Seven members of the Antioch Community Church recently returned after a mission trip to help flood victims in Louisiana this past weekend.
The group cleaned out 10 houses affected by up to six feet of water and removed anything touched by water in Baton Rouge. They tore down dry walls, removed insulation and pulled out wood floors.
"When you see some of the videos and you see some of the pictures, people just felt helpless, felt hopeless. We are sitting here in Waco in our nice houses, in our nice jobs. And we just thought we want to go and serve, be a part of bringing the love of Jesus to people who are really distraught right now,” Antioch Community Church Director of Impact Waco Josh Lawson said.
Lawson who went with his wife Jenny on the mission trip said they also helped some of their closest friends there impacted by the floods.
Lawson describes the devastation in Baton Rouge being more than what he expected to see. The historic flooding damaged more than 60,000 houses and killed 13 people.
“It was one of the worst things I have ever seen,” Lawson said. “It was street after street of just complete devastation.”
Lawson and Antioch church member Joel Shields both said the strength of the community was visible during their time there.
“You saw how resilient the people were. We had several people honking horns yelling thank you that were not even connected to the property we were working on,” Shields said.
Shields took his 12-year-old son Caleb on the mission trip with him.
“When you are young, growing up your world is pretty small and I think this was an opportunity for him, 12-years-old, to see something he had not seen before and he did,” Shields said.
He added this experience changed both of them.
“When you see the devastation first hand, when you see the look on people’s faces, it makes you feel good that you are there and that you can do something to help them, to give them hope,” Shields said.
Antioch Community Church plans to go on more mission trips to the area to continue helping with the restoration process.
If you would like to get involved or help, you can contact the church at 254-754-0386 or email them at info@antiochcc.net.
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