Last month six members of the Messiah in Chester embarked on a mission trip to a nearby location, Staten Island, where they spent a week repairing a home damaged last year by Hurricane Sandy. Messiah's Rector, the Rev. Margaret Otterburn, and lay participant Julie Crawford describe their work and the impact it had on them.
The Rev. Margaret Otterburn
Last December, two members of my congregation, Church of the Messiah in Chester, asked if we could do Sandy relief work. When I inquired I was told, "no one is ready to take on volunteers yet." A few months later I spoke with Deacon Chris McCloud who is our Diocesan Disaster Coordinator. She directed me to the program the Dioceses of Newark, New Jersey and New York are coordinating. "Yes," I was told, "this program can take volunteers," and our chosen summer week was booked.
We were asked to work on Staten Island. We stayed at the Moravian Church located at New Dorp, close to the work sites. We had wonderful hospitality; the use of a kitchen, an air-conditioned room to sleep in and showers in the outside mobile unit.
We drove to the sites daily and worked under the direction of Darryl Hayes, the paid coordinator staff person supplied by the Diocese of New York. Not surprisingly, on the first day he looked at our group and his face showed he thought us unlikely to achieve much. However we showed we could sheet rock, spackle, paint, deal with building trash... efficiently. We had a great week together with daily Morning Prayer and Compline and a Eucharist.
Hardee Kilgore gets down to work - getting the sheet rock in place. MARGARET OTTERBURN PHOTO
Julie Crawford
As a newcomer to this church, I am continuously amazed by the energy I feel each time I arrive at Messiah or participate or observe the impact of its outreach programs. When asked by Margaret to reflect and share about our Sandy relief mission trip I thought about “What it means to be an Episcopalian?” Through dedicated times of reflection and prayer we are strengthened to help others through active participation, and certainly this demonstration of active participation is modeled by our members here at Messiah. One phrase that has really resonated with me since joining the Church is “what I have left undone” which is new to me and fits in with the theme of the Good Samaritan.
To be Episcopalian means to actively participate through Christ's Church in the work of God. You can participate in Church services and parish programs. You can dedicate time for prayers and the study of Holy Scripture. You are guided to participate in acts of charity and to express and to discover outlets for social justice. You can share the Good News of Christ to other people. Through all of these outlets you learn more about God and how God shares unconditional love with us. In this journey one discovers on a personal level how to give within our means and use our talents to the greater purpose of God's work.
Judy Kilgore and Sister Victoria Michelle present some great spackling work. MARGARET OTTERBURN PHOTO
While Sandy destroyed the material fabric and infrastructure of our nearby regional communities, the on-going relief effort has made progress. While we witnessed just a tiny portion of a monumental recovery, I was impressed with the normalcy of daily routine activities on this densely populated island, but I could see and sense the weariness on the face of its members. While there is still a significant amount of demolition work and possible buyouts of properties, the psychological or hidden scars need time for healing.
Losing a home is like losing a limb. The emotional ties and the loss of photographs of memories take its toll. Response to a major disaster often follows these initial stages: fear, numbness and shock, confusion and difficulty in making decisions, desire for information, seeking help for oneself and family, and helpfulness to others. Nine months out, to find oneself still without a home or answers would certainly have one questioning why me or us Lord? People make adjustments, but for some it will never be the same. They will never again have what they had, not the same neighborhood, not the same friends. But what does come out of this challenge is a realization of what really matters and a personal challenge to helps those in need. May God bless us with the energy to work on what is left undone.
