“Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you so that you may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord, there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.” Psalms 130:1-8 NRSV
Waiting.
The average wait time is something that many companies pay attention to. Consumers certainly do. Some of us may have a limit when it comes to waiting. After waiting to speak with a customer service representative, there may be this unspoken rule you have when you’ve waited long enough. You’ve listened to canned music long enough. You’ve even tried to multitask while you waited, and you’ve reached a point where you’ve had enough.
I recently shared a conversation with Jason DuVall, Executive Director of Carolina Rebuild Ministry (CRM), and we were talking about waiting. Currently, CRM has 281 family members needing assistance. Completing one household and addressing the home’s rebuilding needs normally takes two to three weeks, depending on the skills of the volunteer mission team.
Waiting for CRM assistance can take up to a year.
CRM connects these waiting families with mission teams, who’ve been planning and preparing to come to eastern North Carolina to serve alongside others as they rebuild and restore homes. If you’ve ever been a participant with a mission team, you know there’s a good bit of waiting for the departure date for your mission.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope…
It’s a mash-up of waiting for folks when homeowners and volunteers meet for the first time. When introductions are shared. When seeds of relationships are spread. When words of appreciation are said. Then, a week of hard work, plenty of sweat equity, and employment of the gifts God gives us, leads to fruitful outcomes of a repaired roof, a rebuilt floor, or a restored room. Its resurrection lived out among waiting people.
There’s another powerful reality happening among the CRM volunteers during the hours they spend working together in the Beacon District. Two weeks ago, a Christian Reform group from Canada, an Islamic Relief group from NY, and a Duke Chapel group from Durham, all shared space together in Bertie County (above photo). Three groups with entirely different beliefs, vastly different traditions, and representing different geographic locations of the kingdom of God.
These three different groups showed up and served and broke down the walls of divisiveness that have unfortunately become the norm of our world today. These three different groups modeled the vital importance of how relationships matter in today’s world. These three different groups embraced each other in their collaborative efforts to help transform lives for a family in Bertie County.
In the good ministry and work happening at CRM in three counties of the Beacon District, the psalmist’s words remind us we wait with hope.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope…
David
The photo above: Carolina Rebuild Ministry Mission Teams, Bertie County Center, March 2023. Photo courtesy of Jason DuVall.