Return to Bayou La Batre, Alabama June 2006 Disaster Relief Donation by Rev. Maj. Byron E. Martin On our last trip to volunteer in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, we realized they had a strong need for a good working pick-up truck. I told them if I came across one, I'd keep them in mind. Very soon after returning home, we received a donation of a 1987 Ford Ranger pick-up truck with a contractor cap and a ladder rack. So I asked my brother Paul to correct any mechanical problems with the vehicle and then we took a three day trip to deliver it to the Nazarene Compassion Ministries in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. The trip was far from uneventful and we wondered if we were going to be able to deliver the truck after all. But no matter what problems Satan threw at us, we were able to do what we set out to accomplish. We were met by the directors of the Alabama Disaster Relief Efforts with NCM (Nazarene Compassion Ministries), Tim and Danielle Whetstone and after sharing with them and members from a California team and a Illinois team that were presently volunteering there, Paul and I headed back home tired but feeling confident that we had followed God's leading and that the Ford Ranger donation was where God had meant for it to end up. It is an incredible feeling to know that you have been used by God for His purposes. We are looking forward to our next effort in outreach ministry. There are a few things we are presently working on and I will tell you more when they become solidified. By Lt. Deborah La Valla Once again, the American Rescue Workers partnered with the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries in Alabama to deploy its second team of disaster relief volunteers. Those Attending this trip included volunteers from various areas of the American Rescue Workers’ Corps: Major Byron E. Martin, Commanding Officer of Capitol Heights, MD Corps; James (Jim) Mullins, Friend Volunteer from MD area; Sergeant Tory D. Shaw, Grounds and Maintenance Manager of Capitol Heights, MD Corps; Thomas Warren, Assistant Men’s Manager of Capitol Heights, MD Corps; Richard (Dick) Weber, Pantry and Distribution Supervisor of Hollidaysburg, PA Corps; Jeffrey Twist, from Williamsport, PA Corps; John Seese, from Williamsport, PA Corps; Victor La Valla, Officer in Training for National/CT Corps; and Deborah La Valla, Officer in Training for National/CT Corps.                                                                                                                             Under the new guise of the Dirty Hands Ministry, which falls under Capitol Heights, MD Corps’ Disaster Relief efforts, two separate American Rescue Workers’ teams have been able to assist in Bayou La Batre, Alabama this year.    Tim and Danielle Whetstone, coordinators for Alabama South Hurricane Relief, along with Rev. Charles Martin of ALERT (Alabama Emergency Relief Team) organized the effort, while Major Byron E. Martin led the working team of volunteers. The effort is focused on getting Alabama residents, who are still residing in FEMA trailers back into their homes. The destruction of the previous hurricanes and storms left thousands of families in the Gulf Coast States homeless and in deplorable living conditions.  Reverend Martin assisted families with getting grant money to repair their homes; however, the money was limited and did not provide adequate support to restore these areas. Reverend Martin has worked with numerous families to develop a better strategy for utilizing the funds, which resulted in buying bulk materials at a fraction of the individual costs and enlisting volunteers from all over the country to supply free labor to get the jobs done. A group comes in for a couple of weeks and completes as many tasks as possible; then another group shows up when the first one leaves and continues the work. Another group of 700 volunteers were succeeding us when we departed from the area.  Our second team had the opportunity to work with two different families in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. One home required minor completions to finish it. Several doors were replaced and a kitchen counter and sink was installed. The kitchen plumbing was repaired and checked thoroughly.   The second home required much more work so the majority of time was spent there. We spackled walls, installed doors and lighting fixtures, and put in a new hot water heater. Ceramic tile was laid in two bathrooms. Plumbing for the bathrooms and kitchen was installed, and checked thoroughly. Carpet was laid in the living room and bedroom. A wooden Pergo floor was installed in the kitchen, wash room and dining area. The entire kitchen and appliances with the exception of a few hanging cabinets were installed. Molding and other finishing work was also completed.   The additional length of time needed to perform these tasks allowed this group to build a great relationship with the family. “It’s the first time I’ve had carpet in 17 years,” said Mrs. Grinnell, who with her husband has been confined to a small FEMA trailer since last  year. She was extremely excited with the work, and moved her mattress into the bedroom as soon as the carpet was laid. “I am sleeping here tonight,” Grinnell exclaimed, “The baby and I will roll all over this carpet tonight!” Her daughter and son-in-law along with their two-year-old and newborn are living in the adjacent shed where Grinnell previously did her sewing.   There are still many people in the Gulf States who are recovering from the mass destruction of the hurricanes from last year, and the needs are great. The American Rescue Workers will continue to send teams down to help when we can. We continue to solicit your prayers, volunteerism, financial contributions, supply donations and help with these efforts.

