It took us a day longer to get out of LA due to some really bad storms, including one of the worst electrical storms I’ve ever been in, and we’re from FL! This resulted in some extra work to get out as I was helping figure out some electrical issues where we were staying. They ended up having to replace two of the main breaker/subpanels, so we were without electric for most of Thursday and finally left on Friday, a year to the day of when we arrived to begin helping with Ida relief.
We arrived safely in KY with only a couple of small issues during our travel that we’re easily fixed and only added about an hour or so to our trip. As you may know we weren’t campers before we moved into a trailer to do disaster relief and there are things that campers know that we don’t. We didn’t realize that this being Labor Day weekend there wouldn’t be any available campsites anywhere! We ended up sleeping in a rest area which wasn’t bad except there was no electric, so hot and humid and then we couldn’t make coffee or breakfast in the morning! If you know us, you know we almost died from not having our coffee!!
We haven’t seen much of the area yet, but what we have seen is a mess. As far back as anyone can remember, it hasn’t ever flooded this bad. Some areas had over 12’ of water! Most of the homes here got some water in them. The small “creeks” that are next to the roads have a lot of culverts with driveway bridges and even some old houses and buildings over them. A lot of them have washed away so many don’t have direct access to their homes. Two usually very low “rivers” converge into one here. To our knowledge, no one has flood insurance as they weren’t considered a flood zone.
There’s been a little help with the initial clean-up, but I was told that there were hardly any volunteers here last Saturday and even fewer Sunday. So far, we’re the only ones that want to help with rebuilds. Some of the homeowners have already started putting things back together themselves. Originally there were about 700 people who didn’t have any place to stay. Some have been able to get back onto their properties and cleaned up enough to move back in, some have found other places to stay with friends and relatives that have room, and some have gotten trailers to temporarily live in. Remember it’s in the mountains, so extra land,housing, etc., is not an option. Many are still without.
A local church has offered us an extra building they have that they want to use for outreach, so it is being cleaned out. Everyone here has been more than accommodating, friendly, helpful, and welcoming to us!
We'll be setting up Camp Calvary at the outreach building and parking lot for out-of-town servant mission teams, individuals, families, etc., who want to come in and serve alongside Calvary Relief. We don’t have any age restrictions for anyone wishing to serve The LORD with us. We don’t require any experience, just a willingness to serve The LORD by doing what we ask, how we ask and who want to grow in The LORD as you selflessly serve others alongside of Calvary Relief! If this is you, can click here to get more info, Join Us (calvaryrelief.com).
We still need to get back to Louisiana to get our 5th wheel home, tool trailer, truck, van, and the rest of our gear.
We were able to do some electrical work on the outreach building before we headed out. A few hours down the road, one of our brake lines sprung a leak and our brakes went out! We didn’t wreck, but we we’re stuck with no open mechanic shops when it happened Sunday evening and then it was Labor Day.
We went to a parts store and all that was available were generic lines. No one knew what fittings we needed, and it was suggested to come back at 7:30 in the morning, Labor Day, and Kelly would be there and we were told that she would know what to do. We found a hole in the wall motel not too far, got dinner, and hit the hay!
Got up in the morning and I wanted to just run out to buy the part and any tools I was going to use, but it was raining really hard. I called around to all the mechanic shops within about 30 miles, all closed. We got some quick food and coffee and headed to meet Kelly just after 9. She said we’d need to take the old line off and I said that we would also need to purchase tools and mentioned that we couldn’t find a mechanic. She said that she just hung up with a mechanic a couple miles away who called for a parts delivery and gave me his number.
He told me he wasn’t working but his bookkeeper had an emergency, so he came in to help her. He didn’t have a lift large enough to pick up my truck so couldn’t do it, but I could bring it by to look at if I wanted, so we headed over.
He told me what I needed to do and then loaned me the tools to do it in his lot. He then told me what I needed to get to fix it and said I could come back and use his tools to fix it! I came back and he let me back into a bay to get out of the water and I was able to fix it and he wouldn’t take any money for his troubles. Mary Jo got to have some good conversation with his bookkeeper about The LORD!
We took off and started noticing that now the front brakes were making a lot of noise. We discovered that the driver’s side front brakes were metal on metal and only had 10k miles on them. We made it to our next stop OK, which was the CC Deep South Pastor’s Conference. We asked a couple people if they knew anyone who might be able to help us and they all gave me the same name, Frank the bass player had his own shop.
I discussed it with him, and he said, yep there’s always one of y’all that I help after the conference, so we set it up to head over Wednesday right after it was over. He found all the parts and had his guy replace the drivers side rotor and pads and turned the passenger side and replaced the pads and only charged me for the parts!
We’ll begin heading back tomorrow and make our next trip to KY first of the week. Our V10 truck still doesn’t have its motor replaced. I’ve done everything except offer the mechanic more money to get it done but it doesn’t seem like it’s a priority for him. He’s had it now for over 3 months, but it took a month to get the motor shipped in. Once it’s running it must have 1000 miles on it before we can pull a trailer or haul weight in the back and we need it to stay in the Houma area in case the mechanic needs to fix anything. We also still don’t know what else will needs replaced so we don’t know the final cost. Please pray it would get done soon with no issues!
God provided a driver with a larger truck than either of mine, so Charles, a guy who really helped us get started doing disaster relief a long time ago, is going to move the 5th wheel, I"ll pull the tool trailer, and MJ drives the van, we’re moved.
Once the V10 is fixed, Matt, one of the pastors at Living Word, will pick it up and drive it for 1000 miles on his daily routine and make sure it's all good. Then we'll need to figure out how to get it to KY! Maybe a team from the area will be able to bring it when they come serve with us!
Please continue to keep us in your prayers, let us know when you want to come out and join us if you’re able, remember no experience necessary, just a willingness to serve The LORD as you grow in Him! If you’re interested in helping with the expenses of Calvary Relief, you can get more info on that by clicking here, Donate (calvaryrelief.com).
If there’s ever anything you need prayer about or just need to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us and let us know!
Here to serve and disciple until He calls us home,
Curt & Mary Jo
