{"id":3667,"date":"2018-03-02T17:16:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T17:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/?p=3667"},"modified":"2018-03-12T20:47:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T20:47:36","slug":"harveys-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/2018\/03\/02\/harveys-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey’s Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Having been born and raised in Houston, I grew up hearing about hurricanes. I\u2019ve known what to do to prepare, and all too well about the damage the winds and water can cause to a house.<\/p>\n

On August 25, 2017, I remember thinking that it would start raining, the wind would pick up, and that would be the end of Harvey, but that was not be the case. My husband and I felt safe. We were very sure that nothing would happen. But around 1:00 am, I awoke to water coming in our dining room, bedroom, and hallway. It was not much water but our floors were damaged. We did our best to lift the furniture and dry the floors as much as possible.<\/p>\n

The rain continued throughout the morning. The weatherman said it would get worse. We took turns sitting under the porch, watching the water rise. We had no plans of evacuating our house, but we knew the water was still rising. At that moment, the Lord sent three angels (men from our church) with a small boat. They told us, \u201cPastors, you two are coming with us because the creek down the street is overflowing its banks and it will only get worse.\u201d We still had running water and electricity and felt we were okay, but they insisted. We were placed in a small boat, and then transferred on to a larger one. It took six men to push that boat through the strong current of Clear Creek. We then transferred to a large Army truck.<\/p>\n

Our members took us to their beautiful home in Alvin where we stayed for five days. We would pray and try to call church families. Many of the people had lost power and could not leave their homes. Due to so much flooding, most stores were closed. Even when they opened, only 10 people were allowed inside at one time. Water, bread, and many other items were in such demand that they ran out very fast.<\/p>\n

Jaime and I are pastors first. We left our house, but being very honest, we were never concerned with materialistic things. We trusted God with our home. Many of our members had gone to different shelters. Many people lost everything they had. We knew the church and other building were fine, but not knowing about our church family was so difficult for us.<\/p>\n

During times like these, your emotions are all over the place but we must continue to pray and trust God. We needed to be an example to others and show them that God is our hope.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When we were finally able to return to our house, Jaime and I were in shock to see that the houses on our left, right, and across the street were all flooded. But our house sat high and dry. Perhaps, God took care of us because He knew that we would need to assist others.<\/p>\n

Our next stop was to the church, to spread the word that Oasis would be open to offer cleaning supplies, clothes, and food. Serving others is so easy when you have a team of people who are there to serve. Before we even arrived at the church, people who could travel were setting up. Donations had already started coming in. Within a few hours, we were open and ready to serve the community.<\/p>\n

We are so grateful for DRUSA. Men, women, and children from North and South Carolina and Oklahoma were heaven sent. They arrived early Sunday and by evening, they were ready with hot meals. There were long and very emotional days, as we saw the catastrophe all around us. People in need came with nothing but the clothes on their backs, many crying, and others still in shock.<\/p>\n

I learned to put my personal emotions on hold. As a parent, I would see my girls and their families every day. We would see our church family at least twice a week. But going five days without seeing them was hard. I had to place my personal desires on the back burner. Though we suffered damage, it was minor in comparison to other people. As I write this, we are finally getting ready to replace the floor in our house.<\/p>\n