Disaster Relief Ministry continues in Bayou La Batre, Alabama

By Maj. Byron E. Martin

On March 1, 2006 nine volunteers with carpentry, roofing, electrical and drywall/painting skills left the Washington, DC area in our converted 27’ RV Disaster Relief Unit, a trailer of supplies and our van to spend 12 days in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Our team was made up of volunteers from our Williamsport, PA Corps, our Canton, Ohio Corps, the Washington, DC Corps and my brother-in-law from Ashburn, Virginia who used up his limited vacation time. He felt, as the rest of us did, that it was simply the right thing to do. It is my prayer that God blesses each of them for the sacrifice that each of them made to make this trip. They are:

 Mr. William Cantner, Mr. Randolph Allen, Mr. Eric Hendrix, Mr. Roy Mundorff, Mr. Jeffrey Twist, Mr. Paul Martin, Sgt. Tory Shaw, Sgt. Brian Davis and Maj. Byron Martin.

 We would also like to thank the organizations below for their partnership with us by their kind gifts of support;

 New Home Baptist Church, Perfecting of the Saints Deliverance Ministries, ARW Williamsport, PA Corps, ARW National Headquarters, and the ARW DC Corps Community Church Congregation.

 We were originally slated for Baton Rouge, Louisiana but were later targeted to a small fishing town in southern Alabama. As a Christian, I have learned to make definitive plans...but not to the exclusion of following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Even after cutting ten information spots on WAVA FM 105.1 that detailed the work we would do in Baton Rouge, we were re-routed to Alabama.  I, for one, am glad we were sent there.

Our first stop was in Monroeville, Alabama where we met Rev. Freddie Lindsey of His Place Ministry. Working with the Nazarene Compassion Ministries, Rev. Lindsey has a distribution center for food, water, clothes, and furniture. He is also working to help replace books that the local libraries lost thousands of  in the hurricane damage. A Nazarene Preacher whose passion drove him to take on the restoration process in a full-time endeavor, Rev. Lindsey is a dedicated, sincere Christian whose heart is on fire to reach out to those devastated by the natural disasters of 2005.

We unloaded supplies of Emergency Care Kits and cleaning supplies at the distribution center. Our order from the Southern Alabama Project Manager was to first see what we could do to help Rev. Lindsey with problems at the distribution center before continuing to Bayou La Batre so we spent the day correcting carpentry and electrical problems at the center. We were rewarded by Rev. Lindsey with an all you can eat Catfish dinner we will not soon forget. We exchanged numbers and made plans to work together in the near future to continue ministering through his distribution center.

We then headed to the Bayview Nazarene Church in Bayou La Batre which would serve as our base camp for the remainder of our time. The church family was gracious and even provided a dinner for us and a group of teens from Olivet Nazarene College who chose to spend their spring break doing something for others.

Rev. Charles C. Martin is the Disaster Relief Project Manager for the Nazarene Compassion Ministries in southern Alabama. Along with pastoring his own church in Montgomery, Alabama, Charles and his wife spend their work week in Bayou La Batre to set-up jobs, provide materials, match crews with the work and manage the jobs to completion. He too was a man on fire for those left homeless by the hurricane. I want to pass on to you what he shared with me.  The fact is that even though the news stations no longer cover the work that is being done and must continue to be done, the re-building along the coast is going to take at least two years.

