Primera
Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria
(First Baptist Church Santa Maria)
PO Box 713
Santa Maria, Texas 78592
(956)
202-9084
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From the Pastor
July 26, 2008
I am sorry that our site has been offline for the past few days. The storm Dolly had us very busy at the church.
Sequence of events
1. Ash Creek Baptist Church, Azle, Texas
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July 22 Thirty five volunteers from Ash Creek Baptist Church built a food pantry in two days and also filled sandbags for community of Santa Maria.
500 bags of sand were distributed to Santa Maria, Bluetown, and La Gloria.
A truckload of sand was purchased, and Luke and Carol purchased 500 bags. These bags were seen on doorsteps around houses after the storm, and were a great blessing to the communities.
Ash Creek helped board up homes in the Lago Viejo colonia.
Thank you, Ash Creek.
July 23, the morning was calm and there was no wind; the clouds could be seen coming in; a limb was cut off the willow tree in front of the church. We settled in to wait.
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As the storm approached the winds grew stronger and the rain started. The fire truck was used to evacuate people from mobile homes. By the end of the day there were 3 families staying at the church. Wednesday evening was the worst; the power went off and water service stopped.
July 24
The winds subsided and we were able to start assessing the damage. The church was not damaged nor were any of the other buildings. The lake where my wife Carol and I live filled, flooded our land and neighboring yards, and flowed down the street.
Of the church members that were staying at the church, some lost everything, mobile homes lost roofs and windows were broken. Thursday afternoon the church purchased a 3500-watt generator for the refrigerators. The church's fire department cut downed trees away from the houses. By the end of the day church members had carried many tree branches to the street to be picked up.
Friday
On Friday our first hot meals arrived via the American Red Cross, the food is being prepared by the Texas Baptist Men and distributed by the Red Cross. The fire truck was used to announce the food distribution, driving through the wind and flood damaged areas. Brother Omar Chavarria and I made sure that everyone was aware. By the time we arrived back at the church the line was across the road.
Saturday:
On Saturday morning the lights were back on at the church. The generator was relocated to Progreso to our mission, the Iglesia Bautista Sublime Gracia, to power the freezers at the food bank. In Santa Maria, we served 1000 meals on Friday. There is a great need for food as most of the people do not have money to buy gasoline or food. Most local streets are dry, but the fields are flooded and there is no work possible in agricultural areas or in neighboring cities as parts of Mercedes, Progreso, La Feria, Los Indios and Harlingen are still without power.
Sunday:
Sunday morning we held a thanksgiving service with about 25 people in attendance. Then 1000 hot meals were served, 500 for lunch at our church and at Iglesia Bautista Indian Hills, north of Mercedes and 500 at supper. A freezer full of meat that was thawing out because of no lights was given to the church. We made good use of it and barbecued some of it--chicken, sausage and beef ribs--for a big dinner Sunday night after the church service. It sure as good to have real food. We still have 2 families living in the church whose homes are destroyed or inhabitable.
Monday
We are shifting gears, Way of the Cross ministry in Harlingen has given us 3000 lbs of dried beans and a pallet of canned tomatoes, and a pallet of bottled water. We are purchasing 5 more tons of dried beans from Garcia Grain. This food will be used for the next month to supplement those who are in need.
Keep us in your prayers as we go through this disaster and get back on our feet
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Tuesday July 29,2008
The need for hot meals has tapered off, so we have thanked Dennis and Keith, Red Cross volunteers from Missouri, and ended the hot food program in Santa Maria, as we prepare for the distribution of non cooked food. This will continue for the month of August. The food pantry ministry will then be put in place to serve those who will be in need of assistance.
Food in stock as of July 30, 2008
350 large cans of tomato product
240 bags of instant beans
500 bottles of water
assorted snacks
Food needed
10,000 lbs of dried beans .46 per pound $ 4,600.00 (Funded by BGCT)
1,000 lbs of rice. (request to HEB Food Stores not yet resolved)
As we start this food program we are asking that everyone attend a worship service, this allows us to both share the gospel and access each family's needs. By measuring the needs of the family we can insure that they have the basic measure of food.
At this moment we have a church family that have lost most everything they own. Mobile homes destroyed , roofs that need to be replaced before the next rains. The sun has come out and is seems everything is normal, but it is not. I am compiling a list of need for our church family and the community, if anyone wishes to help it will be greatly appreciated.
