Yikes! The days are quickly counting down to leave for the mission trip to Nashville! I'm busy packing and making arrangements for the church while I am away, so no reflections from me today. But this youtube.com video contains the reflections of a church member who was on the ground volunteering as the flood waters receded.
Listen to her witness to the power of "being the church!"
Showing posts with label be the church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label be the church. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
A Silver Lining?
One of the hot topics on the "Nashville Flood Recovery" website is tax help for flood victims. In this news story, you can read about a silver lining for flood victims in Nashville: tax breaks and free help preparing their returns!
The story follows Lisa Spangler who lives in River Plantation, called "ground zero" for the damage. Though she has some accounting in her background, she was daunted by the amount of paperwork required for her tax returns. But never fear ... "The good news is that twenty accounting firms in the greater middleTennessee
area are doing free tax returns for the first 100 flood victims who apply."
Can you believe that? Twenty accounting firms! Think of the volunteer hours that will be involved in this project. I know 100 flood victims doesn't sound like much, but maybe other law firms in the area will be inspired to pitch in and donate their time and services as well!
One of the accountants who was interviewed said, "It's not as fun as a Garth Brooks concert but it could have that kind of impact," Wiseman said. (Brooks recently performed a series of benefit concerts that raised over $3 million!)
For Spangler, it is a painful process to relive the devastation from the flood. But, with a pro bono tax preparer's help, it is a pain she's willing to endure because the money from her tax return will help her to rebuild her life.
Volunteering their time and expertise in a place of need--now THAT'S how to "be the church!"
The story follows Lisa Spangler who lives in River Plantation, called "ground zero" for the damage. Though she has some accounting in her background, she was daunted by the amount of paperwork required for her tax returns. But never fear ... "The good news is that twenty accounting firms in the greater middle
Can you believe that? Twenty accounting firms! Think of the volunteer hours that will be involved in this project. I know 100 flood victims doesn't sound like much, but maybe other law firms in the area will be inspired to pitch in and donate their time and services as well!
One of the accountants who was interviewed said, "It's not as fun as a Garth Brooks concert but it could have that kind of impact," Wiseman said. (Brooks recently performed a series of benefit concerts that raised over $3 million!)
For Spangler, it is a painful process to relive the devastation from the flood. But, with a pro bono tax preparer's help, it is a pain she's willing to endure because the money from her tax return will help her to rebuild her life.
Volunteering their time and expertise in a place of need--now THAT'S how to "be the church!"
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Mission Trip Meeting #2
Wednesday night Larry, Ann, Ruth, and I traveled to Butler for the second of two info meetings for the Beaver-Butler Presbytery Nashville mission trip for small churches. (Thought I'd mention those details again in case you had forgotten/wondered who we were!) Joyce, Ruth's friend, wasn't able to come but assures us that she is already packed and ready to go! (And we still have 2 weeks before we leave for the trip! Can you tell she's excited?? :0)
Almost all of us who were going on the trip were able to attend the meeting, which was really neat. 45 people is alot! I tried to sneak some pictures as we were meeting...
These are our fearless leaders...Joyce (L) and CF (R).
...there are a variety of ages going on this trip. I didn't get an exact headcount, but I'd guess there are probably a dozen teenagers going on this trip. And the Frankfort folks were very impressed by not just the enthusiastic participation of the teens, but also the quality of the contributions they made. I personally enjoyed the obviously loving interactions they had with some of the older members of the group with whom they have been on a trip previously.
For the final part of the meeting, Joyce shared with us some pictures she had taken with her son Luke on their scouting trip down to Nashville. Among the pictures she took was this one...
In the picture, the man is standing in front of his home. He is showing them how high the flood was...it was incredible to hear the story and to see all the damage left behind after the floodwaters receded.
The water has long since dried up, of course, but the damage still remains even after almost a year.
And in just a couple weeks, we'll be traveling from PA to TN (and back again) to be the church for them because "...the Lord has anointed me ... to bind up the brokenhearted...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Is 61:1, 3) (one of the Scripture passages from the meeting!)
Almost all of us who were going on the trip were able to attend the meeting, which was really neat. 45 people is alot! I tried to sneak some pictures as we were meeting...
These are our fearless leaders...Joyce (L) and CF (R).
 |
| (We did a lot of laughing last night!) |
One of the activities we did was, of course, a "get to know you" game where everyone was given a brown lunch bag with an object in it. Then you had to go around and find the piece that goes with it. Ruth and I lucked out because I had a lock and she had the key (feel free to pause for a moment to sing the Madonna lyrics, if you know them! :0) ...and we were sitting right next to each other! Larry on the other hand, had a green gardening glove in his bag and had to search for the mate...
