OC Reach Out

Tent City is gone…. The floods of the last few days have caused the waters of the Cumberland to raise higher than many long-time Nashvillians can remember. As many of you know, Tent City is built in the flood plane of the Cumberland under the Sylman-Evans bridges. Until today it was hard for me to imagine that the water could ever really be high enough to flood that area. But now I’m a believer. I started getting calls late yesterday that the water was rising but really had no idea that it was as serious as it turned out to be. So starting this morning Inner City Ministries provided a school bus and we started evacuating Tent City residents and their animals. The Red Cross sat up a shelter at Lipscomb and the Humane Shelter provided a trailer for pets. I took 2 loads of folks and their pets and they were more than happy to get out of there. They were wet and frustrated – they had lost everything except what they could carry out – tents, shacks, beds, clothes, books, everything. By the time I got there, the portable toilets were floating in over four feet of water. But the good news is that everyone that wanted to leave for the shelter was able to get out. A few folks decided they would go to higher ground and stay and a few went to stay with friends. There were a few other camps that we also evacuated yesterday. Since the shelters had not yet been set up we ended up taking them to the Drake Motel. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help.

But this means that once the water recedes we’ll be faced with helping nearly 140 people get their lives back together. If you are reading this would you consider getting your church and your place of business to start a tent and sleeping bag drive? We’ll also be needing clothing and just about everything else you can imagine.

I want to say I couldn’t be more proud to be a member of Otter Creek. For the past several months Otter Creek has been working towards today as the culmination of a fundraiser for a new kindergarten addition. There was a big breakfast planned along with a service centered on asking folks to make pledges for the campaign. But the weather had different plans. Early this morning the power went off at the building. The caterers were already there setting up the breakfast. The organizers were there putting the final touches on the events for the day. But no sooner had the power gone off and the flood warnings started to come in than the folks put their heads together and started trying to figure out what to do. Within an hour it was clear that the event would not take place today. That could be rescheduled. But what to do with the breakfast? With no hesitation or concern for the investment, the call was made and plans were put in place to take an incredible breakfast to the Red Cross shelter where the Tent City folks were staying. Almost sounds biblical… And then the organizers decided that it was more important to get everyone together to pray for the people affected by the storm than worry about the fundraiser. There was tremendous effort put into the plans for today. But without any hesitation, those plans were delayed so we could all pray and roll up our sleeves to help our community. Now that’s the Otter Creek I know and love and am proud to serve. They’ll be plenty of time for the fundraiser, but for now let’s focus on helping others – I think that’s what Jesus would be doing…