Being a servant when you least expect it.

A couple of months ago Rachel, one of our new deejays, and I loaded up the trunk of my Impala and headed to Findlay Ohio. We were going to hand out bottled water to people working hard on a hot day. We do it every year all over the area. We call it the YES F.M. Thirst Quenchers, and it is always a fun time. We chose Findlay because the city suffered one of the worst floods the area has ever seen.

I remember thinking what a beautiful day it was, not a cloud in the sky and temps in the 90s. As we exited I-75 and headed towards town, I wondered if we were going to be able to even get near the place after seeing news reports with the reporters walking through waist deep water covering the downtown area. Luckily the water receded enough that we were able to find a place to park.

What started off as a fun little radio station outreach quickly turned into something else. The first people we saw was a group of people laying out learning supplies for kids trying to salvage anything they could, one small business affected by a natural disaster trying to salvage what they could.

Rachel and I left them some water and went to the next spot, and talk about God showing up! We happened upon a place called Mission Possible, a Christian outreach facility for missionaries. They lost almost everything in the flood. Computers, paperwork, files, you name it, it was soaked. More water for another small business trying to salvage what they could to continue God’s work.

What amazed me the most was the attitude of most of the people affected. These people lost their livelihood, their business that puts food on the table and clothes on their backs, yet they kept working despite the high temps and humidity. Neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping strangers, and a couple of D.J. s’ from Toledo handing out water.

After a while we sat down the cooler and began helping where we could, putting up tent to keep workers cool and out of the sun. As we were leaving town we stopped and bought one of the last cases of water in town ( the tap water was not yet deemed safe to drink) and went through the neighborhoods. It was there that my heart was both torn apart and blessed at the same time.

We stopped at a house with an elderly woman and her daughter sitting outside. The power was not yet restored to the house and there was no air conditioning, so we stopped to offer some water to help keep them cool. It was then that I heard the most heart breaking story of the day. “Thank you so much for the water,” the daughter said. “Today is my parents’ wedding anniversary and my father had a heart attack this morning and is in the hospital.” I chocked back tears as this lady’s son came over and thanked us with a donation of $5 for the ministry of YES F.M.
I could not believe what had just happened. Here these people have had quite possibly the worst 72 hours in the history of the planet and they hand me a $5 bill for a donation. They had never listened to us, never heard of us, but just wanted to thank us. I never even asked them their names but I pray daily that the Lord keeps them safe, and I thank him daily for putting me somewhere I needed to be to realize that no matter what I may be dealing with, He will always have a hand in making sure that I am taken care of. This may sound kind of weird, but every time I look at a $5 bill I think of that family in Findlay and thank god for their strength.

If you are looking for something to do this weekend head to Findlay, or Ottawa, or Carey, or any of the places affected by the flooding. I am sure there is something to do there. If you don’t want to drive that far there is probably someone in your neighborhood who could use a hand. After all I think I read somewhere once…”Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Put down the Playstation controller and get to work :)

Rob Kelly.