We praise God that we served 15,000 hot plates to the surrounding areas in Webster. God is faithful. Our church was able to assist many of our church members by providing them sheet rock, mattresses, and assisting with their cleanup. Oasis of Hope took the opportunity to show our love and to serve.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mary Alice Trevi\u00f1o is the Girls\u2019 Ministries Director for the Texas Latin Conference and serves on the IPHC Girls\u2019 Ministries General Board. She and her husband, Jaime, pastor Oasis of Hope in Webster, Texas. They welcomed the DRUSA feeding kitchens to their church and truly lived up to the church\u2019s name by being an oasis of hope during the aftermath of a catastrophic hurricane.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":3670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,15,446],"tags":[300,297,783,696,251],"class_list":{"0":"post-3667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-girls-ministries-childrens-ministries","8":"category-mens-ministries","9":"category-phpp","10":"tag-disaster-relief","11":"tag-drusa","12":"tag-harvey","13":"tag-hurricane-harvey","14":"tag-girls-ministries","15":"entry"},"title_es":"La visita de Harvey","content_es":"\"\"<\/a> Habiendo nacido y crecido en Houston, crec\u00ed escuchando sobre los huracanes. He sabido qu\u00e9 hacer para prepararme, y muy bien sobre el da\u00f1o que los vientos y el agua pueden causar en una casa. El 25 de agosto de 2017, recuerdo haber pensado que comenzar\u00eda a llover, que el viento mejorar\u00eda y que ese ser\u00eda el final de Harvey, pero ese no era el caso. Mi esposo y yo nos sentimos seguros. Est\u00e1bamos muy seguros de que no pasar\u00eda nada. Pero alrededor de la 1:00 a.m., me despert\u00e9 con agua entrando en nuestro comedor, dormitorio y pasillo. No era mucha agua, pero nuestros pisos estaban da\u00f1ados. Hicimos nuestro mejor esfuerzo para levantar los muebles y secar los pisos tanto como sea posible. La lluvia continu\u00f3 durante toda la ma\u00f1ana. El meteor\u00f3logo dijo que empeorar\u00eda. Nos turnamos para sentarnos debajo del porche, mirando el agua subir. No ten\u00edamos planes de evacuar nuestra casa, pero sab\u00edamos que el agua segu\u00eda subiendo. En ese momento, el Se\u00f1or envi\u00f3 a tres \u00e1ngeles (hombres de nuestra iglesia) con un peque\u00f1o bote. Nos dijeron, \"Pastores, ustedes dos vienen con nosotros porque el arroyo de la calle se est\u00e1 desbordando y solo empeorar\u00e1\". Todav\u00eda ten\u00edamos agua corriente y electricidad y sentimos que est\u00e1bamos bien, pero insistieron. Nos colocaron en un bote peque\u00f1o y luego lo transferimos a uno m\u00e1s grande. Se necesitaron seis hombres para empujar ese bote a trav\u00e9s de la fuerte corriente de Clear Creek. Luego, lo transferimos a un gran cami\u00f3n del ej\u00e9rcito. Nuestros miembros nos llevaron a su hermosa casa en Alvin, donde estuvimos cinco d\u00edas. Rezar\u00edamos y tratar\u00edamos de llamar a las familias de la iglesia. Muchas de las personas hab\u00edan perdido el poder y no pod\u00edan abandonar sus hogares. Debido a tantas inundaciones, la mayor\u00eda de las tiendas estaban cerradas. Incluso cuando abrieron, solo se permiti\u00f3 entrar a 10 personas al mismo tiempo. El agua, el pan y muchos otros art\u00edculos ten\u00edan tanta demanda que se agotaron muy r\u00e1pido. Jaime y yo somos pastores primero. Salimos de nuestra casa, pero, siendo muy honestos, nunca nos preocupamos por las cosas materialistas. Confiamos en Dios con nuestro hogar. Muchos de nuestros miembros hab\u00edan ido a diferentes refugios. Mucha gente perdi\u00f3 todo lo que ten\u00edan. Sab\u00edamos que la iglesia y otros edificios estaban bien, pero no saber sobre nuestra familia de la iglesia era muy dif\u00edcil para nosotros. En momentos como estos, sus emociones est\u00e1n por todas partes, pero debemos continuar orando y confiando en Dios. Necesitamos ser un ejemplo para otros y mostrarles que Dios es nuestra esperanza. Cuando finalmente pudimos regresar a nuestra casa, Jaime y yo nos sorprendimos al ver que las casas a nuestra izquierda, a la derecha y al otro lado de la calle estaban inundadas. Pero nuestra casa estaba alta y seca. Tal vez, Dios se ocup\u00f3 de nosotros porque sab\u00eda que tendr\u00edamos que ayudar a otros. Nuestra siguiente parada fue en la iglesia, para correr la voz de que Oasis estar\u00eda abierto a ofrecer art\u00edculos de limpieza, ropa y comida. Servir a los dem\u00e1s es muy f\u00e1cil cuando tienes un equipo de personas que est\u00e1n ah\u00ed para servir. Antes de llegar a la iglesia, las personas que pod\u00edan viajar se estaban estableciendo. Las donaciones ya hab\u00edan comenzado a llegar. En unas pocas horas, est\u00e1bamos abiertos y listos para servir a la comunidad. Estamos muy agradecidos por DRUSA. Hombres, mujeres y ni\u00f1os de Carolina del Norte, del Sur y Oklahoma fueron enviados al cielo. Llegaron temprano el domingo y por la noche, estaban listos con comidas calientes. Hubo d\u00edas largos y muy emocionales, ya que vimos la cat\u00e1strofe a nuestro alrededor. Las personas necesitadas ven\u00edan con la ropa en la espalda, muchos llorando y otros todav\u00eda en estado de shock. Aprend\u00ed a poner mis emociones personales en espera. Como padre, ve\u00eda a mis ni\u00f1as y a sus familias todos los d\u00edas. Ver\u00edamos a nuestra familia de la iglesia al menos dos veces a la semana. Pero ir cinco d\u00edas sin verlos fue dif\u00edcil. Ten\u00eda que poner mis deseos personales en un segundo plano. Aunque sufrimos da\u00f1os, fue menor en comparaci\u00f3n con otras personas. Mientras escribo esto, finalmente nos estamos preparando para reemplazar el piso de nuestra casa. Alabamos a Dios porque servimos 15,000 platos calientes a las \u00e1reas circundantes en Webster. Dios es fiel. Nuestra iglesia pudo ayudar a muchos de los miembros de nuestra iglesia brind\u00e1ndoles l\u00e1minas de piedra, colchones y ayudando con su limpieza. Oasis of Hope aprovech\u00f3 la oportunidad para mostrar nuestro amor y servir. \"\"<\/a> Mary Alice Trevi\u00f1o es la Directora de Ministerios de Ni\u00f1as para la Conferencia Latina de Texas y es miembro de la Junta General de Ministerios de Ni\u00f1as de IPHC. Ella y su esposo, Jaime, pastor Oasis of Hope en Webster, Texas. Dieron la bienvenida a las cocinas de alimentaci\u00f3n de DRUSA a su iglesia y realmente estuvieron a la altura del nombre de la iglesia al ser un oasis de esperanza durante las secuelas de un hurac\u00e1n catastr\u00f3fico.","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/Harveys-Visit.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-X9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}