Great is Thy Faithfulness!

Though mired in devastation, many people expressed Christ-centered hope. Hope so boundless, so radically persistent,that despite this "present darkness" it makes the soul say "The Lord is my portion." Story after story from residents of Ocean Springs and surrounding areas recounted acts of great courage and the miraculous. Miracles are events that inspire and awaken faith. In the midst of desolation and devastation, God has not abandoned the good people of Mississippi. Miracles are breaking forth all over the place. Pastor Gerry Bultman of Bethel Lutheran Church in Biloxi testifies to God's wonderous deeds--daily.

Ed, a long-term volunteer at Bethel shared one of many miracle stories. After losing everything, an elderly couple returned to the remains of their home to find Lutheran Disaster Relief volunteers cleaning up the debris and water damage. Clearly, they were in gripped by depression. The couple accepted an invitation to go with them to Bethel Lutheran Church for counseling. Once there, they intimated to the counselor it was their intent to take their lives in their home but instead they found the volunteers busy at work. Martin Luther taught that we're to be "little Christs" for one another. In this instance, such was the case. What follows is the true miracle. Later, LDR volunteers would find that one of them transposed the numbers of the address and thus cleaned the couples house. In other words, they cleaned the wrong house!

I am reminded of the words of the prophet Jeremiah:

"The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!
My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion, " says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." (Lamentations 3:19-24)

"Great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see. All that is needed thine hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me!"

Continue to pray for our sisters and brothers in Mississippi.

Shalom,

Pastor Angela