God’s Faithfulness Within Eight Days of Hope and the Families of Natural Disasters
Bruce and Lisa MacQueen | Eight Days of Hope
It started raining Tuesday, July 26, in southeast Kentucky. We were returning from Buffalo after the Eight Days of Hope (EDOH) Buffalo outreach in the Fillmore District. On our way home to Mississippi, we manned the EDOH booth at Lifest on July 29, just outside of Nashville. Before starting out the next morning for the last leg of our trip home, the reports of devastating flooding were already being broadcast. Record-breaking rainfall had occurred and five counties in SE Kentucky were experiencing fatal flash floods. Hundreds were missing and the damage to property couldn’t be accurately assessed yet. We got home and waited for the official email. On July 31, we opened the notice in our inbox that stated, “EDOH will be deploying to eastern Kentucky to serve those impacted by the catastrophic flooding.” We packed up and left to set up for our response team. Volunteers arrived on August 5, and we started mucking out homes and removing debris the following day.
A few days later, we met Mrs. Grace at her house. Her husband was in the hospital due to a heart attack he had suffered during the flood. This couple had lost all of their worldly possessions, and we were getting the mud, wet drywall, and water-damaged flooring out of the house they had lived in for more than 40 years. We’re missionaries for EDOH, and this is what we’ve been called to do. While cleaning up the mud and debris, we were able to show Christ’s love to this 83-year-old woman who just had four feet of flood water running through her home. She’s just one of the many individuals and families EDOH has been able to minister to during the response in Kentucky.
Eight Days of Hope has been helping families since 2005. What started out as a group of friends rebuilding homes after Hurricane Katrina is now a national faith-based organization responding to major natural disasters across the country. In 2014, the Rapid Response arm of the ministry started, with the goal of aiding families immediately after the disaster, helping them take a step toward getting their homes rebuilt, instilling hope while removing debris.
In 2019, EDOH began responding to another kind of disaster, human trafficking. Supplying the labor to build safe havens, EDOH has partnered with established ministries that provide aftercare housing for victims who have been rescued from human trafficking. Through counseling and providing a safe place to stay, these ministries house the rescued for up to three years, giving them the security and support system to confidently rebuild their lives.
Targeting the first quarter of 2023, EDOH is launching their new Feeding Ministry. After the Rapid Response to LaPlace, Louisiana, following Hurricane Ida, the need for feeding those affected by natural disasters came to the attention of the EDOH board. The residents of LaPlace were without power for 27 days, so along with suffering the destruction their homes, they were unable to buy, store, or prepare meals for their families. Cooking and distributing up to 700 meals a day, EDOH was able to meet that need for the community for two weeks. The goal is to be able to provide up to 8,000 meals a day.
We’ve only been involved with EDOH since 2016. Watching it grow and seeing new volunteers at each event is affirmation that we are in the right place for such a time as this. We feel so blessed to be involved in a ministry that first and foremost reveals the love of God, actively becomes the hands and feet of Christ, and comforts people in their darkest hour. We are incredibly grateful for the partnership we have with The Chapel and the many individuals who have come alongside us to help support us in many ways. It is another example of the Church at its best!
