Bellville Volunteers Send Flood Buckets for Immediate Relief

When the missions team of Bellville UMC met on Sept. 17 to plan a response to Hurricane Ike relief efforts, the flood bucket project caught their eye. Team members recalled a previous effort to send school supplies to Iraqi children which had mushroomed and captured significant community support.

What began as a small project to encourage members to donate sponges and cleaning supplies quickly grew. The team adopted a goal to prepare 500 flood buckets.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, some 140 persons - men, women, boys and girls - remained after worship for a quick lunch, and then began a full-scale assembly line process. In less than an hour, the first batch of 250 flood buckets had been assembled and loaded onto a delivery trailer.

On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the buckets were delivered to the designated collection station in League City , but instead of being stored, they were immediately loaded onto a relief truck headed to the Texas City area.  By Wednesday morning, Oct. 1, the church had already received a 'thank you e-mail' from a gentleman in Bacliff , Texas.

'Watching the assembly of the flood buckets was one of the most amazing things I have ever encountered,' noted associate pastor Amy Haralson. 'The hands of Christ were everywhere, working through everyone. Jesus looks different in every place, but here in Bellville, he is the child no taller than three feet, weighing no more than 35 pounds, carrying three flood buckets weighing twice what he does, running with a huge smile on his face to place the buckets on the trailer so that they can be taken to those who need it the most. This is the same child who says to his mother, 'Wow, Mom, that was fun!  When can we do it again?''

And he will get that chance, for plans are already underway for the assembly of the next batch of 250 buckets. Meanwhile, the missions team is considering raising the goal to 750!