At this time I would like to take the time to thank the American Red Cross the Missouri Chapter both Dennis and Keith, for their wonderful service.
.
Every
day they were faithful in bringing the hot food, we enjoyed
there fellowship and humor they brought with them.
July 30, 2008
Today we are going to wash clothes, and rest a little.
Wednesday evening worship service, decided that Sunday worship service would be the food distribution day, everyone attending the
worship service will receive food after the service.
July 31, 2008
Meeting at 8:00 AM Buckner, to set in place reconstruction of homes lost in storm.
Meeting 10:30 AM BGCT. approved funds to purchase 5 tons of bean for food pantry.
Monday August 4,2008
photos taken by Robert Zepeda
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I called a Red Cross contact at there headquarters in Mercedes, to inquire about the food left over from the hot food program. The contact asked if Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria had the capacity to handle a large quantity of food, I assured her that we did.
The first load was a 58-foot trailer loaded with meat and milk. The temperature had risen to 36 degrees F. and they need to dispose of it that same day. Benito Contreras, our resident truck driver, asked his boss Villanueva Trucking for the loan of a semi-tractor. At 8:00 PM we arrived in to parking lot of Trinity Baptist in Brownsville and hooked up the trailer. The temperature of the product was holding at 36 degrees.
Leaving Brownsville and arriving back in Santa Maria, church members and the volunteer fire department were waiting. The truck doors were opened and a quick inventory was taken. On-the-spot family packs of food were made, and 2 picnic tables (assembled by Ash Creek) were set up at the back of the trailer. The first cars started arriving at 10:00 PM, and within 15 minutes the line of cars extended more than a mile down the road. With the floodlights turned on fire engine 93 (donated by Pelham, Alabama several years ago) giving the volunteers enough light to work, some made the food packages and others took care of traffic control and distribution. The process continued until 1:00 AM, the meat was exhausted and 4 pallets of milk was all that remained. The line of cars had ended, weary volunteers cleaned up and the trailer was closed. 30 tons of food had been distributed to a community where the lights had been off for a week.
Tuesday August 5, 2008
Early in the morning Carol and a group of volunteers distributed the remaining 4 pallets of milk and the first trailer was empty.
Brother Benito and I headed for Brownsville to First Baptist Church, I went the pickup and Benito followed with the tractor. When I arrived at FBC Brownsville the Red Cross people had yet to arrive. I went to the church office and Steve Dorman the Senior Pastor and I introduced ourselves. Brother Steve asked what he could do for me, I told him that the reason for my coming was to pick up all the food that was left over from the hot food program. When he told me that he had been praying that God would give him part of the food that was now on his parking lot, and I asked that we take a walk, so that we could determine the quantity of the product. As we walked I asked if he would take all the food that was stacked on the ground, in the parking lot about 10 pallets of canned goods, across the street was another 10-15 pallets of food and serving materials. There were also 5 trailers parked on the lot, two were dry goods and the other 3 were meat products. There were also 70 pallets of dry goods on a lot across the street at Trinity Baptist that were to go to FBC Brownsville. As Brother Steve started to move the food on the parking lot people from the community came. We could not stop them nor did we try. They took all the canned goods off the parking lot. With that gone the other two sites were secured so that a more reasonable distribution could be made. Benito then took the first trailer to PIB Santa Maria and parked it on the church property and returned for the next. The second trailer was also parked on the church parking lot. The third trailer was moved to H&H Food, Mercedes and stored in their cold room.
At 7:00 PM the doors were opened on the trailer doors, the picnic tables set up and the food distribution was again started. Cars were lined up along Iglesia Ave. all the way to the turnaround and back to the church entrance about 1 mile. The line moved fast--we finished around 12:00 mid night, the line of cars was exhausted and the food was gone. This time people came not only from the Santa Maria area but from the cities of La Feria and Mercedes. The food for this day included meat and canned goods. Again pantries and refrigerators that had been empty were stocked. FBC of Brownsville used the food to restock food pantries in Brownsville. On this day PIB Santa Maria was given the opportunity by God to stock and distribute more than 100 tons of food.
