Shelter Life, Pt. 2

Today marked the third day that we have operated a shelter for people displaced by Hurricane Gustav. Earlier today, a large number of evacuees in the shelter left to go back to their homes. But most of them did not simply leave. They sought volunteers out, they cried, they exchanged hugs with volunteers while saying "thank you, thank you so much." I experienced several of these moments as people expressed gratitude through voices that were choked with tears.

One such lady could not find me, so she asked a volunteer to locate where I was. The volunteer found me and said, "There is a lady here who won't leave until she tells you bye." I found her and hugged her and her family, then stood and returned their waves as they exited the building.

That is a story you don't often hear from hurricane evacuee shelters. But that is one of the stories that has come from our shelter.

Today I spent several moments with Bryant and Velma. This couple is from south Louisiana and attend the South Trebonne Church of Christ. Yesterday, they received word that their home had been destroyed. They were devastated. Bryant found me today and asked if we could talk for a few minutes. We had a good conversation in which Bryant, even through his questioning of why the hurricane happened, still professed his faith in God. I intended to minister to him. What I did not expect is that he would minister to me in such a powerful way.

Later today, Bryant came over to me and was so excited he had trouble getting his words out. He had just spoken with his minister who corrected the earlier erroneous report that Bryant and Velma's house had flooded. He said the house was unharmed. Bryant was so excited he almost started jumping up and down.

What a moment!

Not every moment is as exciting as that one. I spoke for a few minutes with a guy named Mike who is from New Orleans. He just wanted to go home. In fact, he began to tear up just talking about going home. I listened through moist eyes as he expressed how hard it is to be away from home. Mike gets to go home Thursday and I am so happy for him.

Tomorrow evening our shelter will shut down. Almost all of the people will begin their journey home. A few will have to spend the night in another shelter, but we have made arrangements to make sure that each person receives quality care.

A reporter from the Shreveport Times came by today. She had written several articles about the mismanagement and other "horrors" taking place at local shelters. Someone called her and told her she needed to see what was happening at the Airline Drive Church of Christ. So she came. We talked for quite some time, and took a tour of the shelter. She was amazed at what was being done. She commented that she had not seen a shelter run as well as this one. She asked how we managed to do it. I told her that we determined from the beginning that we would treat each person who came to the shelter as a person. Each person would be shown respect and honor. My theory is simple: treat people with respect and they will act accordingly. Treat people like numbers or herd them into buildings like animals, and they will act accordingly.

We treated each person with respect, because it was our honor to serve them. In doing so, we became more like Jesus.