Isaiah 58:12 An Expanded Scope & Additional Mission
(Sept 2009)
Much has happened since I last sent out an update earlier this
year. 2009 started with a January mission trip to Galveston, Texas to
help rebuild after Hurricane Ike and another trip in April to assist the
people of Pass Christian\Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in their continuing
efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Isaiah 58:12 has organized
and carried out over 25 mission trips since 2005. The focus of our
ministry is the verse that defines us: “Your people will rebuild
the ancient ruins and raise up the age-old foundations; You will be
called Repairer of Broken Walls; Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”
We may not have been perfect in our execution, but I believe God
has been pleased in our attempt to carry out the commission of
rebuilding and repairing of dwellings, hearts, and spirits of those who
have fallen victim to the natural disasters.
In 2007, God began to expand the scope and add some additional facets of
training and preparation to the mission of Isaiah 58:12. I met with my
Allegan County Emergency Director, Scott Corbin, for lunch and he told
me about the FEMA Certification program Community Emergency Response
Team called CERT, which trains volunteers in light search & rescue,
basic first-aid, fire suppression, building assessment and other areas
of disaster relief. These certified volunteers, when activated, can
work in concert with first responders in disaster situations anywhere in
the United States. Scott asked if I could bring together people from
Isaiah 58:12 to take the 20 hour course so that Allegan County and the
State of Michigan could have certified trained volunteers to help in
times of disaster. After talking with the Isaiah Board, this seemed to
be directly in line with our mission so we had two CERT trainings, one
in 2007 and another early in 2008. In the fall of 2008, Bruce &
Lorraine Lenardson and I took the CERT Train the Trainer course, which
enables us to teach the FEMA Certification CERT course.
In 2008, Allegan County activated our team twice, once when nine
counties were declared a disaster area by the President and the Governor
because of severe storms, and the other when the Kalamazoo River rose
two feet above flood stage. We repaired homes in our county in the
first disaster and in the second we made sand bags for residents as well
as placed sand bags around the Allegan Water Filtration Plant and Otsego
Museum. We also drove around and helped people get things out of their
basements and lower sections of their homes which were flooded or about
to be. In 2009, we helped in assessment of storm and flood damage to
Allegan County residents.
In 2009, having served the maximum three terms in the Michigan
Legislature, I began to teach the CERT course, the first class being
held the last week in March at Rochester First. The average CERT class
is 10 to 15 people; the first class I taught had over 150
participants. In the last five and half months, we have trained over
500 faith based FEMA certified CERT volunteers in churches throughout
the state of Michigan. We are now being asked to go to many other
states. Next month we will be going to Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota and
Illinois. Just a few weeks ago Isaiah 58:12 sponsored a Train the
Trainer Course in Allegan County. Seventeen of the Isaiah 58:12 CERT
trained volunteers from around the state participated so that we can
expand our ability to train more faith based volunteers. In the near
future we will be doing some live video Conferences which will enable us
to hold three, four or many conferences simultaneously. We would have
CERT trainers physically present on every site to coordinate and
facilitate, as well as run the disaster simulations, but I could teach
from one location. We could take questions from all the sites and
literally have hundreds of people participating.
In addition to the CERT training, God has expanded our mission to
help people prepare for the shakings which are coming. God revealed to
Joseph that there were going to be droughts, famines, and shakings in
his time and told him to prepare. Thanks to Joseph’s preparations, his
family, his city, the nation of Egypt, and all the surrounding nations
survived the shakings of his day. It is important to note that in the
midst of these adverse times that Egypt didn’t simply survive by the
skin of their teeth; they in fact thrived and prospered because of that
preparation. Biblically, that is what the church is supposed to do in
times of adversity; they are supposed to be lights and blessing in their
communities. Many of the churches that sponsored the CERT training have
appointed someone to be their disaster coordinator. They have
indentified the disabled, elderly or those who need help in their
surrounding area and contacted their County Emergency Director and said
they would take care of them in the event of a disaster.
In this vein, we have revamped and expanded our web site to include
a preparedness tab containing information about having an individual,
family, church and community plan, and what you should you have in your
home in case of any disaster. We have also included information on
Pandemics and what state and federal governments are planning.
At the beginning of this year we had no idea that all this was going to
happen, but God has a way of expanding things far beyond our limited
vision. Isaiah 55:8-9 clearly references that God’s thoughts are
different, beyond and higher than ours. My goal and the goal of Isaiah
58:12 has always been to carry out the assignment/commission we have
been given. It seems that God has chosen to increase the vision
and mission of Isaiah 58:12. However, that is the way of the God
we serve; He always goes beyond what we could think or imagine. I
invite you to continue with Isaiah 58:12 on the mission and the task we
have been given.