A timeline of August...

 

Hello, friends!  August was a wild month and there was lots going on!  I thought I'd give you a brief timeline of some of the highlights of things that happened.  I am going to try and go through the month chronologically, and I will give a short update on the Hurricane Ida Response as well. -We started out the month with two youth teams.  It was fun to get to work with this age group as youth ministry is definitely something I miss.  It was such an encouragement to see these young adults serve for the week and just love on the community in Lake Charles.  These were our last two teams of a busy summer!  -During both of these weeks, Kat and some of the Trauma Care team were able to do a training for the volunteer teams.  It was the youngest group to participate in one of these trainings.  It was so touching to hear these young people's hearts and watch them learn how to ask powerful questions and be good listeners.

-The third week of August, I continued to work on helping plan and prepare for our semi annual meetings.  Twice a year, Crisis Response has meetings for all of our staff where we have worship, devotions, and specific meetings on certain topics. This August, we had our meetings on Zoom due to some Covid travel concerns for some of our staff. -I also finished moving out of my room in the church and into the home that I'm now renting.  God provided the perfect housing for me and I'm so grateful for it!  Yay! -Our Lake Charles staff went out to celebrate all God did in and through us during the Summer.  We went axe throwing and had a blast!

-The weekend before our meetings, I traveled down to Corpus Christi for a closing celebration with some of our other staff.  This was our last Hurricane Harvey site to close down and it was definitely a bittersweet time.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and celebrating all God has done in Corpus Christi in the four years since Harvey.  You can continue to pray for our Corpus Christi staff as they transition into new seasons of ministry.

-When we got back from Corpus we had a few days of our Zoom meetings.  Even though it is a lot of time on Zoom, it is a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing insight with the other staff members that we don't get to see often.  After the meetings, those of our staff that were together in Lake Charles enjoyed dinner and spending time together.  We had a fun birthday celebration one night and on the other night, Adriano taught us all how to make pizza.

-The last week of August was our scheduled vacation.  Jen and Adriano decided to come up to NJ for a few days, so the three of us hopped in the truck that Friday afternoon.  By this time, we were watching Hurricane Ida closely and saw that the track was headed for Southeastern Louisiana.  We left ahead of most of the evacuation traffic and got to TN late Friday night.  With the exception of a little rain and much laughter, we had a relatively uneventful drive and got to Jersey late Saturday night.  We had a fun time and I definitely realized how much I needed the break after the busy summer.  We were able to spend a few days visiting with the missions team from my church and spend time with my family.  I was able to give an update to my home church yesterday, and it was such a blessing to spend time with my church family. There were lots of other things that happened during the month of August, but I wanted to give you all just a short glimpse into my schedule.

Hurricane Ida On the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ida brought massive devastation to Southeastern Louisiana and then later on, to the Northeast.  Our staff in Covington remained in the area so they could quickly respond to the storm afterwards.  They all are safe and only a few had some damage.  Most of them all have power restored and our warehouse where our ministry headquarters is has water restored.  Our Covington staff have been responding in the communities along the North Shore with Trauma Care and a lot of tree work with chainsaws and skid loaders.  Many on our First Response Team have been deployed to Covington to come alongside the staff there and help in these beginning stages of the response.  We have heard from our ministry partners in New Orleans and they have said that the damage in the city is extensive.  Our ministry leadership has also been in touch with a few churches in NJ and NY that experienced flooding from Ida as well.  For more information on how you can pray for and support the Hurricane Ida Response, you can view the link below.

Hurricane Ida Response

New Responses At a time when people are asking why and seeking answers, are we prepared to give a response about the hope we have found in Christ?  How do we come alongside well and share the love of Christ?  Do people see and hear the love of Christ in our words and actions?  Are we listening well and asking powerful questions so we can help people process the trauma they have survived?  How can you be praying and involved in how Crisis Response is ministering to those in the wake of Crisis?   Below, are the links for all the recent crises that the ministry has begun responses to.  I would encourage you to check them out and be praying!

Hurricane Ida Response

Afghan Refugee Response

Haiti Earthquake Response

Partnership Information I'm so thankful for the team of ministry partners that God has blessed me with.  Your emotional, prayerful, and financial support are what enable me to serve God here in Lake Charles.  Thank you for partnering with me and being a part of the work God is doing in and through us. I'm currently about 52% financially supported on a monthly basis. I'm praying that God would provide for the need of that other 48%.  If you would like to join my team of financial partners by giving either a special gift or making a monthly giving commitment, you can find the giving information below. Give Online Here Checks can be made payable to "EFCA" and mailed to: Evangelical Free Church of America 901 E 78th St  Minneapolis, MN 55420-1300 Memo Line: Account #2840- Wierzbicki If you would like to join my prayer team and receive specific prayer requests, send me an email and I'll add you to the list.

Email Eloise to Join Prayer Team