We’ve all had those times where we start on what we think may be a small project to fix something in our home, only to find that underneath the floorboards or behind the cabinet, a much bigger project is waiting for us to fix!

We knew going into the areas affected by Harvey floods, the needs were already going to be great. You can’t have 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed without having tremendous needs!

But as we dig deeper into communities, and continue to get contacts almost daily from people with no insurance who lost everything, we are finding the project is WAY bigger than even we expected!

This is not a 3-week immediate response relief project that will be over by October.

It is true that by October MOST of the recovery/clean out demolition work should be done.

If not we will have HUGE problems with mold and compromised structures!

Just this week, the team has helped clear out more homes from debris and spray for mold.

And they have even more homes lined up in Houston, Brazoria and Beaumont to keep cleaning too!

But the long-term need is not just help clearing out debris and gutting homes.

At some point people want to get back into their homes!

This is a prolonged, months-long (maybe even years-long?) commitment to help the most vulnerable affected families rebuild their homes.

We probably can’t rebuild everything, but we hope to at least help get walls back on, ceilings back up and even floors back in when possible.

Ceilings back up? Yes, in some homes the flood waters were 12ft or higher! The waters went all the way to the rafters.

There are even some homes on the coast who need roof repair as the gale-force winds ripped the shingles right off.

We are continuing to do what we can to help. God is giving open doors into families and communities to not only serve their physical needs but to also share the Gospel with them.

Pray for the labors and the laborers involved, and especially these families that have lost everything!

We are VERY thankful for the continued outpouring of financial aid that we can pass on to help clear/rebuild, as well as material donations of items people are sending in.

The many people volunteering their vacation days to come down and help are a huge blessing as well!

If you want to help in any way, you can find more information here on our Harvey Relief portal: Hurricane Harvey Relief Portal