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From The Pastors Corner |
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November 17, 2005 Dear Editor: Most of the letters that I address to your newspaper are reactions to
articles that have been written or issues that are being faced in our
community. After the last letter that
I wrote to you a young woman came by my office and asked if she could talk to
me about that letter. Although we
held to different opinions on the matter of Same-sex Civil Unions we had a
very nice discussion that demonstrated mutual respect. We agreed to disagree and I promised her
that the next letter that I wrote would be one that would be a positive
reflection concerning my trip to Texas to work with the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association Rapid Response Team as a Chaplain. These are my observations. I was deployed with two men from my congregation on November 7, and
returned on November 14. We were sent
to Groves, Texas near Port Arthur, Texas.
This is one of the areas that is being repaired by Samaritan’s Purse. One of my men worked with the repair teams
and the other joined me as a Chaplain ministering to the people who have
experienced great personal loss. We
teamed up with two Chaplains that were already on the scene and assisted them
in the work. We made personal visits
to the homes of the people whose homes were being repaired by the Samaritan’s
Purse Teams. We were there to listen
to their stories and to offer hope and comfort. We found that those who had a strong trust in God were able to
accept their losses after a time of grief and to move on to the future. These people did not have much in the
beginning and they had less after Rita attacked their homes. We pointed them to the One who is the God
of all comfort and prayed with them offering them words of encouragement from
the Bible. We also met with local leaders
like Social Workers, Teachers and Pastors and offered our counseling skill to
them also. We helped with the
distribution of supplies that were provided by the Assemblies Of God
Denomination, spoke with members of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Team
and worshipped in an African-American Baptist Church and shared a meal with
them. We saw the beginning of the
walls of division between denominations and races coming down. When we were distributing supplies to
those in an area served by a low-income housing project we worked along side
of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic Americans and
Anglo-Americans. It was our love for
Jesus that made us one. I will not soon forget my experience of driving into Sabine Pass, Texas
and seeing the devastation of homes and churches. Many of these building will not be allowed to be rebuild since
the town is requiring that every home and business be built twelve feet from
the ground. I met a woman there who
lost her home and everything in it.
She was living with her family in a travel trailer. She had grieved her loss but by faith was
looking toward the future. I believe that I received more than I was able to give. This has made an impact upon my view of
material things. I believe that
people are more important that things and that the spiritual must take
precedence over the material. As
Jesus put it “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all
these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33). I hope that I will not forget these
lessons and will be able to communicate them to others also. Sincerely, Dr. Anthony L. Gibson, Pastor |