Life Changing Experience Working With Samaritan's Purse

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 
~1 Peter 4:10-11

Following Hurricane Sandy, I felt the need to assist with the cleanup efforts since I know a handful of people who live in and around Queens, Staten Island, and the Jersey Shore. I searched CNN's website for ways to assist and was very happy to have discovered the Samaritan's Purse organization. Not only would I be able to serve others, but I would be able to glorify God in the process. I immediately filled out a volunteer form and waited for a phone call to set up my scheduled time, which ended up being from November 10-15 (for starters) in Teterboro, NJ.

I had no idea what to expect going into my volunteer work. I was going on my own, which is always a bit nerve racking because it sometimes takes me a little while to get out of my shell and get to know people. Thankfully, everybody was really welcoming and I slowly acquired a whole new family over the course of the almost two weeks that I volunteered.

Other than my first day, I spent all of my time working in Vanguard Trailer Park, which is situated right behind the Teterboro Airport. The runway blast wall is literally right across the road from the entrance, so needless to say, it took a little while to get used to the sound of jet engines everyday. The trailer park had been flooded because of a levee breach about 3 miles away that brought a deluge of water 3-4 feet deep. The majority of our work orders for the park involved removing the insulation from underneath the trailers due to the flooding. This was an attempt to help stop the spread of mold throughout the structure.
My main job throughout my time in the parks was to help bag insulation that the guys pulled out. It might sound like a simple enough task, but when some of the insulation is soaking wet an others are the size of cotton balls, it's hard to rake, lift, bag, and carry. Thankfully we got some systems setup to ease the burden of insulation removal. That was the joy of my crew. We all worked well together as a team and essentially became a family after the countless hours working shoulder to shoulder in adverse conditions.
Over the course of my almost two weeks of volunteering, my job description slowly expanded and occasionally took me outside of my comfort zone, which I'm quite thankful for. Since I carried a notepad in my pocket, I became the note taker and direction writer for all of the new day volunteers. I wrote out the directions to Vanguard so many times that I can now probably get there in my sleep. This knowledge of the directions also gave me the unofficial title of team navigator since our fearless team leader, Jim, admitted to being easily distracted....SQUIRREL! Under Jim's direction, I also expanded to an assistant leadership role on certain days when he was busy running around assessing work orders. I would call home owners, lead a small team in shed cleanup, or just thoroughly explain how to bag insulation depending on what was needed of me. My other unofficial job also became critter removal due to the fact that, when asked, I was willing to pick up a dead possum by the tail to dispose of it. I guess growing up in so-called Pennsyltucky has its advantages.
My favorite part of the whole experience, though, was being able to interact with all of the people. The people within the trailer park had all been dealt a blow and needed their hope restored, which I believe opened them up to hearing about Jesus and the Gospel. Some were distraught when we first met them, but softened over the hours or days that we interacted with them and took the time to not only help in cleanup, but to listen to their story. So many just needed an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on and God blessed each one of us with the ability to reach certain individuals. Some jobs that involved going through belongings were especially hard and tedious, but also ended up being the most rewarding. The simple act of disinfecting shoes, peeling apart wet pictures, or salvaging a family Bible opened some hardened and hopeless people to a new or restored faith in God. It was a blessing to be able to see these folks in their lives, whether that being happiness, distress, or addiction. Doors were opened for us to be able to share about our lives and each team member could always relate to at least one person's plight every day.

I think the greatest part of the ministry was having all of the crew personally sign a Bible before presenting it to the homeowner. From conversing with the owner, we were all lead to share specific bits of Scripture that the Lord hopefully will utilize in each of their lives as they continue to move forward after this disaster. Being able to stand in a circle and pray for all of these people was heartwarming and powerful. Seeing God use us to help shepherd certain people was simply amazing.
I'm so thankful that God burdened me with the purpose of serving those in Moonachie, NJ. I met some extraordinary people within the trailer park and I came away with a family I never even dreamed of having in my crew. Each and every person from that core group took the time to befriend me and learn about who I am, and in turn, I gained much insight into their lives. We all easily melded from strangers, to teammates, to family. It's such a blessing to come away feeling loved and spiritually refreshed that I won't soon forget this life changing experience.