Getting Ready for Camp

We have been very busy here this week. Gene has had 6 of his cadets here working. They have been cleaning all cabins and bath houses, staining the concrete around the pool and basketball court, installing electric and water lines for new laundry area, cleaning dinning hall and lots of other general maintenance that needs to be completed.

Update from Greensburg, Kansas

Below was taken from Laura's blog:
We've been very busy and have had some terrific help in the kitchen. Today we served a total of about 125. The number has been increasing daily as people find out we are serving food. You have to remember NO ONE lives in Greensburg right now. There is an 8:00 - 8:00 curfew and EVERYONE including homeowners have to be out. So we are serving food to homeowners who come in to work on their property, county and city workers, volunteers, etc.
Visit Laura's blog for comp story. http://www.disasterresponseteam.blogspot.com

Camp Guard Hard at Work Again

Florida Bible Camp Web Site

The web site for the Florida Bible Camp has been updated and has the camp weeks schedule and registration form there. If you know of any who would like to attend please pass the site address along to them. The link to the site is listed on the right below.

Anyony Can Volunteer

Laura will find someting for you to do. Keeping watch over the DRT equipment like the volunteer above is a important job.

DRT tool trailers at staging area in High Springs

Update from the DRT web site

DRT is working with the Mullinville Church of Christ in Kansas following the recent devasting tornado that destroyed the town of Greensburg.
DRT is setting up a relief site in the middle of Greensburg on Monday. We will be distributing supplies, serving food to the community from our mobile kitchen as well as counseling with those coming to our site, etc.
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We are in the process of securing housing for volunteers, however due to the devastation and lack of available buildings this is taking some time.
WE ARE HOWEVER IN IMMEDIATE NEED OF VOLUNTEERS!!!!
If you have a camper or would be willing to stay in tents (we have tents available) WE ARE IN NEED OF THE FOLLOWING VOLUNTEERS:
COOKS
CHAIN SAW WORK
SORTING AND HAULING DEBRIS
HELPING WITH DISTRIBUTION
HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATORS (WITH YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT)

COC Disaster Response Team-Greensburg, KS. UPDATE

Good Morning,

Sunday morning worship services were an emotional time for the members of the Mullinville Church of Christ. As you know 11 families in the congregation have lost their homes (some of these were homesteads that have been in the family for over 200 years) along with all belongings including barns, cattle, fencing, etc. However they were at worship services PRAISING GOD. They understand Romans 8:28 and even through the trials they are going through themselves they understand this to be a great opportunity to reach out to the community to show the LOVE OF THE LORD. What an awesome congregation this is!!

DRT is working with the Mullinville Church of Christ helping them reach out to their community through disaster relief.
We are setting up an annex relief site in Greensburg today.
We will be setting up the mobile kitchen to serve food to the community and volunteers. We will also be distributing supplies. We'll also have an area for the community to sign up to request additional services (clean up of debris, counseling, appliances, furniture, etc.)

HELP IS DESPERATELY NEEDED!!!
The following is how YOU can help the communities affected.

VOLUNTEERS
Debris Clean Up
Cooks
Distribution of Supplies
Heavy Equipment Operators W/ Own Equipment

FINANCIAL DONATIONS
Funding is DESPERATELY needed!! We are cooking for the community and volunteers as well as paying contractors to use heavy equipment to remove and haul debris for those without insurance. Also many without insurance or who are underinsured lost and are in need of vehicles, household items, cattle, fencing, fence posts, and the list goes on and on.
PLEASE BE GENEROUS IN YOUR GIVING, THE NEEDS HERE ARE GREAT!

Because of HIM,

Mark and Laura Cremeans
Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team


If you would like to donate or help in anyway call or email me.

Mike

Fires Have Entered Columbia County

Columbia county is where the Florida Bible Camp is located. The fires are still many miles away. Today the smoke was so bad you couldn't work ouside. I went to Lake City to pickup some supplies and the smoke was so thick on I75 that it was getting difficult to see. This is the same fire that is burning in Georgia. It has now crossed into Florida. It is over 83,000 acres in size and burning out of control.

Below was taken in parts form Don Hudson's blog.

"If you spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light rises in the darkness and your night shines like the noonday" Isaiah 58:10

We received this email from Don Yelton who is the Director of the Whites Ferry Road Relief work.

Dear Friends:
By midnight last Friday eleven Greensburg families, members of the church of Christ, were homeless. Ninety-five percent of their town was destroyed. They attended Wednesday evening services in the nearby Mullinsville church of Christ and left that night having no idea that within just 48 hours their lives would be changed forever.
The small town of Greensburg, Kansas, located about 100 miles west of Wichita, was ripped to shreds by the violent tornado which hit the town in a 1.7 mile wide path of terror on Friday night, May 6. At the request of the church in Mullinsville and on behalf of WFR Relied I will go to the stricken area tomorrow to pray with the people, offer our hand of friendship, answer the phone and just help out fro a few days, We will deliver funds for immediate needs to relieve some of the suffering in central Kansas even as we continue providing Katrina relief along the Gulf Coast. We will also install a computer for Internet service to help the church there with their communications.
The first and foremost goal of our ministry is to offer hope to those who are hurting. By assuring people affected by disasters that their immediate needs will be taken care of they can look to the future with confidence and be assured that Christian brothers and sisters around the world care and are praying for them.
Almost two years ago you helped WFR Relief deliver supplies of food, water, building materials and volunteers to Churches of Christ all along the gulf coast who were striving to help their members and their communities recover from the hurricane damage. After Katrina came Rita and several other hurricanes, floods and storms in the Caribbean. There is still much work to be done all along the gulf coast and those funds are almost gone.
We must have your partnership and financial support to be able to continue to be ready to bring hope and help to people whose lives have been devastated by disasters. Please pray for us as we reach out to them.
WFR Relief is using our emergency start-up fund for the Kansas disaster We need to replenish that fund to provide more help to the churches in Mullinsvill, Pratt, saint John and other Kansas communities. We must also be ready to help others in this storm season. Even as this letter is being written, floods threaten many areas. Please be generous.

