A letter that was just passed on to me by e-mail. It's important to follow the elder's directions:
Hi Don,
I thought I would send you a little bit of information that was interesting concerning the first of the Astrodome evacuees in
to the brother's directions:Michael said that when the brothers first went into the Astrodome, it was a scene of chaos, as the people in authority tried to pull everything together for the evacuees comfort, but no clear plan or directions were yet in effect, so we can imagine the scene. The brothers then asked those who were in charge of the evacuees if they knew of any Jehovah's Witnesses in this first group that were brought in. They were told that no, they did not specifically know of any
Witnesses, but that the brothers were welcome to set up an information booth as many of the other churches and groups had done. Instead, the brothers
mentioned to those in charge that they were more than a little familiar with the Astrodome and its facilities (from years of assemblies held there), and so
would they mind if they "poked around a little bit" to see what they could find out. "Of course not, please go ahead," they were told.
Within minutes, the brothers had the PA systems going, and an announcement was made for all Jehovah's Witnesses in the facility to gather at a specific
location, and within thirty minutes, all that were there at that time were accounted for, gathered up, comforted, and on their way to homes that were
providing lodging and comfort for them. As they loaded the families and friends into vans provided by the friends, the brothers got a charge
out of hearing the PA system crackling with messages and direction as the other groups followed their example.
Thirty minutes!! How organized Jehovah's people are, and how fortunate that we are used to following directions from brothers in charge !! And what a
reminder for all of us to follow directions from the brothers at times like these!
Thanks for all the updates you are sending to us regarding the friends from the Gulf coast area. One name that you had mentioned and forwarded email
information from, was Sister Mary Ritter. I recognized her name because she had studied with Martha Gonzalez' mother when she lived in ,
and so I was glad to be able to pass the information on that she was safe. (But she had already called Martha's mom by the time I could reach Martha,
so I was pleased about that!!)
With Christian love,
Joyce and Chuck