My fiancé, Melissa, and I recently volunteered with Samaritan’s Purse for the first time. Our time in Texas was life-changing for both of us.
We both work in law enforcement in California, and so it was quite hard to get time off. We decided to cancel our annual vacation and, instead, took a big leap of faith and went to Texas to volunteer for a week.
One of the homes we worked on belonged to Bob and Joyce, who are both in their late 80s and had lived in this home their entire lives. The house was under several feet of water and needed to be completely gutted.
Our volunteer team in Santa Fe, Texas, with homeowners Bob and Joyce.
We took some time and got to know the couple. We learned that Bob had served in the Army during the Korean War and was stationed in nearly the same area I was when I served in the Army, separated by about 50 years. He also deployed to Korea out of the same town in California where Melissa and I live.
Another cool connection is that Melissa and I, just like Bob and Joyce, are raising German shorthaired pointer dogs. Bob has won a number of awards for showing his dogs, and we were able to help him recover all his awards from among other damaged belongings.
When we first walked in the door of Bob and Joyce’s home only one thing was in the room—a torn, worn out American flag. That night, Melissa and I decided we needed to get them a new flag. The next morning, we installed the flag and hung it proudly over their home.
As the two-day project came to an end, the house was completely ready to spray for mold and to start rebuilding. Only two things were left hanging in the home: A cross and the new flag.
The most incredible part of all this was that two couples, separated by thousands of miles, came together to rebuild one another’s faith in Jesus Christ and faith in this beautiful country.
We praise God that at the end of our first work day, Bob accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. We are thankful for the incredible work of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains and Samaritan’s Purse volunteers.
