Cherokee Village Arkansas Winter Storms 2009
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In late January 2009, a winter storm hit Arkansas. In the Cherokee Village area
most people were without power and many were stranded in their homes due to
fallen trees. The storm was the worst natural disaster in recent years, including
the massive tornadoes that came through the area the year before. Over thirty
people were reported to have died as a direct result of the storm, and many more
were seriously injured or their health worsened due to storm related issues.
After the storm hit, a group from House of Luke Ministries in Hemet, CA wanted
to respond to Arkansas to help with the relief efforts. They had a group of
eighteen people who could travel, but they had no tools and very little experience
in disaster relief/response. Pastor Tom, who leads the ministry and has family
and friends who live in the Cherokee Village area, had been praying about
starting a men's ranch in the area for about ten years. He felt the Lord telling
him that this was the year so he had been making plans to meet with local
officials at the end of February. God, however, had a different plan and used the
storms to open up doors of ministry that otherwise may never have opened.
Tom contacted CC Costa Mesa and was directed to their disaster pastor and my
friend and co-laborer, Tim Wylie. Tim called me on Sunday and asked if we could
go and help the efforts in AR. We prayed and decided that we would go and do
what we could. I contacted Chuckles and we made plans to get the needed
supplies and to leave on Tuesday.
Earl Wiser, a young man from Buffalo who we had met the previous year
cleaning up after the Tennessee tornadoes, also decided to join us. He was tired
of the cold and wanted to relocate to a new area and find a job. He decided AR was
as good a place as any to start, though I'm not too sure about the winters in AR
being any better than Buffalo, at least to a Floridian like me!
We got a late start and drove through the night, arriving just in time for
breakfast. We met up with Earl shortly thereafter and then contacted Pastor
Tom's mom. She directed us to the First Baptist church where we would be
setting up camp. Once we unloaded our personal items, we headed to Tom's
mom's home as they were without a generator and had no way to pump water
from their well. They had a small generator that ran their refrigerator, but not
enough amps for the pump. They also had a fireplace for heat.
We dropped off the generator and headed out to get to work on the cleanup
process. We got busy cutting down trees and clearing debris. From there we
were directed to another neighborhood where we met many elderly and
handicapped people who were all in dire need of our help. We immediately got
busy helping out.
Late that evening, Tom and his crew arrived. Thursday we all went back to the
neighborhood where we had worked the previous day and received even more
work to do. Tom had also been talking to the city officials and they had work for
us as well. We found a mobile home area and helped several people that were in
that area-single moms, grandmothers raising grandchildren, and many other
needy people. We had many opportunities to share Jesus' love and His message
of hope for their lives!
There were some National Guard members and some power line people who were
also staying at the church. We invited them to our devotional times and two guys
from the power line group joined us and gave their lives to the Lord!
On Saturday we spent most of the day cleaning up the church property and also
did some work in the surrounding area. Sunday came and we attended the early
church service. Tom and his group needed to work on some video footage of the
trip for their home church and decided to stay back at the church. Chuckles,
Earl and I headed out to do more work.
That's the last thing that I remember as I took a fall and evidently banged my
head pretty bad. I didn't pass out, but I don't remember a thing. I was taken to
the hospital to make sure I was OK and then the next thing that I remember, I
was back at the church in the middle of a spaghetti dinner! Kind of weird, but the
most important thing is that God protected me from any bodily harm. I was sore,
but not broken! Chuckles decided that we should go home, so he packed us up
and we headed out. Earl left the following day and the others stayed on for a few
more days and then left for CA.
We worked on a total of twenty-three homes in basically four days! We were
busy and had many opportunities to share and pray with others. But this didn't
just happen without a struggle! I have not seen as much spiritual attack on other
trips as we had on this trip. Three team members were taken out of action
during this trip, some locals made false accusations about us and tried to force us
out of town, and Chuck and I had to leave early because of my fall. These are just
the major ones that come to mind.