 Charles was a pleasure to work with as he led us to the homes and families that he seemed to know by now on a first-name basis. He always had a smile, a hug and a kind word. He was able to keep a good attitude against overwhelming odds with a dry sense of humor that more than rivaled my own. We made instant friends and I look forward to seeing him again on our next trip.

We split into three teams and accomplished a great deal. We completed four shingled roofs, two floor projects and two drywall and finish projects. The roofs were complete roofing projects and the drywall and finish work was two complete homes.

While working on one of the roofing projects, we encountered our neighbors from Calvary Nazarene Church from Annandale, Virginia that we have shared our ministry with in the Washington DC Metro area. They invited us for lunch one day and provided sandwiches, chips, drinks and snacks. Our men enjoyed the Christian communion we shared with them that day.

We also met with Tim & Danielle Whetstone who have been asked to work as the Alabama South Hurricane Relief Coordinators. Part of their job is to keep interest in the work and bring in a constant flow of volunteers.

While we were there, we saw countless church groups and Christian colleges working as volunteers on homes where people didn’t have insurance and were still living in FEMA provided trailers next to their destroyed property. It was encouraging to see so many denominations working together for one cause.

There is much work to do and many volunteers needed to accomplish the task before us. Pray about volunteering your time and skills to help others. Perhaps you would be able to help us with your monetary donation to help finance our next trip. If you are interested in being part of a team to reach out to those who are really in need, please contact us at www.rescuedc.com or email us at ministry@rescuedc.com.

 By the end of the trip we were looking forward to getting back home. Our muscles were sore, we were tired and we missed our loved ones terribly. I asked each of the men if they would ever considered doing something as crazy as this again, working long days with no pay and no other consolation prize except for the knowledge that they helped another human being get their life back together and the re-occurring comment was “Just try to stop me!”.

"The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."                            Matthew 25:40

Operation Restore:  Bayou La Batre, Alabama

Victory in: Gulfport, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana                            

 by  Maj. Byron E. Martin

In September and October of 2005, we sent two separate teams to help deal with the devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  We Worked through the Christian group called Christ in Action. 

Many thousands were fed because of the help that we gave to these two locations

The American Rescue Workers National Organization came together for a common goal and all of us who shared in that experience agree that God was in that work.

If we sat back and fed off of our past accomplishments we would be satisfied for awhile and maybe even content that we did our part.  But there is no room in His kingdom for those who would settle for contentment while there were still people in need and souls to be won for the Kingdom.  Looking back, we have accomplished a great deal in this ministry.  But now, let us look forward towards the prize set before us.

Matthew 25:35....40

"for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in;...Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me"

     We are preparing to head to Monroeville, Alabama in March 2006 and will be setting up a base of operations at the Monroeville Nazarene Church.  Pastor Freddie Lindsey, of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, is the Operations Coordinator who sets up the task forces and job locations for volunteer carpenters and other workers to lend their strength and abilities to help people to reclaim their homes from the disasters of 2005.  We will be working in the Bayou La Batre, Alabama area where devastation is still widespread and many have not been able to return to their homes.  The first group will head out from the American Rescue Workers DC Corps early on March 1st of this year and return on the 12th.  Each member of this eight man team will need $300 in donations to help pay for fuel and food for this trip.  Donations will be made to the American Rescue Workers and will be tax deductible.  We will also be renting a U Haul truck One-Way to take much needed pallets of water, Gatorade, Crisis Care Kits, cleaning solutions, mops, brooms, and food items to the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries storage facility where it will be distributed to those who need it most.  Thank you for your continued support and may God bless you richly.  Please PRAY for us.

Hurricane Katrina Briefs…