Lindsee Lou: Rebuilding Galveston

A little over three weeks ago, I piled a few middle school girls into my small SUV (all of whom sat in the back seat which I thought was hilarious) and we headed to Galveston for the week, along with 25 other students and adults. It was our middle school mission trip and although both David and I, our middle school pastor, were very hesitant because of the physical labor we'd be doing, the students honestly blew us away! They worked so hard all week and served the residents of Galveston like you wouldn't believe. I've never been more proud of them!

One of the girls tagged me in a note on Facebook about the week and instead of me writing a re-cap, I'm completely hijacking hers and using it. Not only did she do an phenomenal job, but it's neat to see the trip through the eyes of a student. I hope you are encouraged and inspired by how the Lord is working in a through this generation of students. Oh, how I pray their love for the Lord only grows more and more!

wow. all i can say is wow. its so amazing how just five days in a place in need can change your life forever. most people would think that being served and living in luxury for five days would be the perfect experience, but being in Galveston and serving the Lord along with his people was truly the best experience anyone could ever ask for.

(i know this note is long, but just bear with me.)

1. The Mission during the five days in Galveston our goal was not only to help rebuild the houses that had been destroyed by hurricane Ike, but also rebuild lives and the hope in the hearts of the people who lived there. During the week we would think about the people in need and reach out to them as best as we could. we found that the need to rebuild houses came in second to the need of prayer, lights of Jesus, hope, courage, and strength in that community.

2. The People when most people think of Galveston, they think of the beach and the pretty beach houses that stand, or stood, in that city. but once you get there and see the people that live there and have suffered from economic depression and the hurricane, the beach totally flees your mind. you see the people in poverty, the destroyed houses, the drug addicts and alcoholics and homeless people who seem to have forgotten all joy in life before it went in a downward spiral, and you get a feeling in your gut that there has to be some way you can help, you just have to.

3. The Conditions where we stayed was far from hotel status. there was two big rooms (one for girls, one for guys) with no air conditioning, no TV or computers, holes in the floors where creatures could crawl up, and bunks lining the walls. combined with another small youth group from Houston, the girl shared 5 showers and the boys shared 2. there were 29 of us from cypress bible only on the trip. the mosquitoes seemed to be starving to death 24/7. when we would walk from the rooms to the fellowship hall, or anywhere else for that matter, there would almost always be a trail of mosquitoes behind you eating you alive. we came back with what seemed like millions of bites on our legs. this is where "we're serving the Lord, we're serving the Lord" comes into play over and over in your mind.

4. The Work When the six78 students teamed up with EFCA and Galveston Bible Church, we were immediately told what our duties would be for the next few days that we stayed there. we would be non stop painting and mudding two houses that had been destroyed by hurricane Ike and were being rebuilt by several teams that were with EFCA for the rest of the week. we would also be part of the daily clean-up. when we heard this we had to constantly remind ourselves that we were doing this for God, and we had to put others needs behind our own. it was only through God that we were able to get through that week with cheerful hearts and attitudes, and a sane mind. our jobs were finished on time and we had reached our goal. thanks to the Lord, of course.

5. The Prayer when were on the verge of passing out from paint fumes and in desperate need of a break, multiple people at a time would go on what we call "prayer walks". this is where we would walk around the neighborhood and pray for what we saw. sometimes it would be prayer for a closed business or a vacant home that was wrecked, or a praise that a house would be standing or the smiles on kids and adults faces were still appearing. not only did we pray for our surroundings, but we would walk up to people on the streets, no matter who they were or what they were doing, offer them a cold water and ask them if they needed prayer for anything. sometimes we would get weird looks and the people would politely say "no thank you." other times we would be told "God knows what i need." our response to those words would be "well, God bless you." and we would be on our way, silently praying for them and whatever they were going through. but the times that were so close to our heart were the times that the person would look at us with shock and gratefulness in there eyes and nod their head with much enthusiasm. they would tell us their prayer request(s) and we would ask if they would like us to pray for them right then and there, or as we walked around the neighborhood. it was so special when they would ask us to pray for them right there. when we would finish praying, we would look at the person we were joining hands with. there were two reactions to our prayers most of the time. a) a huge ear-to-ear smile that showed a great joy that could lighten anyone's heart. or b) tears running down their faces and big hugs all around. every person. whether they declined or accepted the prayer, was close to our hearts. we also went to a bible club for kids where about ten kids were lead to Christ by our junior high student. we held a free hot dog cookout the last work night of the week and prayed for dozens of people there. it was absolutely incredible.

6. The Pleasures most of our time in Galveston was eat, sleep, work, and pray. but who says we couldn't have a little fun? we went to the strand, an oldies-looking shopping center with lots of stuff to see and buy, the movies, where we watched Despicable Me (so cute!), the beach, and of course the lovely fast food restaurants that had air conditioning (this is where we would say "praise the lord, we're not sweating!"). but the amazing thing is, although those things were fun and a great way to relax, the most joy i had all week was serving others. weird, huh?

7. The Overall Experience Galveston was overall the most amazing experience of my life. it wasn't luxurious or air conditioned, but it was a week filled with hope and total humbleness and surrender to God. i wouldn't have traded that trip for the world. i'm sure others would agree with me when i say it was spectacular.