Spelunking for Jesus

At various times Saturday and Tuesday, members of Pomona UMC, Monterey First Baptist, and I were "spelunking for Jesus."  Of course, we were under flooded homes, rather than flooding caverns.  Homes that have been flooded often need wet floor insulation and ductwork/ductwork insulation removed.  Afterword, spraying to kill/prevent mold must be done. Space is often cramped, even low enough you can't even get on your hands and knees.  Tough, but rewarding work as we Serve Christ and Neighbor.

TN Tech Wesley Foundation Volunteers

Thanks to the TN Tech Wesley Foundation Volunteers who helped out this past week with tearing out flood ruined walls, flooring, and cabinets this past week.  Below is the Saturday crew, one other helped on Friday.

Cleanup in Cookeville

Following August flooding, Friendship UMC, Cookeville FUMC, Oak Hill UMC, and others have responded to the needs of hundreds of persons in Putnam, Overton, and Jackson Co. that had some flooding.  Russ Cain is taking a major role in working with EMA offices to do call backs to affected persons asking if they need assistance.  Conference Disaster Relief Coordinator, Jason Brock, is working to coordinate outside teams and local volunteers doing cleanup.  Below are pictures from cleanup on a home in Cookeville, the first of 11 we've assessed and are seeking workers to help. Nita Heilman is pictured, from St. Bethlehem UMC in the Clarksville District.

North Alabama Serves Wayne Co.

A work team and chuckwagon team from the North Alabama Conference came to serve the people of Houston and Flat Gap Creek in Wayne Co. after August flooding.  Pictured below is the chuckwagon who feed residents and volunteers over several days.

Trinity UMC Chuckwagon

A ministry born of the 2009 tornado in Murfreesboro, the Trinity UMC Chuckwagon (Murfreesboro) has been hard at work this year.  They deployed several times after the May 2010 flood, including Bordeaux and Perry Co.  Last weekend they served 75 survivors and volunteers at each meal after flooding in Houston and Flat Creek in Wayne Co.  The photo below is from their service to Christ and neighbor in Bordeaux as they were serving Early Response Team members from St. Mark's UMC (Murfreesboro) and other volunteers.

7th UMCOR Case Management Training

7 in 2 months, 150 trained for the 17+ long term recovery groups we
are working with currently across 6 districts. The most recent one was held at Hillcrest UMC
in Nashville.
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Sent from my mobile device

More Flooding

We are following up on flooding from recent rains in Sumner, Macon, Wilson, Putnam, and Wayne Co. In Putnam, Friendship UMC has made the flood buckets we have stored there available and Cookeville 1^st was activated by the Red Cross for any potential sheltering needs. Marvin Champion has been in touch with the Wayne Co. EMA and at least 8 homes have been flooded in Houston, one completely washed away. Power and water are reported to be out. Brandon Hulette is mobilizing some additional resources to help. St. Mark’s UMC is there to help with debris removal. More as it comes.

No Overnight Recovery

You DON'T recover from this overnight. More than 43 bridges were destroyed in the May 2010 flood in Hickman Co. The wind and water of this disaster affected more than 46 counties in TN, 29 in the Tennessee Conference UMC (middle TN). We estimate 3,000 families will need long term help to recover. We've already scheduled or fielded 100 volunteer teams, local and national, from May through next summer. We anticipate needed at least $1 million for our share of the recovery over the next 2 years, largely praying for TN Conference donations and UMCOR Grants to help survivors in this long, difficult journey. CLICK to download flyer.

Thanks to Great Staff!

I want to thank all of the TN Conference Staff who stopped EVERYTHING, including annual conference preparation, to pitch in that first couple of weeks after the disaster. Without their help and encouragement, I would not have survived. Bettye, Vicki, Mary T., Trish, Patty, Joaquin, Brad, Tom, and Bill (along with Jonathan) . . . THANKS!

In addition I want to thank Tobie Halliburton and Brandon Hulette who have been working tirelessly the last 2 months. They have done an incredible job of fielding thousands of calls and emails as we've been working to schedule, house, and deploy teams, as well as, tons of other work. Tobie is now a full time assistant who will work with the flood recovery . . . and as time is available other support other office needs.

Through an UMCOR grant, Brandon will be working with me part time as the Flood Recovery Coordinator. We are splitting the many, many meetings, and needs at this point between us. As district, local church and community organizations get rolling full steam, he'll take over most of the day to day work, as I begin to respond to the increased desire of churches to schedule one of the following disaster trainings: Early Response Team, Connecting Neighbors (local church preparedness), and Spiritual/Emotional Care.

If you have not heard, I have been reappointed for another year as the Dir. of Mercy, Mission, and Justice, so I'll also be reconnecting with some of the committees and ministries I stepped away from this past spring in preparation for returning to the local church.

Fourth UMCOR Case Manangement Class

So far we've training more than potential case managers from Methodist Churches, other denominations, and some agencies. We keep moving it around as different communities, especially community-based Long Term Recovery Committees, are ready to use them. Below is the link for the next training, July 19-20 at Bon Aqua UMC.

http://www.tnumc.org/DISASTER_RESPONSE_AND_RECOVERY/Case_Management_Training--July_19-20/

UMVIM/UMCOR Team Thank You!

