Tina Byus
10-06-2005
What a tremendous joy to know and see firsthand the work of Cedarville students along the Gulf Coast.
This past weekend my husband and I headed to Slidell, La., our former home of 13 years. This was our third trip down. It amazed me again to see the work of one small church, Faith Bible Church. With not more than 100 members, they have turned their sanctuary into a dormitory for teams for such a time as this.
This past weekend approximately 48 Cedarville students housed themselves there, as you well know. I heard other students had gone to the New Orleans area and even some to the Mississippi coast.
I personally want to say a big THANK YOU to all those who worked to make it possible for the students to go! Your backing them up enabled them to be a great source of strength and encouragement to those they helped. You gave HOPE to many, that's a fact!
My son Chris attends Cedarville and is in his second year. What a testimony to him to see people from Cedarville helping in the community he grew up in. I believe he and those that went learned many life lessons this past weekend that could never be taught in a classroom.
Friday I worked with Cedarville students on Crystal's house. She is a single mom. Her daughters now attend high school in Atlanta. She works daily and was trying to clean out her flooded three-bedroom home. Finding out about the work of Faith Baptist Church, she got put on a list. Eight weeks after the storm, we still pulled wet clothes out of closets! She was doing what she could to move forward but progress was slow. In ONE day Cedarville students gutted her home, which would have taken her weeks, if not months. She actually asked one of your students what he was being paid to come to her house ... he very seriously replied that he was where God wanted him to be � no money involved! As we left Crystal's home we realized she had at least one more day's work that needed to be done.
WWJD? Jesus would have been there, too, helping, encouraging, giving hope. "For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me � �Lord, when did we see You hungry' � I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me."
We often forget the next lines: "I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat..." (Matthew 25:31-46).
Again, thank you for sending teams. All involved can be assured of a greater thank you and reward in heaven. May I encourage you to send them again if at all possible. There's still so much to do.