Ministry to Hurricane Victims Beyond Founder's Dreams
by AFA Journal
January 31, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Eighty-four Katrina-ravaged homes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast received Christmas gifts through a ministry called 8 Days of Hope. The homes had repairs done by 693 volunteers from 37 states and a few foreign countries. (See earlier article)"When 8 Days of Hope started, the thought was to bring a handful of people to the Coast and try to help a family or two after Hurricane Katrina," said Steve Tybor III of Tupelo, Mississippi. It would be a little personal ministry of Tybor and his father, Steve, Jr., of Buffalo, New York.
Read a two-part series about 8 Days of Hope
They planned to recruit a few friends to help, but Tybor said, "I learned that my plan is not always God's plan!" They focused on homes where families had been able to return but had no insurance or financing for repairs.
From December 10-18, the volunteers installed 2,210 pieces of sheetrock, 610 squares of roofing shingles, and 320 rolls of insulation. Countless minor carpentry projects were completed and electrical work was done on 35 homes. Two semi-truckloads of furniture were distributed, and 5,000 brand new Christmas toys were delivered along with Christmas trees of poinsettias the day the volunteers departed.
"It was all for God's glory," said Tybor. The American Family Association, a pro-family group based in Tupelo, donated $100,000 to the December project.
8 Days of Hope has since announced it will be returning to the Gulf Coast March 10-15. Details of that endeavor will be announced via the group's website on February 6.
This article, reprinted with permission, appears in the February 2005 issue of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.
