In the 40-year history of World Renew Disaster Response Services, our volunteers have become somewhat accustomed to working on sites in southern states in the US in the winter: it’s great way to combine a winter vacation in a warm climate with a mission trip to help those in need (with a good portion of your expenses paid by DRS). Not bad! But recently, the weather seems to have gotten out of kilter. While Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Isaac hit down south in 2012, many of our recent disasters have basically been up north.
Most of you remember when Super-storm Sandy hit in October 2012. The hurricane ravaged much of the northeastern United States, and Sandy occurred about a year after Hurricane Irene flooded the same area. It also seems that villages along the Yukon River in Alaska have had more than their share of flooding in recent years as well. We sent teams to Tanana, Alaska, in 2009 and to Crooked Creek in 2011.
As you think about your vacation and work plans for the year ahead, please remember why we do what we do
In addition, southern Alberta experienced the worst flood in history this past summer. We might be tempted to attribute these frequent, worsening disasters to global warming–but it really starts to get serious when our volunteer scheduling is affected! What are we going to do?
Will our volunteers be willing to sign up for northern assignments in the winter?
What a great opportunity for a reminder about why we do what we do. In our lives in North America, we are often blessed to be able to serve in God’s kingdom while at the same time truly enjoying ourselves. In a world of suffering, it is unfortunately pretty easy for us to start to take our blessings for granted and forget why God has us where he does.
I remember hearing a sermon about retirement by John Piper. He cautioned listeners to be prayerful when planning their retirement years. Our years of work are really just preparation for what He has planned for us to do in our golden years. For many of us, our “encore careers” include working with DRS to bring help to disaster survivors who have suffered trauma and loss. Thank you for your part in that!
As you think about your vacation and work plans for the year ahead, please remember why we do what we do when Becky calls and asks if you can go to Ocean County, New Jersey, or to High River, Alberta, this winter or maybe even next summer. It could be that you need to plan your vacation during 2014 a little differently than you have in the past to fulfill God’s calling in your life. As we often say in DRS, the pay isn’t good but the fringe benefits are out of this world!
Thank you!