...and he found Bob, who had the other green glove! Bob is a contractor who has gone on a number of mission trips already. In fact, his wife and kids are all going on the trip this year! (They also have already offered to host the reunion party after the trip is over!)
After that game, CF passed out some Scripture passages for each group to study. (In case you are wondering you can find the Scriptures here, here, and here.) We were supposed to 1) read the passage together, 2) talk about what words or phrases that struck out to us, and 3) talk about how the passage applies to the mission trip. Here's a picture of a group studying their passage:
As you can see from these pictures (like the ones above and this one from the get to know you game...)
...there are a variety of ages going on this trip. I didn't get an exact headcount, but I'd guess there are probably a dozen teenagers going on this trip. And the Frankfort folks were very impressed by not just the enthusiastic participation of the teens, but also the quality of the contributions they made. I personally enjoyed the obviously loving interactions they had with some of the older members of the group with whom they have been on a trip previously.
For the final part of the meeting, Joyce shared with us some pictures she had taken with her son Luke on their scouting trip down to Nashville. Among the pictures she took was this one...
The water has long since dried up, of course, but the damage still remains even after almost a year.
And in just a couple weeks, we'll be traveling from PA to TN (and back again) to be the church for them because "...the Lord has anointed me ... to bind up the brokenhearted...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Is 61:1, 3) (one of the Scripture passages from the meeting!)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Perspective from "ground zero"
Yesterday, I found this article on a law firm's website. It was written a day or two after the Nashville flooding. It is part historical detail, part reflection, and part advice for people as they go back to their homes to see what can be salvaged.
I can only imagine what it was like for the residents of Nashville to return to their homes and find them destroyed. Then to call their insurance companies only to find their homeowners insurance doesn't cover flooding. From what I can tell, few people had the extra coverage. I cannot understand the depth of the heartbreak of those who lost loved ones and those who lost the place they called home.
What I CAN understand, at least a tiny bit, is the joy that comes in helping one's neighbor in a time of need. Earlier this week, our church had a little mini-flood in the basement. Nothing major...nothing ruined. I just made a few phone calls to people with shop vacs and we had the whole place cleaned up in an hour. It wasn't exactly the way I had hoped to start a Monday, but when stuff like that happens, you drop what you're doing and get to work.
It seems to me that in those 60 minutes taking care of our church building, we had a little glimpse of how the people of Nashville must have felt as they helped their neighbors sort through the wreckage of their homes. Those of us who participated in the "be the church" day on Saturday saw a glimpse of the beauty of neighbors helping neighbors. ANY time we reach out to help someone in need...when we share God's love with those whom others have deemed unlovable...that is when we ARE the church, which is sort of Frankfort's unofficial motto for 2011.
And that is what we will do in Nashville...we will "be the church" for them.
I can only imagine what it was like for the residents of Nashville to return to their homes and find them destroyed. Then to call their insurance companies only to find their homeowners insurance doesn't cover flooding. From what I can tell, few people had the extra coverage. I cannot understand the depth of the heartbreak of those who lost loved ones and those who lost the place they called home.
What I CAN understand, at least a tiny bit, is the joy that comes in helping one's neighbor in a time of need. Earlier this week, our church had a little mini-flood in the basement. Nothing major...nothing ruined. I just made a few phone calls to people with shop vacs and we had the whole place cleaned up in an hour. It wasn't exactly the way I had hoped to start a Monday, but when stuff like that happens, you drop what you're doing and get to work.
It seems to me that in those 60 minutes taking care of our church building, we had a little glimpse of how the people of Nashville must have felt as they helped their neighbors sort through the wreckage of their homes. Those of us who participated in the "be the church" day on Saturday saw a glimpse of the beauty of neighbors helping neighbors. ANY time we reach out to help someone in need...when we share God's love with those whom others have deemed unlovable...that is when we ARE the church, which is sort of Frankfort's unofficial motto for 2011.
And that is what we will do in Nashville...we will "be the church" for them.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A Thousand Words
They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Well, here are many, many pictures and some pretty powerful words too.
The quotes used in this video come from this blog post. This blog is usually a hockey blog for the Nashville Predators. But after the flooding, this guy took a few moments to veer from his usual topics to share some observations of the May 2010 floods.
There is an edge to his words we see in the video. And if you take the time to see the read the whole entry, you'll see them there too. Those were difficult times for the residents of Nashville and you can see the raw feelings that were captured in the moment of that article.
