Our Sunday memorial also had to be moved indoors for the very first time.  Yet First Responders from New York, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Louisiana, California and Kansas marched through the streets of Greensburg with a motorcycle escort from the Kansas Patriot Guard and Kansas American Legion Riders along with over three hundred volunteers to commemorate those who had gone before us. 

The service was standing room only attended by over 900 people in the small high school gym/all purpose building that had been raised only months before.  “The service was absolutely fantastic”.  That was the comment from countless people afterward. 

One of the most significant parts this year was the presence of a huge American flag that served as our backdrop.  This flag had flown at one of the buildings at Ground Zero and was extremely damaged with all the destruction at the site. 

Charlie Vitchers, the lead project manager at Ground Zero had taken the flag with the intent to give it a proper disposal at an appropriate time.  Charlie made it know to us of the flags existence and it was decided to bring it to Greensburg and somehow incorporate it into the weekend.  What happened was truly a miracle and an incredibly emotional feeling.  The people at the local care home laid out the 22'x15' tattered flag and with the loving kindness that only comes with skilled, aged and patriotic hands tenderly began  to sew new and retired flags from the community into the old fabric to patch the holes and tattered ends pieces.  There is even an old 48 star flag in there.  Talk about a privilege to stand before this remarkable piece of history, humbling cannot even come close to describing the feeling.  It played right into the sermon theme, “Solid Foundation for a New Generation”. 

Upon completion of the Memorial Service I was on the road headed for Louisiana and the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.  Efforts this time were centered around the Houma area.  I was based out of the Bayou Cane Fire Department in Houma and worked with the local and state incident command as recovery efforts took place.  Many of you read some of the updates that were posted on our website (www.usecc.net). 

The folks at Bayou Cane were gracious and hospitable in very trying times with large parts of the community without power and significant property damage.  The heat and humidity was par for the course in Southern Louisiana in September and only added to the issues already pressing everyone. 

As with Katrina three years ago, so it took place again this year.  Word came of another hurricane headed for us.  Ike was brewing out in the gulf picking up steam just at Rita did to follow Katrina in 2005.  Now we had things to clean up with most of the town without power and another storm coming in just a few days.  We did experience some small levy breaks and property damage again but thank God, nothing like what it could have been. 

I also assisted a couple of the local churches as well as Pastor Eno Danton in Galliano with support services and supplies.  After finishing this it was off to Slidell to pick up supplies and ready a motorhome at Pastor Eugene Wellington's church for assistance to be taken to Bridge City Texas for Pastor Samuel Karunanithi.  Pastor Samuel had major flooding to his church, and along with his son Joseph, both had major damage in their homes.  Although well on the road to recovery, both will be in a major rebuild for months yet. 

In Bridge City we again assisted the local incident command and fire/police departments.  Out of the entire city it was stated that only 13 homes were NOT flooded.  In the entire history of the the city, there had never been a flood.  Thus the fact, no one had flood insurance.  Even the fire department was living in the station with their families. 

“Why haven't we heard of this before”?  Basically because the news media camped in the Houston/Galveston area.  That area had tremendous devastation as well as mass fatalities.  Still, there are plenty of areas that were effected besides the Houston area.   In Grand Isle Louisiana they had to clear seven FEET of sand before they could begin the clean up and recovery efforts.  The following are just a few of the odd shots from the storms. 

Did you like the shot of my buddy in the middle photo above?  Hey, I never said it was easy, I'm just glad I didn't have to do all the “raslin” on him. 

On one last note, file this in the “I can't believe what he's up to next” category.  I was only home for three days before receiving a call from a company about assisting them with an employee death and  handling the employee grief/recovery program.  I was tired but said yes, only one little catch, it was in Equatorial Guinea, West  Africa.  That's right, two days to get there, four to minister and two back home.  One day to get all the shots alone. 

It was a fantastic experience, especially to find that all the training the Lord has done in our ministry is truly cross cultural and GOD's WORD WORKS.  It was sad to find that of the 45 trainees in one area, half of them had lost either or both parents and at least one sibling in the last 18-24 months.  God has proven to me time and again, when people ask what do I say to people in such trying times the answer is always the same, “ To bring Hope”.  Hope revitalizes the soul. 

On that note let me leave you with a few bits of information in closing.  In the midst of what we think are trying times let me give you the other part of the sermon the Lord spoke to me......”The work is for a people you've not met, to a generation yet to come”.   It was a great message and if we can all realize what we do today has an impact on not only today,  but eternity, it would change our outlook to say the least.  Our behavior, time management and goals would likely change. 

I would ask one last thing.  I desperately would like to go back to Texas to assist the police and fire departments in their rebuilding.  These are the families who sacrificed to secure our property and communities first while their own washed away.  Also we have the opportunity to acquire a FEMA trailer for a mobile command center.  We still want a motorhome, but this will be a big help in the mean time.  Financially the trailer would be around $5000 and a return trip about $4000.  If what we do means anything to you please, help and contact us at once so we can take advantage of the time window with both these projects. 

We've also made it easier to find us on line.  We now own all the titles for our address the .net/.com and .org so any of them will lead to our site.  Hit our site to keep up on all the latest  www.usecc.net    Please keep us in your prayers and support, until next time, I'll be.....................Responding to the Call...........

Chaplain Steve