Dear Friend,
I have just this morning (6:00 AM) returned home from Lake Charles,
Louisiana. I want to recognize with much gratitude, the three
fine Christian men who accompanied me to deliver relief supplies
to Katrina hurricane victims. Danny Bentley lives here in the
same subdivision as we, and is a golfing buddy. Philip Fleming
owns the Northgate Chevron station in Abingdon, VA and donates
a tank of gas every month to Marathon. Dick Westfall, a new friend,
volunteered to go at Abingdon Bible Church.
We left Thursday, the 15th at about 9:00 AM, taking our 1978 Ford
U-Haul truck loaded with supplies including about $100,000.00
of new clothing. We have done much work to the truck since receiving
it in 1999. That old truck used 116.77 gallons of gas going down,
averaging 8.7 mpg, amazing since it only got about 4- 5 mpg since
1999. A Miracle? Since we were also donating the truck there,
we took our Windstar van to have transportation to return home.
Space will not allow listing every donor for this mission, and
it would take volumes to write all our experiences of those six
days, so I will only highlight a few. We went to two Christian
camps that combined were still housing over 300 people three weeks
since Katrina hit. We gave new clothing and supplies for every
person. The rest will be sent to other Christian facilities later
for distribution. We donated freely (Matthew 10:8) the truck to
Camp Pearl, a Bible church facility in Lake Charles.
What we saw:
Families from New Orleans and surrounding area who had lost everything.
Some had no idea if their home was still there or had been destroyed.
Most had everything they owned with them that was left.
What we did:
We loved them, prayed with them, let them cry and talk to us,
with their stories. We gave each family a $ 50.00 bill pressed
in their hand with prayer, from Marathon Ministry. No one looked
to see how much it was. They wept, and hugged us and we saw Jesus
in them. In the Bible, Jesus said: “Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40) When Jesus said
the “least”, he did not mean the lowest in stature
or society or culture. Jesus meant the neediest. Read vs. 35-39.
What we gave:
The truck was full to the brim! Over 1,000 new golf style shirts
with retail value of $ 80.00 to $ 120.00 each. Donated cases of
toilet tissue, paper towels and paper plates and cups. Donated
Cases of juices. Donated over 50 beautiful white choir robes.
Donated a case of peanuts donated by Logan’s Restaurant
in Lake Charles, LA while we were eating there. Several cases
of bottled water donated at a gas station in Mississippi when
we bought gas on the way down. We had bought over 1,000 pairs
Old Navy Bermuda shorts with retail value of $ 17.50 each. We
bought a pallet load of apple juice @ $ 463.00 for the children
to have a nourishing, vitamin drink rather than just water.
So what does all this mean? I believe that with
His wrath God is calling America to repent. He hates the casinos.
There’s one almost every block in New Orleans, flooded again,
and in Lake Charles, since hit by Rita. With the gambling goes
the alcohol, prostitution, drugs, and whatever other filth they
bring with them. I also believe that “God will have mercy
on whom He will have mercy, and compassion on whom He will have
compassion.” (Romans 9:15) God had much mercy and compassion
on the people of New Orleans. There were 25,000 body bags readied
for the dead. About 1,000 died, but think how many did not. Yet
He has showed His wrath in Rita for their continued sin. The media
crowed about the first businesses opened after Katrina, a bar
and a brothel.
I also believe in miracles. Near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the truck
alternator went out. I saw a huge sign advertising “Townsend
Ford – Next Exit”. We went there. Turned out we needed
the alternator, battery, regulator, starter and solenoid all replaced.
I told Jim Phillips, the general manager where we were headed
and what we were doing, and asked if they could help us any. Praise
God, he told me we would have a $ 0.00 ticket. They donated the
entire job, about $ 1,000.00. I know that God went before us.
Jesus said:
“But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.”
(Matthew 26:32, 28:7, Mark 14:28)
Did God turn Lake Charles into Galilee for us? Was it Jesus by
His Holy Spirit that spoke to Jim Phillips to give to us, before
we ever got there? Was it God Who turned Rita from a category
five hurricane into a two or a one, or just a tropical storm?
I believe! I believe! I believe! Do you?
Love in Christ,
Donations for hurricane relief may be sent to: Marathon Ministries
- P.O. Box 771 - Castlewood, VA 24224.
