Major flooding occurred mid-March when a cyclone struck central United States. The heavy rain melted ice and snow making the rivers swell in Nebraska. Fifteen locations in Nebraska reported record-breaking flood levels causing damage that is estimated to cost over a billion dollars.
Over 60 counties across eastern Nebraska declared a state of emergency forcing mass evacuation. As hundreds of people evacuated, the flooding left 4 people dead and 300 people had to be rescued from the rising waters.
LU Send Now deployed a team of 12 students and 2 leaders to Dodge County, Nebraska. Two of the students were from the Head and Heart team and they were able to assist the BGEA chaplains as they meet the spiritual and emotional needs of both the volunteers and the homeowners.
Jake, a Head and Heart student, reflected, "Another student and I went as chaplains where we worked with the Billy Graham Foundation. So while Samaritans Purse team was helping with the physical needs, we were helping with the spiritual and emotional needs of both the volunteers and the homeowners. We would get to know them and talk about their spiritual life."
The rest of the team worked to provide physical aid to the homeowner's devastated properties. Throughout the week the team participated in mud outs, debris removal, and serving the homeowners. By the end of the week, they completed work at 14 different homes.
The rest of the week was filled with a variety of work orders but, the beginning point would seldom differ. "The basement obtained the most water damage and so we first spent a lot of time getting the water out bucket by bucket," student Ashley explained, "After the the water was removed we would go in there and remove everything. We sorted through all of the homeowners' personal belongings seeing what could be salvaged. "
"We sorted through furniture, books, pictures, and family heirlooms. Most of their belongings were completely ruined from the water. At one house we found a mandolin that had broken strings and warped wood," Chloe shared.
Bo, a local volunteer that was serving alongside the team offered to take the mandolin home.
At the house where mandolin was found, all of the homeowner's belongings were ruined by the water damage. It took two full days to gut the house and discard the damage.
As the team served, they learned more about the homeowner through their conversations. They found that, "a lot of people made decisions for her in her life that were beyond her control," which caused for frustration and hurt. That night, the chaplain spoke to the home owner and shared the gospel message.
The homeowner made the decision to accept Christ and later reflected that it was, "One of the few choices in her life that she had made for herself."
The team rejoiced and celebrated the homeowner's acceptance of Christ. For many of the team members, seeing her become saved was their highlight of their week. Chloe reflected that, "Seeing a devastated woman become a sister in Christ by accepting God's salvation message made the entire trip worth it."
The team returned the next day to finish working on the house. Bo also returned bringing the refurbished mandolin. He was able to present the mandolin, "to the homeowner and show how even though the mandolin was really decrypted earlier that week it was able to be restored- just like Sandra's life was restored when she was able to accept Christ and make that decision with herself." (Jonathan)
The trip was full of ministry moments with the team. It also was a chance for those serving to reflect. In the middle of the week, Jonathan experienced a moment where "God allowed me to slow down and just reflect on serving those people in the community and how beautifully and wonderfully they are made and few of them even know it."