In addition to the dozen's of TN Conference Churches/Teams who have and are fielding volunteers in 29 or more counties affected by the May storms, we've had many our office has scheduled from across the country. Below is a quick list of teams from May through July. Not listed are the dozens more scheduled so far through March of next year. Sorry, I know we are probably missing some teams, but I'm in a hurry to get this out. THANK YOU for serving Christ and Neighbor!

SEVERAL Holston Conference Teams, Loretto UMC (TN), Dripping Springs (TX), Blacksburg UMC (Virginia Conference), Liberty UMC (Missiouri), Adams UMC (TN), Church of the Resurrection (Kansas East Conf), Pittman Park United Methodist (GA), SW District, Arkansas, Spiritual Emotional Care Team (NC Conference), Rock Creek UMC (NC), Greenville UMC (KY), Grace Avenue UMC (TX), St.Luke UMC (TN), UMC of the Palm Beaches, Oak Harbor First UMC (WA), Bethlehem UMC (VA),First UMC of Lawrenceville (GA), Wesleyan Heights UMC, (KY), First UMC - Dyersburg (Memphis Conf), Epworth UMC - SWAT Student Min (OH), Whittemore Hill UMC, (NY), Williamsons Chapel/Davidson UMC, (NC), Grace UMC (VA), Troy UMC (IL), Old North UMC (IN), Newtown UMC (PA), Mountain View UMC (SC), Bearden UMC (Holston Conference),UMC - Wentzville (MO), Tullahoma FUMC (TN), Madison Street UMC (TN), Stonebridge UMC (TX), Haymount UMC (NC), Mt. Carmel Evangelical UMC (IL), Living Word UMC (MO), New Middletown UMC (IN).

June 28 Update

Since my last update, Brandon and I have been crisscrossing the Conference coordinating teams and attending meetings of the community-based Long Term Recovery Committees that are in some stage of organizing or operating. Here is the list so far, Humphreys Co. LTRC, Perry Co. LTRC, Maury Co. LTRC (1st meeting this week), Hickman Co. LTRC, Houston/Stewert/Mongomery LTRC (may become separate), Cheatham Co. LTRC, Davidson LTRC, Williamson LTRC, Sumner LTRC, Rutherford/Cannon LTRC, and Upper Cumberland LTRC (Smith/DeKalb/Jackson/Wilson/Clay/Macon/Trousdale).

The groups represent local leadership taking ownership of the disaster recovery in their communities. They will be our link to the needs and provide us the ability to fairly and effectively provide money, materials, and volunteers to help survivors in their recovery. We have dozens of churches that are providing direct leadership in these groups and dozens more who are and will be able to provide housing, food, and volunteers of their own for recovery work.

We are following up on the outstanding cleanup and misc. small jobs as these committee get ready to help us get full swing into rebuilding work. Currently, we have more than 20 teams scheduled for the month of July, some from here in the TN Conference, but most coming from outside to come and give us a boost. THANK YOU!

We've held our 3rd UMCOR Case Management training this week, with 38 attendees from a variety of long term recovery groups in Cheatham, Davidson, Williamson, Sumner, and Upper Cumberland. While some of the case managers are directly connected to United Methodist work, we are providing this excellent training to other organizations with which we are partners. The next one will be July 19-20 to resource Hickman, Perry, Humphreys Counties and others on the "Westside."

June 17 Update (reposted)

We apologize that the slide presentation at Annual Conference included photos from so few communities that suffered flooding or tornadoes. Several weeks ago, we had a short window to get a joint TN/Memphis Conference presentation together and mostly only had photos on hand from one day we had a photographer visit Bellevue, West Nashville, and Carthage where we knew we had teams working. Before we publish for download, we'll be redoing the presentation to reflect that communities large and small that suffered in 28 counties, across all 7 districts. We were pleased to have UMCOR's Domestic Response head, Tom Hazelwood and UMCOR Consultant, Christy Smith to join us at Annual Conference this week.

Annual Conference absorbed a LOT of everyone's time this week, but we did still manage to coordinate a few teams and attend several Long Term Recovery meetings. A new entry to our team list is a Spiritual/Emotional Care team from N.C. The 2 person team will be with us a few weeks, visiting pastors and communities that have experienced trauma from the disaster or as a volunteer/professional serving survivors.

We still have cleanup/mold spraying in Antioch, North Nashville, and Cheatham Co., though they and many other communities are beginning to focus on getting long term recovery groups together to help facilitate rebuilding as it ramps up as we get farther into the summer. We don't have as many teams the next couple of weeks, so we're going to take this time to revise our registration process and establish some policies related to youth on teams, team size, etc. We'll also be putting together a registration packet with all of the many forms UMVIM rebuild teams should be accustomed to filling out.

UMCOR Case Management Training

We're holding our 3rd UMCOR Case Management Training on June 28 -29 at Hendersonville UMC. We are looking for organized, compassionate persons who live in affected communities who will be able to commit significant time over the next 1 - 2 years to work with survivors. For more information go to the registration page.

http://www.tnumc.org/DISASTER_RESPONSE_AND_RECOVERY/Case_Management_Training--June_28-29/

Flood Briefing Flyer

Download this flyer that gives a briefing on the scope of the disaster, some of the relief work details, and information on the recovery.

Download Flyer