Note from Esther: God is Love (spending a day with Britney)

Brittney, her daughter Ayanna and Esther

On Saturday, we got the privilege to work with Britney. Esther, on her first Biloxi trip, was one of the people working with her the closest. She wanted to share some of her thoughts…

God is Love.

Today is Saturday, our last working day at the job site. It
was a bittersweet day as the trip is coming to an end. I thought it was only
going to be both our teams working at the site today, but when we arrived,
another lady joined us. Her name was Brittney and her family lost their house
from the Katrina Hurricane.

I was very excited we got to work with her today! She has a
1 year old daughter name Ayanna, meaning “beautiful flower.” She currently
lives with her parents, with her weekdays filled, working as a Pharmacy Tech
and going to school. Best of all, she is a believer! She even invited us to go
to her church tomorrow! Awesome!

Today, she completed her first 8 volunteer hours! She needs
to complete a total of 100 hours and also take around 12 classes that will
assist her with this process. Out of the 100 hours, up to 40 of those hours can
be earned from family and friends, and her dad is excited he gets to help out!

She said she was very fortunate when the hurricane happened.
By God’s grace, she and her family was in Washington
DC
attending her sister’s
wedding. All the flights were delayed for her return for almost 2 weeks. Her
neighbor, however, witnessed it all, and even floated out of her house! The
flood was around 8 feet high and it happened real quickly. Her parents did
re-build their home, but now she’s trying to get one herself! She has a real
positive attitude about this process. Recently, she just went to her first class
and was thrilled and excited what else she will learn in future classes. She
has a kind and gentle spirit and was very helpful doing and assisting whatever
needed. She was glad she came out, wanting to use all the skills she learned
for her future home. Her mom, Karen, and her daughter stopped by for a few
minutes during the day and I felt even more touched meeting her daughter.

By the end
of the day, we are able to lay hands on her and pray for Britney! The Co-Ed
team also sensed that God wanted us to help her financially. She felt really
touched and blessed!

God works
in mysterious way and this was a tremendously great experience for me.
Throughout the week, I felt I lost focus and kept concentrating on building
these houses. After praying and meditating on Kyle’s devotional (teaching) on 1 John 4:7-11, my
eyes opened. God is love and we are to extend this love to others. This mission’s
trip is not just about hammering nails or putting up siding, but it’s about
ministering to those around.  God is good
and brought Brittney to the job site. Although it was only 8 hours, but it was
a great 8 hours of working together, chatting with her, and being able to
connect with her. Hopefully she felt the love from us and was very blessed how
we chose to come and help. Please continue to pray for Brittney for the other
volunteer hours and classes she needs to complete! Also pray that the process
in getting a home will go smoothly!