Thursday was our final day of volunteering. We were just flat worn out. However, we were able to really do some awesome things and meet some great people in the 5 days that we worked in Birmingham / Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The big story on Thursday involved a young boy, 9 year old Emmanuel Ashford, from Austin, Texas that used to live in and attend school in Tuscaloosa. When he heard about the storms in his old hometown, he rallied his classmates in Austin to collect donations of clothing, canned goods, toiletries, etc. to get them to his old classmates in Tuscaloosa. They wrote letters, drew posters, and collected more than 2 pallets worth of donated goods in addition to some money. Now they had to get the items from Texas to Alabama.
A local Austin church was also collecting donations and was planning on renting a truck to get them to Alabama. So, Emmanuel’s family arranged for his donations to be loaded up on the church’s truck headed for Christian Service Mission in Birmingham, where we have been working. They would handle getting the items to Tuscaloosa from there. Emmaneul’s Mom is a weekend anchor person for KXAN TV in Austin and so they followed the donations as they made their way to Tuscaloosa.
They arrived on a truck late on Wednesday and Beth and I just happened to still be on the loading dock when it backed up. We helped unload the truck and that is when we learned about these two special pallets bound for Tuscaloosa. Since we had been volunteering in Tuscaloosa as well, and had the big U-Haul truck, they asked if we would deliver the load on Thursday. We, of course said yes.
We were able to connect with Emmanuel’s family and help them unload the donations and load them into the school. During this time, we found out that one of Emmanuel’s classmates had perished in the storms and that the family had attended the funeral earlier. We also were told that the school that was taking delivery of the donations was not the school that Emmanuel had attended. That school had been destroyed and they had combined the students into this particular building for the remaining few days of this school year.
It was so humbling to be a part of this whole journey and to be responsible for the final leg from Austin to Tuscaloosa. But to hear the story of this young man and his HUGE heart for others certainly brought tears to all of our eyes. Oh, but to have the faith and the unconditional love of a child…that is my prayer for ALL of us!!!
You can follow his story on the KXAN website link below.
Our plan is to relax on Friday and then head home on Saturday to attend Ashley’s graduation ceremony from Ivy Tech on Sunday afternoon at Hanover College.
Oh, one last thing, Christian Service Mission was in need of Bibles to go out to those in need of them so we gave the case of Bibles from Bright Christian Church to them to be distributed. The notes and scriptures that church members wrote inside the covers will be read by folks all over Alabama. Thanks for showing God’s love to them. We also donated the remaining money that we had collected to Christian Service Mission to purchase items that were needed but were not being donated. They were certainly being good stewards and so we wanted to assist them to continue their efforts and aid.
We love you all and thank you for your generous support and prayers. Now Beth and I put out the challenge to all of you as well to go out and “LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, AND IMPACT THE WORLD”!!! We guarantee you will not regret it.
God Bless!!!
FYI...we have logged almost 1000 miles since Sunday just in trips around the tornado affected areas delivering donated goods.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has been attending Bright Christian for a few months. He is there, and we, myself and our three girls, are in Minnesota. Due to work, Matt had to move back to Indiana while the girls and I pack up and move down later in June. Matt grew up in Bright Christian so of course that is where he chose for our family to worship. I was very nervous about this. We have been attending a very small country church for so long. The amount of people at BCC just overwhelms me. But I have been getting the emails and staying informed of things going on in the church. Your decision caught my attention and I have been reading all the wonderful things God has done through you and your sacrifice. Thank you. You have done more than just encouraged those people in Alabama. You have encouraged my heart. Even large churches have extraordinary people who have servants hearts for the Lord. We look forward to meeting you in late June. God bless your trip home.
ReplyDelete@ Wags...can't wait to meet you guys face to face!
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