Tom and his team definitely gained favor with the local officials. Someone also
donated a home with land to start the ranch in AR. Praise God! Once I got home
and heard the news of the donation, and how things were moving forward on the
new ranch, I was thanking God for choosing to use us in this endeavor.
And it does not end there! Back home I had been counseling a thirty year old
male we’ll call J, who has struggled for years with some life-dominating sins. I
had come to the conclusion that he needed to totally surrender his life to the
Lord and come under a 24/7, Biblically-based, accountability program.
Unfortunately, he had not yet come to the same conclusion. Instead, he
continued to drink and was asked to move out of his home. He had just started
working again so he had some money to rent a room. Because he could not drive,
he needed to live somewhere close to where he worked. He looked for several
days and the only place he could find that he could afford that was close to his
work and his kids was right across the street from my home! I might also
mention that I had nothing to do with him finding this place; it was a total God
thing! Now here I am stuck at home with nothing to do because of my fall, and
God sends J across the street from me! I spent a few days counseling and
reaching out to J and in his own words, he was going to drink himself to death
across the street from me! I prayed hard and asked him if this was truly the goal
that he wanted for his life; he replied no, he really wanted to get back with his
wife and two young kids. We discussed what would it take for this to happen and
he decided that what he needed was a 24/7, 100% Biblically-based accountability
program! We discussed several good programs that I knew about across the
country. J decided that the Lord wanted him at none other than House of Luke
Ministries in Hemet, CA , a ministry that I didn’t know existed before this trip to
AR! We sent him off to California, and even though he had been drunk for
almost a week, he awoke the first morning with no hangover. A few days later he
quit smoking, a habit he has had for over half his life! So my fall ended up with
beneficial results. Now I am in no way saying that God caused me to fall (that was
probably all my stupidity), but what I do know is that what satan may have meant
for evil, God used for good. We won’t be discouraged and we will continue to do
what God calls us to do!
To read some of our newsletters while in the field click here and scroll to the
Arkansas Newsletters.
most people were without power and many were stranded in their homes due to
fallen trees. The storm was the worst natural disaster in recent years, including
the massive tornadoes that came through the area the year before. Over thirty
people were reported to have died as a direct result of the storm, and many more
were seriously injured or their health worsened due to storm related issues.
After the storm hit, a group from House of Luke Ministries in Hemet, CA wanted
to respond to Arkansas to help with the relief efforts. They had a group of
eighteen people who could travel, but they had no tools and very little experience
in disaster relief/response. Pastor Tom, who leads the ministry and has family
and friends who live in the Cherokee Village area, had been praying about
starting a men's ranch in the area for about ten years. He felt the Lord telling
him that this was the year so he had been making plans to meet with local
officials at the end of February. God, however, had a different plan and used the
storms to open up doors of ministry that otherwise may never have opened.
Tom contacted CC Costa Mesa and was directed to their disaster pastor and my
friend and co-laborer, Tim Wylie. Tim called me on Sunday and asked if we could
go and help the efforts in AR. We prayed and decided that we would go and do
what we could. I contacted Chuckles and we made plans to get the needed
supplies and to leave on Tuesday.
Earl Wiser, a young man from Buffalo who we had met the previous year
cleaning up after the Tennessee tornadoes, also decided to join us. He was tired
of the cold and wanted to relocate to a new area and find a job. He decided AR was
as good a place as any to start, though I'm not too sure about the winters in AR
being any better than Buffalo, at least to a Floridian like me!
We got a late start and drove through the night, arriving just in time for
breakfast. We met up with Earl shortly thereafter and then contacted Pastor
Tom's mom. She directed us to the First Baptist church where we would be
setting up camp. Once we unloaded our personal items, we headed to Tom's
mom's home as they were without a generator and had no way to pump water
from their well. They had a small generator that ran their refrigerator, but not
enough amps for the pump. They also had a fireplace for heat.
