls, applications for FEMA, toys
and baby items. Over the next three days, more than 2,500 families received
food and water. Almost 1,000 hot meals were also served to victims sitting
under the tents.
10 Hungry Children
Responding to a distress call, volunteers went to a street where houses
didn’t have electricity and safe water yet. As they got out of their
car, ten children ran out of three houses, crying, “Please help
us! We don’t have nothin’ to eat or drink!” All of their
food had spoiled and their parents didn’t have money to replace
it. The volunteers returned to the church and loaded up huge boxes of
food, water, ice, and toys from Operation Blessing. The children were
overjoyed!
Restoring Ruined Homes & Hearts
In addition to food, we also helped buy chain saws, plywood, plastic,
tarps and other necessary tools for work crews who went into the community.
These teams removed downed trees, covered gapping holes and brought relief
to low-income households, uninsured families as well as church members
devastated by Hurricane Ivan.
Mrs. Posey was in tears when a Brownsville work crew knocked on her door
with food, water, and candles from Operation Blessing. She had four children
to feed and the electricity had not been restored. To make matters worse,
a fallen tree crushed her car. The team cut it up and removed it from
her yard. Mrs. Posey was overjoyed for the help she received.
“Operation Blessing has been absolutely amazing,” commented
Jody Harrington, assistant to Pastor Feldschau. “OBI responded so
quickly with so much love, care and patience. We could not have done it
without you guys!”
Operation Blessing’s hurricane relief efforts are far from being
over. Join us in helping the millions of victims who have to rebuild their
lives.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.
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