April 29, 2008

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Many of you have had the opportunity to speak with Torey Kittleson in our office.  As I’m writing this letter, I just received word that last night she gave birth to her first baby.  Hailey was born to Torey and Dan at 5:45 PM on April 28, weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz.  And it sounds like Torey is doing well.  Praise God for the miracle of life!

Another recent miracle that we praise God for has been the steady recovery of my brother and his wife, Charlie and Pam Adams, who suffered brain injuries in an auto accident earlier this year.  Many have prayed, and our faithful God has been restoring them to health.  They have a long way to go, but the progress to date has been nothing short of miraculous.  Praise the Lord!

At the same time that I think about Torey, Hailey, Charlie and Pam, I’m also reminded of many in the DRS family who are suffering from all kinds of ailments, ranging from auto accidents to other acute medical conditions.  On the one hand, the life that God has given us in this world is certainly wonderful.  But, at the same time it can be very challenging.  In Romans 8 the Apostle Paul paints a picture of this paradox:

“…the creation was subjected to frustration… the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God…  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

When human beings fell from grace, the creation was dragged down with us.  The result has been disease, famine, poverty, injustice, and all kinds of disasters.  But just as we have a sure hope for a better future, so the creation itself will one day be freed from its bondage to decay.  And for one thing, this will mean no more disasters!  What a wonderful day that will be!  But, in the meantime, we have work to do.

One of the programs that DRS is well known for is Needs Assessment.  This is where we go door to door in a disaster stricken community to locate those who are the most vulnerable, who have suffered loss from a disaster, and who need additional help to recover.  In this month’s Programs in Depth section of our website you can read more about this great program (greenshirts.org).  Teams have been hard at work for the better part of the past year conducting Needs Assessments in Minnesota, Oklahoma, California, Oregon, Washington, Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, and the list goes on.  As the program continues to grow, the need for team leaders and data entry volunteers also continues to grow.  If you would like to consider these opportunities for service, give us a call at the office:  1-800-848-5818.  We will get you involved in our next training workshop.

In His Service,