We dropped off the generator and headed out to get to work on the cleanup
process. We got busy cutting down trees and clearing debris. From there we
were directed to another neighborhood where we met many elderly and
handicapped people who were all in dire need of our help. We immediately got
busy helping out.
Late that evening, Tom and his crew arrived. Thursday we all went back to the
neighborhood where we had worked the previous day and received even more
work to do. Tom had also been talking to the city officials and they had work for
us as well. We found a mobile home area and helped several people that were in
that area-single moms, grandmothers raising grandchildren, and many other
needy people. We had many opportunities to share Jesus' love and His message
of hope for their lives!
There were some National Guard members and some power line people who were
also staying at the church. We invited them to our devotional times and two guys
from the power line group joined us and gave their lives to the Lord!
On Saturday we spent most of the day cleaning up the church property and also
did some work in the surrounding area. Sunday came and we attended the early
church service. Tom and his group needed to work on some video footage of the
trip for their home church and decided to stay back at the church. Chuckles,
Earl and I headed out to do more work.
That's the last thing that I remember as I took a fall and evidently banged my
head pretty bad. I didn't pass out, but I don't remember a thing. I was taken to
the hospital to make sure I was OK and then the next thing that I remember, I
was back at the church in the middle of a spaghetti dinner! Kind of weird, but the
most important thing is that God protected me from any bodily harm. I was sore,
but not broken! Chuckles decided that we should go home, so he packed us up
and we headed out. Earl left the following day and the others stayed on for a few
more days and then left for CA.
We worked on a total of twenty-three homes in basically four days! We were
busy and had many opportunities to share and pray with others. But this didn't
just happen without a struggle! I have not seen as much spiritual attack on other
trips as we had on this trip. Three team members were taken out of action
during this trip, some locals made false accusations about us and tried to force us
out of town, and Chuck and I had to leave early because of my fall. These are just
the major ones that come to mind.
Tom and his team definitely gained favor with the local officials. Someone also
donated a home with land to start the ranch in AR. Praise God! Once I got home
and heard the news of the donation, and how things were moving forward on the
new ranch, I was thanking God for choosing to use us in this endeavor.
And it does not end there! Back home I had been counseling a thirty year old
male we’ll call J, who has struggled for years with some life-dominating sins. I
had come to the conclusion that he needed to totally surrender his life to the
Lord and come under a 24/7, Biblically-based, accountability program.
Unfortunately, he had not yet come to the same conclusion. Instead, he
continued to drink and was asked to move out of his home. He had just started
working again so he had some money to rent a room. Because he could not drive,
he needed to live somewhere close to where he worked. He looked for several
days and the only place he could find that he could afford that was close to his
work and his kids was right across the street from my home! I might also
mention that I had nothing to do with him finding this place; it was a total God
thing! Now here I am stuck at home with nothing to do because of my fall, and
God sends J across the street from me! I spent a few days counseling and
reaching out to J and in his own words, he was going to drink himself to death
across the street from me! I prayed hard and asked him if this was truly the goal
that he wanted for his life; he replied no, he really wanted to get back with his
wife and two young kids. We discussed what would it take for this to happen and
he decided that what he needed was a 24/7, 100% Biblically-based accountability
program! We discussed several good programs that I knew about across the
country. J decided that the Lord wanted him at none other than House of Luke
Ministries in Hemet, CA , a ministry that I didn’t know existed before this trip to
AR! We sent him off to California, and even though he had been drunk for
almost a week, he awoke the first morning with no hangover. A few days later he
quit smoking, a habit he has had for over half his life! So my fall ended up with
beneficial results. Now I am in no way saying that God caused me to fall (that was
probably all my stupidity), but what I do know is that what satan may have meant
for evil, God used for good. We won’t be discouraged and we will continue to do
what God calls us to do!
To read some of our newsletters while in the field click here and scroll to the
Arkansas Newsletters.
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the
darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10
darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10
