What does the name Rita mean to you?

You've probably seen the pictures...traffic jams, houses destoryed, streets deserted, flood waters rising, "Out of Gasoline" signs... but let us tell you about our journey with a hurricane named Rita...

Tuesday, September 20th: We learn that a hurricane just might be headed our way. We are advised to fill up on gasoline just in case. After finding one gas station out of gas already, Erin sits in line for half an hour at another while panic sets in. People are angry because your line is in their way, they're frustrated because the person at the pump is filling up a gas can, too, they make hand jestures at each other that don't need to be repeated. We're all in this together, right?

Wednesday, September 21st: A category 5 hurricane is definitely headed our way. Houston sits right smack dab in the middle of the dreaded "cone of uncertainty." We hit the grocery stores to find the shelves scraped clean of almost every nonperishible item they once held. We gather some canned green beans, mixed tropical fruit, apples and Propel water (which if you're wondering, we found the strawberry-kiwi flavor isn't bad!) No such luck finding a flashlight, batteries, and other items for hunkering down. People have reverted back to pushing and shoving, jumping in line, it's mass chaos... and this causes us to feel stress. In bed that night we say to each other, "It's like the movie Armageddon... As if the end of the world is coming tomorrow and their is nothing we can do to stop it, so we'll just try to get some sleep so we'll be awake when it happens."

Thursday, September 22nd: The associate pastor has invited us to evacuate with his family to a town near Dallas. We look at our belongings and decide which items are irreplacible and imperitive for us to have on our person should we come back to nothing. What a sobering experience that was! After some futher discussion, it's decided that we should head to San Antonio to stay with Kari instead. As we learn more about hurricanes, we are told that to be on the west side means to be on the "safe" side. Pastor Al gives us back road directions in an effort to avoid the wall to wall traffic along I-10, the main road to San Antonio. Despite contraflow lanes being opened, people are moving nowhere. We depart at about 11:30 a.m. Half an hour later we're still in Kingwood. We aren't getting anywhere fast. With the windows rolled down to save gas and temperatures hitting record highs of 100 fehrenheit not counting humidity, we trudge our way west accross Texas averaging 10 mph. 10 hours and surprisingly only half a tank of gas later (it's amazing how far you can go when you don't have to press down on the gas pedal), we find ourselves just outside of Giddings, TX. We've seen cars out of gas, engines overheat, animals left on the side of the road to die. Despite trying to keep ourselves hydrated, we have yet had the need to use the restroom. It's 9:30 p.m. and we're ready to be done. Pastor Al's parents live in Giddings and low and behold they would love to have us stay with them. Curtis and Ruth Doering become our angels and take care of us as if we were their own grandchildren.

Friday, September 23rd: We wait... and get to visit the Wendish Museum just outside of Giddings. The Wendish people are strikingly similar to our Slovak friends. We think that's great! The Texas Department of Transportation gives us 5 free gallons of gasoline. Yes, free.

Saturday, September 24th: Rita passes Houston to the east leaving Matt and Beth's home virtually untouched. As Kingwood has no power, we make the drive back to Houston, this time in 1 1/2 hours, to stay with Matt and Beth until our home is up and running. Later that evening we are blessed to be able to return to Kingwood... power, water, unspoiled food, everything we had left behind, was waiting for us unscathed. How good God is!

Sunday, September 25th: We worship God with about 350 fellow believers and thank Him for his mercy. Later that afternoon we wish He would show a little more mercy by turning down the thermostat while we're cleaning up the yard. It's another 100+ degree day...

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!

The following is a glimpse of the clean-up that awaited us upon our return. I've never seen so many pine needles in my life! Well, maybe on a tree, but not in my driveway. Our measley five "bags-o-fun" were nothing compared to other homes with fifteen or twenty!



By the way, if you're wondering, if God ever blesses us with a little girl, we won't be naming her Rita...

Wedding Blessings

On September 17th, we were blessed to have a wonderful young man join our family ranks. Sara West, Brian's sister, was joined in marriage to Adam Breed. The wedding was wonderful, Sara was beautiful and treasured memories were made by all in attendance. Adam, welcome to the family...Sara, we couldn't be happier for you!

Congratulations Sara and Adam Breed! May God bless you and your marriage as you continue to grow in love with Him and with each other.

"Hang"ing out on Friday night

Take a look at some of the wonderful 20somethings we like to call our friends here at Christ the King...



Last night was our first official "Hang" and we had a blast! For those of you who aren't familiar with "Hang", it is a night set up for 20somethings from the church to gather in a public space and basically just... hang out! The hope is that it's a non-threatening environment in which to not only foster our own relationships, but also bring a friend who may not be connected with a church or know Christ as their personal Savior.

A little background about our setting... Bill's Cafe, it's a place of it's own here in Kingwood. It basically consists of a house and open garage laden with picnic tables and paper towels. Their specialty is burgers, the beer comes in a koozie and their menu reads: "We are working out of the original 1945 kitchen (with a few modifications) so things are a little slower at times due to the high volume of people that we can seat. We're sorry for the wait, but we are not a fast food restaurant chain." And they're serious, too!

There were approximately 17 of us there in all... a humble yet very exciting beginning considering there's usually about 10 or 12 at our regular Kairos time. We've even become international! We can now count two German nationals among our ranks. We pray that this is just the beginning of what we hope will become a fruitful ministry in our area.

Katrina

We're sure that you have heard by now about the serious destruction of Hurricane Katrina. It has affected millions of people both directly and indirectly.

In the wake of that destruction, we in Houston are feeling the effects as thousands of refugees move into the hotels of the greater Houston area. This includes, though not limited to, the Astrodome (which is housing 25,000 people). The faith community of Houston has pledged to feed all the people in the Astrodome for at least one month, though realistically closer to three months. The cost of such a project is 4.5 million dollars per month. It will also require 420 volunteers to help distribute 75,000 meals daily. This is no small task, but the faith community of Houston is up for the challenge.

I had the opportunity to meet with 300 church leaders from all denominations and faiths. The meeting was a plea for monies and volunteers. It was an invaluable, and quite a humbling learning experience to be surrounded by people with the same purpose...to feed the hungry. It's amazing what people can do together when they put their minds to it.

Christ the King is, at present, reaching out to those in need...specifically in our area. The church has put together lunches and dinners for those in hotels in the immediate vicinity. It has also provided its building to be used as a shelter for those who need it. We are providing opportunities for children to come and play while parents take a much needed rest or look for work.

Gas prices are the least of our concerns as we witness the lack of hope in people around us. Pray that God would restore hope and guide his people to be his hands and feet, as we search for ways to provide his love through meals, work opportunities, vacant rooms, and prayers.

May God's spirit move in this place...