Wednesday August 6, 2008
Benito and I arrived at FBC Harlingen where 5 trailers were located, one contained equipment that belonged to the Red Cross, 2 were meat products and three were dry goods. The first trailer of dry goods was taken to the Way of the Cross Ministries, Harlingen, Texas and unloaded into their warehouse. Volunteers from the Harlingen food bank at the First Presbyterian Church followed the truck to the Way of the Cross Ministries warehouse where 5 pallets of food were selected for their food bank. At this time canned goods were also reloaded for the Santa Maria food pantry. The truck was then moved to the First Presbyterian Church in Harlingen and the community food bank goods unloaded by the young men from the Way of the Cross. Bother Benito had not been feeling well so his brother David drove the truck. We then took the trailer to PIB Santa Maria. The two trailers filled with meat were set up for distribution.
At 7:00 PM we have prayer meeting and I arrived about 6:45 PM, tired and dirty from the day. The church was full, there were no pews left and people stood in the hallway. We sang praise songs and gave glory to God. I told the people that all the food that had arrived was given to the church by God. God did get it from the Red Cross but gave it to Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria to distribute along with the gospel of Christ to the people. We closed, and as I stood at the door shaking hands with those who had come, tears come to my eyes as each one told me how they had lost all their food and thanked the church for replacing it.
At 8:00 PM the doors were opened on the trailers and the line of cars was now over 2 miles long; each car drove through received a very large portion of meat, dry and canned goods. The line and food ended around 1:00 AM, exhausted and tired volunteer firefighters and other community members sat around the picnic tables for another hour fellowshipping with each other.
The community was now back to normal with pantries full. The food pantry at PIB Santa Maria was still full and ready to serve.
I would like to thank the Baptist General Convention of Texas for their help, the North American Mission Board for the funds to purchase the 5 tons of beans and the American Red Cross for their great service to the people of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Thursday August 7, 2008
The food pantry at Sublime Gracia in Progreso, Texas, was restocked, and Brother Steve Rodriguez took 25 family packs to Indian Hills, a mission of Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria and FBC, Harlingen.
In all I estimate that close to 1 million dollars worth of food was stored or distributed in 48 hours. Praise the Lord!
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Friday August 15,2008
The first families that went north to work in the corn fields of Minnesota are starting to return. The story is not a good one, the floods distorted most of the corn crop and they were not able to work. Most set idle for three weeks before any work at all was available. One family told me that after three weeks, when work did come they earned $88.00 for the 15 day work period. With no working hours to speak of this last 15 days they earned enough to pay for their trip home. Arriving late on the 13th of August, with no money, no food in the house and the farm work in the Rio Grande Valley devastated by Dolly makes for a bad situation. Thank God that Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria could open its food pantry for these folks. I expect this to repeat itself as these families return to their homes in Santa Maria. Some have stayed to harvest the corn but will have to wait 3 more weeks, and the harvest is expected to be small.
August 25, 2008
Rain fell again this week end, many of the damaged homes have not been repaired and were further damaged by the rain. We are expecting more rain all this week. Church has been full at every worship service. The food pantry has been open and 20 families received food packages this week. The pantry will continue to be open after every worship service as long as there is a need in the community.
August 29, 2008
This morning as Carol and I walked through the water to the pickup parked in Rosario Torres driveway I felt we have been truly blessed. I committed to Carol that it had not rained the day before and if it did not rain for a couple of more days we might be able to drive back to the house. Our lake is full, the road is flooded over to where we have poured concrete slab for our new home. When everything dries up we will get it built.
Let me tell you about the roof that was blown halfway off of the mobile home. We had closed the door leading into that part of the house so that we could live in the other half. One night last week Carol and I heard a loud noise in the back of the trailer, she asked me what it might be I told her it might be a bird landing on the metal roof that was laid back from the storm. The next morning Carol comes in and asked me if I had fixed the roof the day before and not told her. I told her I had not done any work on the house because all my time had been used at the church and the food ministry. "Don't pull my leg" she said, I went back and looked the roof was back on that part of the trailer, it was not nailed down but covered the entire area. Thank God for His help that is all I know.
We continue to open the food pantry three times a week. This week the church has offered to help FBC Rio Grande City, they have many families who's homes have been flooded with the recent rains. Brother Steve will take 30 family packs to Indian Hills for his Sunday service. It is my prayer that by the end of next month we might see everything get back to normal.
Thanks for the many prayers.
Rev. Billy Schwarz
pastor: Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria
(956) 202-9084
P.O. Box 713 Santa Maria, Texas 78570 (956) 565-5589