He seems a bit perturbed by the lack of national news media (citing a failed car bomb and the oil leak in the Gulf occurring simultaneously to the flooding) but takes a moment to give a little shout out to the people of his hometown. His article ends by saying this: "And yet…life will go on. We’ll go back to work, to school, to our lives…and we’ll carry on. In a little over a month, I’ll be on this website talking about the draft. In October, we’ll be discussing the new Predators’ season with nary a thought of these past few days. But in a way, they changed everyone in this town. We now know that that it can happen to us…but also know that we can handle it.
The quotes used in this video come from this blog post. This blog is usually a hockey blog for the Nashville Predators. But after the flooding, this guy took a few moments to veer from his usual topics to share some observations of the May 2010 floods.
There is an edge to his words we see in the video. And if you take the time to see the read the whole entry, you'll see them there too. Those were difficult times for the residents of Nashville and you can see the raw feelings that were captured in the moment of that article.
He seems a bit perturbed by the lack of national news media (citing a failed car bomb and the oil leak in the Gulf occurring simultaneously to the flooding) but takes a moment to give a little shout out to the people of his hometown. His article ends by saying this: "And yet…life will go on. We’ll go back to work, to school, to our lives…and we’ll carry on. In a little over a month, I’ll be on this website talking about the draft. In October, we’ll be discussing the new Predators’ season with nary a thought of these past few days. But in a way, they changed everyone in this town. We now know that that it can happen to us…but also know that we can handle it.
Because we are Nashville."
I love those last sentences: life will go on "with nary a thought of these past few days. But it a way they changed everyone in this town. We now know that that...it can happen to us...but also know that we can handle it. Because we are Nashville."
There's (rightfully, IMHO) a lot of pride in Nashville concerning how they handled the floods. And seeing this video and reading this blog gives me more reasons to be glad I have the opportunity to go "be the church" for this great city.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
I'm gonna guess (though I admit I have not done much research!) that most large denominations have their own branch of disaster assistance that is mobilized during times of crisis around the world.
We Presbyterians have the PDA. They respond to both national and international crises. Right now, on their home page, they have updates on response efforts to the devastating earthquake in Haiti and flooding in Brazil and Pakistan, as well as updates on the recent referendum in the Sudan. They also post "situation reports" concerning the recent events, including (among many others!) the situation in Liberia and on-going progress in the Gulf Coast.
Last year through PDA, Frankfort Church members donated over $300 for the relief effort in Haiti. The session decided to match the donations received and sent another $300 for earthquake relief efforts in Chile. In March, 5 Frankforters will take part in the PDA trip to Nashville, working on relief efforts a little closer to home.
God's arm has a long reach through PDA and other relief organizations. The prayers of His people come from every corner of the earth, and offers of service and resources flow like a river in times of need. There is always a way to "be the church" to help those in need!
We Presbyterians have the PDA. They respond to both national and international crises. Right now, on their home page, they have updates on response efforts to the devastating earthquake in Haiti and flooding in Brazil and Pakistan, as well as updates on the recent referendum in the Sudan. They also post "situation reports" concerning the recent events, including (among many others!) the situation in Liberia and on-going progress in the Gulf Coast.
Last year through PDA, Frankfort Church members donated over $300 for the relief effort in Haiti. The session decided to match the donations received and sent another $300 for earthquake relief efforts in Chile. In March, 5 Frankforters will take part in the PDA trip to Nashville, working on relief efforts a little closer to home.
God's arm has a long reach through PDA and other relief organizations. The prayers of His people come from every corner of the earth, and offers of service and resources flow like a river in times of need. There is always a way to "be the church" to help those in need!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
What We'll Be Doing
You may be wondering, "So, what will you be doing?" I'm so glad you asked!
Our team leader, Joyce L. (and her teenage son), visited Westminster Church and the PDA people with whom we'll be working. She was told that we (meaning those outside of Tennessee) didn't hear much about the Nashville flooding because tourism is such a vital part of their local economy. They didn't want to go through what New Orleans is still enduring with rebuilding their local economy. So they didn't want to make a big deal about the flood damage, and worked to rehab a lot of the sources of tourism (like the Grand Ole Oprey) so that visitors would continue to visit.
Joyce L. also told us that those who have the money to fix their homes have done so. The houses that are left belong to people who are either living upstairs because their downstairs is unlivable or are staying elsewhere until their home can be fixed.
Some of us (like Larry!) are bringing helpful skills with us; others of us can, um...well...we can paint! But we ALL bring willing and teachable spirits. And we pray that those who are not going along on the trip will bring prayers to God for us and our safety...but mostly that we could "be the church" to those who are hurting and need a little bit of hope.
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