Hurricane Barry was beginning to develop in the Gulf of Mexico. The High School and College Students from First Baptist of Hamlin, Texas had arrived into New Orleans to help local ministries in need. They engaged with multiple ministries, but as the weather started to get worse, it started to make their ability to help fruitless. It soon became apparent that New Orleans was going into crisis mode, gasoline was scarce and the Hamlin Team Leaders decided they needed to evacuate out before it got worse. The kids were disappointed as they had worked hard to raise the money to go on this team and it was going to be cut short. Their leaders began to think out of the box and called the Hand Up Network in Tyler, TX. Tyler was on the way back to Hamlin, which is about 40 minutes north of Abilene. The Hand Up Network Team jumped in and in less than 24 hours, developed multiple opportunities with their Network Partners where the Hamlin kids could engage and also help a lot of people in need!
Sometimes it’s the curve ball from life that produce some of the greatest memories. The Hamlin kids were able to help multiple Ministry Partners, people that were struggling with upkeep of their homes, Churches that had projects that continued to sit idle until resources or volunteers could engage, and also provide support to the East Texas Food Bank. Suddenly, the team that had to evacuate out of the path of a Hurricane were able to not only make a huge impact, but establish life long relationships with the Hand Up Network and its Partners. God was surely at work here and it was an honor to be a part of His work! God Bless the kids of First Baptist Hamlin and thank YOU for your service to East Texas!
HAND UP NETWORK™ is a 501c3 non-profit based in Tyler, TX that has assembled an international team of leaders with decades of experience with a desire to come back home and bring an experienced focus to those in need in our local communities. The Network offers long-term programs to people seeking a new season in life and response teams designed to address community issues and emergency response. The Network provides intentional volunteer opportunities for people wanting to provide support within their programs and opportunities to engage via Response Teams.