By: Steven White - Program Director
S
eptember 19 the news had declared the
possibility that a severe hurricane at a
category 5 was heading towards Houston on Saturday, September 24. Many people
in Houston and along the coast were planning to evacuate from the path of the incoming hurricane. We had received many calls
from individuals who were evacuating and
needed a place to go. We also received several
calls from institutions that needed to evacuate their residents for emergency evacuation
plans. At the time, we had several groups
scheduled to come to the camp for the weekend, but we wanted to be available to those
in need as a place to evacuate. As a staff, we
stepped out on faith as we decided to agree
to be the emergency evacuation facility to
individuals and an institution. As the news
continued and the hurricane drew near, the
camp became solely available to evacuees as
our groups canceled for the weekend. We had
several families that arrived on Wednesday,
September 20. We continued to receive many
more calls from other people; but as the news
continued, the traf?c of people evacuating developed. We decided to help provide as much
as we could for those needing a place to go.
On Thursday people were leaving Houston towards Austin on Hwy. 290 and spending over twelve hours driving 120 miles. The
days were hot, the gas stations were running
out of gas, stores were running out of water,
and people were having car problems. The
traf?c was soon becoming more of an emergency than the threat of the hurricane. Many
people that came to the camp shared with us
the problems of the traf?c and saw it in town
?rst hand. A few of the staff decided to drive
along the highway looking for people in need
and invite them to the camp.
There were many trips along the highway
inviting many families with young children
to escape the traf?c, heat, and exhaustion to
come to the camp for rest, meals, and recreation. Our ministry to many individual families in need began. We had two families that
had already escaped Hurricane Katrina in
New Orleans to Houston and now from Houston to the camp. Our staff took on the ministry to over 300 people here at the camp during
the weekend of Hurricane Rita.
Our ministry started with providing a place
to stay and meals to eat. But then it transformed into something much more. It became an opportunity to seek out and minister
the love of Christ to many families that were
in need. We wanted to go beyond just serving
these families and really provide the best service possible. We wanted to really serve them
as Christ would serve them.
On that Thursday several of our staff began
trips along the highway providing water, road
assistance, and an invitation to come to the
camp. Their initiative led others to join them
in helping other people along the highway.
All of our staff were willing to help as needed
with serving many meals, checking on guests,
staying up late in the of?ce to be available for
incoming guests, and working as lifeguards
in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings to
have the swimming pool open. Several families offered to help in any way possible and
were a tremendous help to us and service to
our guests. Volunteers that were at the camp
during this time helped to interact with many
of the families and children.
It was such a wonderful opportunity to be
able to minister to families spending time, interacting, and getting to know them personally. Even though it was a short period of time,
it was a wonderful opportunity to develop
friendships with the people who were here.
We know that God led each of these families
and individuals to the camp for a purpose.
He desired to reveal his love to them and he
provided an opportunity for us to gain more
friendships. We hope that we will be able to
continue these relationships and have these
families come back to the camp in the future.
It is amazing to think that God leads us
to go share Christ with others. That weekend, God gave us the opportunity here at the
camp to actually serve and meet the physical
needs of others so that they could see the love
of Christ in us, and we could share Christ with
them. Of all the events that took place, I treasure the relationships we established and the
precious hearts of the people who came to the
camp the weekend of September 22-25. It was
very sad to see them leave to go back home,
but we know that we now have new friends
that we established through the weekend.
hurricane rita
Tejas Evacuation Facility
www.camptejas.org
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