by Bishop Bill Gohl
We toured Crisfield...we saw the high water marks, the black mold that still infests homes waiting for relief; we saw the surveyors' marks so that we know how high our houses have to be rebuilt over the flood plain, we saw the countless decks, ramps and renovations that volunteers contributed with millions of dollars of time, talent and treasure. The labor alone valued at somewhere around $8 million.
We visited Ms. Bessie's home, where she feels safe and secure in familiar yet new surroundings, proudly showing off the ways that she was able to make her home her own again after the storm. We saw the office where hundreds of neighbors were connected with services from FEMA and MEMA coordinated by our disaster response team. We saw the signs of having been in it for the long haul long after our other faith community colleagues, whose help was invaluable, have withdrawn to serve in the next places of need.
Though we have let go of most of our staff (it’s just Pastor Phil and Kim on the ground now), and we are entering into the next phase of recovery (using a major FEMA grant to raise homes in the floodplain), there is a sense that the Lutherans are still in Crisfield, though we lack any office or headquarters. Everyone knows our team, and as we made our way through the streets, we were greeted and thanked, recognized for still being here.
I came away from Crisfield with a renewed sense of being a part of something big. We are beginning to dream about what it means for the Lutherans to still "be here." We are partners in a study to see about economic development in Crisfield through increased tourism/hostelries, we are going to recruit teams to help with the FEMA work, and by request of the community, we are going to do a survey of beginning a faith community in the Lutheran (and possibly with the Episcopal Church) tradition. As one woman said, "I just want to be all about that grace that gives back because of Jesus." She said that one of the things she was mourning as the recovery phases were winding down was "being surrounded by all of the goodness I met in the Lutherans."
We don’t always get it right, and sometimes we stumble and flub; but today I am grateful that we have been, are, and will be in Crisfield, living into our reputation of being, by God's grace, "the Lutherans, dependable partners for the long haul."
Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." – Matthew 5:13-16