Jesus said to pray for laborers to come into the harvest. It never occurred to me that the word “laborer” could have been literal and not just metaphorical. This week Conduit Church, joined by our friends at Journey Church and then some just good old fashioned friends like Lori Lenz, Anita Crawford and Corey Basil have worked side by side, actually doing physical labor for our friends in Nashville.

Will Rogers said “there is no such thing as a stranger, only a friend that you haven’t met yet.” This week that has turned out to be true a hundred times over. We’re rolling up our sleeves, working beside complete strangers who turn out to be our friends. There’ve been a couple times I worked for a few hours before saying “you know I know we’ve been working here but what is your name?”

Today we got to work at John M.’s home in River Trace Condominiums. Even though we worked there today, it wasn’t the first time we had been there. His neighbors from across the drive had told us to that John and his wife would desperately need help but that they would probably not accept it. They were correct. John had turned us away on Tuesday and on Wednesday. He wasn’t rude, he was just overwhelmed. He and his wife were having an incredible time dealing with it. And their method of dealing was to not deal.

But God had a plan for them.

Yesterday we wandered back into the area we had worked in the previous days. We didn’t mean to go there, but due to circumstances (READ, Holy Spirit) we ended back in this section of River Trace. This wasn’t even a remotely planned stop.

What we didn’t know was at that exact moment of our arrival; a conversation was taking place. Lolly whom we had worked with pretty extensively was talking to John M. across the driveway from her. He had finally admitted he was going to need help. He truly had no friends, no family and no one to help him begin this process. His home had been entirely submerged on the first floor and 3 days of putting it off had resulted in it being a muddy, smelly, disgusting mess.

He asked Lolly how on earth it was that she had found all this help for her home. She said that she didn’t, that they had found her. She told him they were God’s angels. At the very moment she was having this conversation, Sarah and Jay were rounding the corner. She said “There, John, that’s them! that’s the angels! They’re here to help you too!”

We weren’t even remotely staffed for the work that was ahead, but we got a good start on it, and left a note that we would return today and finish the job.

John M is a broken man. His wife is so distraught that she can’t even come to the home. It’s just too much. An entire life of memories, collections, photos, furniture, are all gone. Ruined from the mud. Today John said “you know, it just occurred to me I’ve gotta find a place to live!” They have no flood insurance and he said “I’ve been married for a very long time, and now it’s just like when we first got married. We’ve got nothing but each other”

He insisted on giving us what is a priceless hand crafted Italian Christmas themed statuettes that we can display in our church. After quite a bit of discussion we finally agreed to accept his gift.

He called us angels too. I told him that we’re not angels as much as we’re just the Body of Christ. When my head gets an idea, my body implements that idea. So if Jesus idea is to serve John M, then the body, us, are the implementers of that idea. I told him that Jesus idea was to let John M know that He and his wife are not forgotten. That Jesus has him on His mind. And we were the implementers of those thoughts.

He cried. But this time, it didn’t look like the tears of sorrow I had seen through out the day. This time they were tears of hope.

We’re going to continue on the ideas that Jesus has tomorrow. We’ll be heading back to Bellevue and serving the River Trace Community. If you can join us I hope you will. We’ll meet at 10am at the back parking lot of the Factory. If you haven’t had a chance to serve yet, why don’t you make tomorrow that day. If you’ve got no skills, I assure you they are not needed.

The images on the news can’t possibly capture the devastation. And my simple minded words can not possibly capture the fulfillment that happens when you serve the Lord in this way. You have to experience it for yourself.
So tomorrow, 10am at the back parking lot of the Factory and we’ll leave from there.

And for those who can’t come and want to donate, we have a link set up at www.conduitmission.org 100% of the moneys donated to Nashville Flood Relief will go there.

I’m reticent to put names here because I do not have permission, nor do I want to invade their privacy. These aren’t statistics. They are people. They are our brothers and sisters. They’re humans. They’re God’s children.

Day 3 found us working in River Trace Condominiums again. This is a predominantly elderly community that was rocked very hard. There have been a few deaths reported from this particular community. On Tuesday morning, an 85 year old woman was rescued from her bed, where she had been since Sunday waiting for help to arrive.

Today we went back and visited one of the first people we encountered. She is a widow. She’s not elderly like many of the residents, but she has a story. Her husband died 2 months ago. To add insult to injury, her house had burned down in Christmas. Yes just this last Christmas. So she lost her home to fire in December, and lost her husband to cancer in March. She moved back into her home last week. It was completely remodeled from the fire damage, and this was a brand new start for her and her two children.

Imagine her horror when 2 days later her home was completely taken over by the worst flood in Tennessee history. I’m not sure that my writing skills could ever properly articulate the magnitude of her situation. She lamented “If only I had waited a couple more days to move in, I would at least still have my furniture”.

When I left today, there is no question that she feels surrounded, and feels out gunned and under the pile. But at the same time, she has watched “angels” (her words not mine) surround her and help her through this process. And while the rest of her life sunk to the bottom of this gigantic flood, her hope is rising to the top.

Hope truly does float.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed financially as well as through their physical efforts. We are tired, but pressing forward. If you can help us, we’ll be meeting at the Factory again tomorrow morning. IMPORTANT- we’re meeting at the back of the Factory under the covered parking.

If you can help financially, you can click on the link for flood donations. We are going to use these funds to help folks like our new widow friend to rebuild their lives on washing machine and couch at a time.

Sincerely,
Darren Tyler
Pastor, Conduit Church

Today a group of people from Conduit Church and also Journey Church met at the Factory in Franklin, TN. We had shovels, gloves, boots and a longing to help with the cleanup from this horrendous flood. There was really no plan but to just look/hear about need and be lead by the Holy Spirit. We were given info that the Cottonwood subdivision in Franklin was where there was immediate need. Darren also took a team of people to help in Bellevue. The devastation was unbelievable. Homes had been completely destroyed. Last week there was a field and today there is a river behind most people’s homes. The teams worked hard for many hours going from house to house ripping up carpet, tearing drywall down, trying to salvage pictures, and to try and save anything that can be carried. Here is the crazy part about this whole thing. Most of the people don’t have flood insurance. Why would they? The closest water for some was miles away. For many FEMA is their only hope of recovery. I say this is where the church can step in to assist.

It was amazing though to see the church come together. I am not talking about Conduit Church. I am talking about the body of Christ. There were many different people serving in any place that had need. This was a time for Christians to not sit around and debate theology or worry about personal preference. It was a time to put our money where our mouth is and SERVE.

Tomorrow starts Day 2. Here is the plan. We will be meeting at 10am under the big parking pavilion behind The Factory in Franklin. The plan is to head to Bellevue. There are a lot of people helping in Franklin, but almost no one helping in Belle View.
We need to condense vehicles because the police will only let so many cars through.
Here are the items that are important to bring and also are current needs.
Work boots (Pastor Jamie George stepped on a nail today. There are nails everywhere.), wheel barrows, work gloves, medical/rubber gloves, shovels, hammers, utility knives, push brooms, garbage bags, food, water. This list is ever growing, so please use your own judgment. Remember this is not glamorous. There is a ton of work to be done.

Giving: A lot of people are asking where they can give financially. Here is a link to donate to the flood relief through the Conduit Mission non-profit organization.