Disaster relief is hard. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally.

Physically, you do work. You show up and you work. There is so much to be done. And you jump in and do it. If it’s pulling hundreds of pounds of frozen chicken from a freezer truck to thaw to feed 1,300 people on a Sunday. If it’s cutting every last branch off a fallen oak and dragging away the branches in 105° heat. If it’s trying to sleep on an air mattress when your shoulders ache and your heart hurts.

Emotionally, this work drains you. You stand in awe of the power of nature and it humbles you. When the family whose possessions are scattered all over the yard take a moment to ask you to “see if you can find any of our arts and crafts supplies” you know there is NO normal… “New” or otherwise. When the older man whose yard you’re clearing brings you your sixth Gatorade (do you say “No thanks?”). And when he offers his porch for you to eat lunch and ride out a rainstorm. When a pastor’s wife from 3 hours away coordinates lodging for your team, and other volunteers from far and wide. And when she coordinates feeding thousands in the community, because “the Lord told me to.”

Mentally, it’s chaos. In a disaster area, lives are wrecked and yet the VICTIMS are trying so hard to coordinate volunteers… The few that are there. Blame COVID, blame fear, blame comfort. One estimate from an expert said this is 10% of the typical volunteer count of a typical disaster. And this is a disaster. How that affects you mentally is shocking. As we drove to the mile end of a dirt road to clear the path to a family’s front porch, I said “WOW” over and over again. I was riding along with a Special Forces vet who works every Natural Disaster. He said this is one of the worst he’s seen. That breaks your brain.

Disaster relief is rewarding. In all the same ways. Physically. Emotionally, Mentally. You see, hard work rewards the recipient, and serving rewards you. 

People, do something. Turn off the news, because in a disaster area there is no other news. There is no worry about what’s going on outside the hurt. And yet, the sun rises each day! Hope begins anew. And when one person wears down, there needs to be someone to fill in.

We choose the harder thing. God makes the way if we commit to clearing the path. And then… Together we light the way!