Reflections on Bastrop

Welcome back to school everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic break and a good 1st week back. I thought I would share some about the trip to Bastrop that the BSM and some Pioneer students went on last week. It was a great trip! Stay tuned during Bible study for more student’s spring break stories :)

A little background: Last September huge wildfires (the largest in Texas history!) blazed through Bastrop and surrounding areas. An estimated 34,000 acres of land and over 1,600 houses have been destroyed. Many families are still without homes and there is a lot of cleanup that still needs to be done.

So, 14 of us left Abilene for 6 days to help! We stayed at a church who hosted us and most days went to the Disaster Recovery Center to eat meals before heading off to our assigned projects. Part of our group worked on building a couple storage sheds for families while the rest of us went to different locations to do things like gather up dead tree limbs, dig a garden, clean things up and do other projects. A memorable experience for me, and most of us probably, was getting to hear the story of one woman who we got to help. Jennice and her husband have 7 children, 4 of which are adopted and have special needs. They lost pretty much everything in the fire. It was already difficult for her and her husband to raise their large family, but the added shock and heartache of losing all they owned and going through financial battles and health issues, brings some major obstacles for this family to overcome. Jennice’s great faith in the Lord, her strong spirit, and heart full of compassion is inspiring. I know they and other families will make it through, because God is good and even though tragedy has struck, He can bring wholeness and healing to these people’s lives once again.

Another experience that touched me was when I got to sift through some cracked tile, broken ceramic plates and cups, a coffee pot, mirror, and other items that were once part of a family’s home. Getting to pick those up brought home the message that things like this fire can happen to anyone. It seemed surreal thinking that these things I was holding were some of the few remains a family had left of their entire previous way of living. It makes me grateful for what I have yet reminds me how I shouldn’t put stock in my material possessions. The only thing my joy should be in is the Lord. He alone can give us perfect contentment.

Throughout the week I loved getting to know the people on our team and times we got to just hang out, but it was also great helping with clean-up projects, and being around people in the community. This trip was an eye opening experience for me and I am so glad I got the opportunity to see firsthand the impact an event like this can have on people’s lives.

If anyone would be interested in helping with the continuing recovery effort, Pioneer is taking another trip to Bastrop this summer! It’s something to consider :)

-SL