Miss Wanda wasn’t prepared to deal mentally and emotionally with a hurricane flooding her house. Her husband had passed away a few years before the storm, and she was still adjusting to life without Jack. Out front of their home, a sign still told the neighbors that this was Jack and Wanda’s house. Her daughter and son-in-law, Lynn and Michael, had moved down to Florida just a couple streets away to help, but their home flooded in the storm too. When we met Miss Wanda, she knew Christ as her savior, but she was still having a really hard time processing the storm and trying to figure out what came next.

Unlike most of the homeowners we work with on responses, even though her home was completely flooded in Hurricane Ian, we didn't do much work inside Miss Wanda's house. In the early days we helped with some of the mucking and gutting, carrying out damaged furniture and saturated insulation to pile up on the curbs. But she had homeowners' insurance that covered most of the cost of repairing her home, so we weren't sending teams of green shirts week after week to work in her house and build relationships. Still, our staff checked in on Miss Wanda regularly since we knew she was overwhelmed by the prospect of navigating the rebuilding on her own. Katrina, our site leader, was there after the sign out front was damaged by debris removal equipment, and she took it home to repair or replace it.

 We did have teams working regularly in Lynn’s home. Her homeowners’ insurance kicked in about 30 hours after the hurricane hit, so she and Michael got nothing from insurance to help with rebuilding. Michael has some health issues that prevented him from even coming in the house, first because of mold, and then the drywall dust. He started to wonder if he would ever get to live in his house again, and he expressed doubts about God. Lynn came by every week to work alongside the teams, getting to know church volunteers from all over the country and praising God for the provision of help and resources. Miss Wanda would also visit teams at Lynn’s frequently, and the two ladies ate lunch several times a week with our teams in the community center.

Just a couple months after the hurricane, Katrina mentioned the possibility of starting a trauma-based Bible study and Miss Wanda agreed that something like that would be helpful after the rebuilding was finished. With a little encouraging, we were able to help her see the value in having a Bible study during the recovery instead of after, and she started brainstorming who in the community she could invite. Miss Wanda and Lynn have been there since the beginning, and they were quick to invite several neighbors. Bible study started in January of this year, and before the snowbirds left for the summer there were about 15 ladies coming regularly- many from the Spring Creek community, some from our staff, and Debbie from Compass Church Naples, our local partner church.

The Bible study continued throughout the summer; they finished the trauma-based study and moved on to a general overview of the Bible. Some of the ladies who came have been attending church for years, but very few of them had any real knowledge of the Bible or what it means that Jesus is our savior. Over the last several months they have wrestled with questions like, "Do all good people go to heaven?" and "Why does God allow bad things to happen if He is all-powerful and all-good?" Some of the women have prayed out loud for the first time in their lives since joining this weekly study group.

In July, Katrina was able to present Miss Wanda with the sign for in front of her home, fully restored. Now the neighborhood knows it is still Jack and Wanda’s house, and Miss Wanda knows that God will carry her through even the toughest of times. A small gesture, it is a great example of how we aim to care for the whole person after a crisis, even meeting some of the emotional needs as well as the physical or the spiritual.

 This fall our Florida staff had to travel for various reasons, so they asked if the ladies would like to take a break or continue meeting on their own. The ladies decided for themselves they would like to keep going, but with a different study. Debbie helped to lead the group most weeks when our staff couldn't be there. On the weeks that she was also unavailable, Miss Wanda stepped up to help lead the group. We are so excited to see her growing in her faith, and helping to lead others as they grow in theirs.

 Our staff did make it back to Florida in time to help Lynn and Michael move back into their finished home. They helped move furniture, prayed over the home, and presented Lynn and Michael with quilts made by the Sew Thankful ministry at Fort Myers EFC, another local partner church. Our prayer is that even though we have finished this project, the relationship with Lynn and Michael will continue so that our staff can keep sharing the love of Christ with Michael.

Please keep praying for the ladies in the Bible study who aren't as sure of their faith, for Michael who still has questions, and for the many other homeowners that we’re working with who are still far from Christ. Pray that as this response continues into a second year, that disciples like Miss Wanda will grow into disciple-makers that help our staff and teams and partner churches share the love of Christ in their own communities. 

Thank you all so much for your prayers and participation in the Hurricane Ian Response. There are still lots of opportunities to get involved, whether you are interested in serving as adjunct staff at our site or want more information on bringing a team to serve. Please keep praying as we enter a second year of ministry in Southwest Florida.