November 2013 Partner Letter

Bob lives in East Peoria, a town just outside of the badly damaged Washington, IL. Bob had many large trees down in his yard and no one to help him. He told us that although he is a believer, he had been in a deep depression that morning, just not sure how he would be able to clean up on his own. And then God sent two of our volunteers to Bob’s door to ask if he needed any help. We cut up four large trees for Bob that afternoon. The difference in his demeanor was unbelievable. Bob even said that the depression was gone and had been replaced with peace and hope. The simple act of serving and being the hands and feet of Christ can bring such hope to people in hopeless situations!

We are truly blessed to be working alongside Bethany Community Church in Washington, Illinois to help clean up after the November 17th tornado. Almost 2,000 volunteers have come through Bethany’s office doors in the last week to serve in Washington and surrounding areas. We are so grateful for the outpouring of love and support for this small community. Our main focus has been on helping Bethany coordinate work for all of these volunteers. While Scott longs to run his chainsaw, we have been kept very busy on the administrative end of this disaster response. Scott has given more volunteer safety orientations than he can count, but the good news is that he has trained up Bethany church members to take over for him. Dara has been working with the office staff and volunteers to show them how to coordinate volunteer work and follow up phone calls.

Thank you for your prayers and support that have allowed us to serve in Washington, Illinois alongside a great local church in reaching out to their community in the Name of Christ.

God bless,

Scott and Dara Simons