God Bless you for caring
Don Yelton

Early Storms, Fires, Floods and Tornados our work is just beginning

Greensburg Tornado Update

The kitchen has arrived at the Mullinville Church of Christ. Mark, Laura and Marge will be leaving Ohio for Manville Thursday morning. Rooms and other places to house volunteers are few and far between. Any Sojourners or other persons with your own RV would be great for this area.

The mobile kitchen is on its way to Greensburg, KS

Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team

Greetings,

Already 2007 is beginning with many powerful storms!

So far this year DRT has been working in Lady Lake, Florida and Enterprise, Alabama following the tornadoes in those areas as well as holding a 3 week work camp in New Orleans, LA. There have also been many of you evangelizing areas in Bayou La Batre, AL. where an additional 21 baptisms just took place a couple of weeks ago PRAISE GOD!!!
Much has already been accomplished, we thank YOU for helping to make this happen and we give GOD the glory and praise!!

WE NOW HAVE A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW THE LOVE OF JESUS TO ANOTHER COMMUNITY.............

An advance team is heading to GREENSBURG, KANSAS this week to reach out to the church and community in that area. We will be setting up a relief site for distribution of supplies, cooking meals and helping with clean up.

DRT IS CURRENTLY IN DESPERATE NEED OF FUNDING!

DRT FURNISHES MEALS TO THE COMMUNITY, IMMEDIATE PERSONAL NEEDS ITEMS AS WELL AS BUILDING MATERIAL TO THOSE WITHOUT INSURANCE.

Another URGENT current need is for volunteers to pull trailers to Kansas. We have a 30' gooseneck mobile kitchen and a 38' pull behind travel trailer located at our coordination site in High Springs, Florida that we need brought to Kansas as well as a 30' supply trailer in Troy, Ohio.

We will also be in need of volunteers and will send out another email as soon as we are onsite to let you know the exact need.

We are anticipating needing volunteers for the following:

Onsite Clean Up Work
Counseling
Cooks
Distribution of Supplies


PLEASE KEEP ALL THESE FAMILIES AS WELL AS THOSE MINISTERING TO THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS!!


Because of HIM,

Mark and Laura Cremeans
Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team

Update from Laura(DRT)

We have a team preparing to leave for Greensburg, Kansas. From the information we have received so far there have been 10 families in the church there who have lost their homes and all of their belongings. As you can imagine, the church and the town is still in shock.
DRT will be taking the 30' mobile kitchen, 1st response tool trailer, supply trailer as well as RV's for volunteers to stay in.
I can hear you asking yourself, "I wonder what I can do to help"............. Well, I'm glad you're asking :) We do have some suggestions.

1.We are in need of drivers to help pull some of the above trailers to the Greensburg, Kansas area. The mobile kitchen is a gooseneck and is located at our coordination site in High Springs, Florida as well as the pull behind RV's that are needed. The 1st response and tool trailer are located in Troy, Ohio.

The following are the types of volunteers we are anticipating needing very soon upon our arrival in the Greensburg, KS. area.

Cooks
Counselors
Clean Up Crews

Please keep watching this blog as well as the website for further information.
If you are able to help in any of these ways please sign up on the website.

Please keep those affected by this disaster in your prayers as well as those that will be ministering to them.

Disaster Response Team Going to Greensburg, KS

Well here is the plan for the moment. As we all know things can change. Mark and Laura are on their way back from the lectureship at Pepperdine. When they get
to Ohio they will take the motor home to Greensburg pulling the first response tool trailer. Marge will drive Mark's truck pulling the 30' kitchen prep trailer. We are trying to get someone with a one ton pickup with a gooseneck hitch to take the mobile kitchen from Florida to Greensburg. If we find one and the owner can't drive it there I will make the trip there and back. I need to be back here to continue to get things ready for kids camp weeks. The drive from FBC to Greensbure is around
23 hours each way.

Update from Disaster Response Team's Web Page

THERE ARE AT LEAST 10 FAMILES FROM THE MULLINVILLE CHURCH OF CHRIST THAT LOST THEIR HOMES IN THE TORNADO FRIDAY NIGHT THAT STRUCK GREENSBURG. WE ARE SENDING TEAMS TO THE AREA AND WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED. PLEASE CONTINUE TO KEEP THOSE AFFECTED AS WELL AS THOSE MINISTERING TO THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS.

Greensburg, KS Tornado

Greensburg, KS Tornado

Today I have been on the phone with Mark giving him phone numbers of churches in the area of Greensburg, KS. Mark and Laura are still in Calf. attending the Pepperdine Letchership. They now are trying to get in touch with someone in the tornado area. The news is saying that there is 9 dead and may be many more also the town in 95% destroyed. I will keep you posted.

From Don Hudson's Blog

This picture is of a baptism we had last Tues. night in our mission in Bayou La Batre. We baptized three that first day of the work. Joe, Joan, Mike. They are surrounded by some of us who witness their baptism. Far right Dapne, far left Sandy, George, Don, Rosemary in front holding Joan's baby.