Liberty offers Sandy relief

The Center for Ministry Training funds trip to New York

Walking carefully through homes, students peered from behind oversized goggles, their breath ragged through the respirators they had to wear as they witnessed the chaos left in Hurricane Sandy’s wake.

Amid the debris, Liberty University students came from Jan. 6 to Jan. 11, offering relief to tired homeowners in a neighborhood in Staten Island, N.Y. The trips were completely funded by Liberty’s Center for Ministry Training (CMT), which took applications and interviewed more than 100 hopeful Liberty students who showed an interest in volunteering.

“We try to focus on getting people involved in some aspect of ministry. This particular case was servant evangelism,” Scott MacLeod, the associate director of CMT, said.

During the trip, Liberty’s ministry team partnered with the Southern Baptists Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV), a group widely known for their work offering relief to areas affected by disaster. Throughout the history of SBCV, Liberty has been the only college contacted by the group to closely partner with their relief efforts, according to MacLeod.

There were four teams working to bring relief, composed of 11 Liberty students, staff and CMT faculty who worked daily to completely dismantle damaged houses, leaving only beams. All material touched by the rising flood waters needed to be ripped out and replaced. The remaining foundation was then power washed, bleached and sanitized before rebuilding could begin.

“It was a mixed feeling to go into somebody’s house,” Liberty senior Cassie Marroquin said. “You know you’re helping them, but at the same time, you’re pulling apart their house.”

Timothy Moroz, the administrative assistant for CMT, recalled the reactions of some homeowners as broken and angry. Moroz said that the sorrow felt by the area allowed the Liberty team the chance to provide comfort as an acting body of Christ.

“It was one of those situations where you had to rely on the Holy Spirit to come into the situation and prepare their hearts and your heart for how you were going to be called to serve them,” Marroquin said.

While visiting the area, the team stayed in tents assembled in a local church courtyard. Trailers served as showers, and outdoor sinks met their basic needs. Being in the center of the devastation provided the team with the opportunity to connect to homeowners on a more personal basis. According to Andrew Cheatham, a CMT staff member, one Buddhist homeowner personally cleaned his damaged home carefully before the team’s arrival and brought the team lunch while they worked.

“By letting him serve us, it served to bridge a gap to his heart,” Cheatham said. “I think he felt like he was a part of our lives and we were a part of his. You could see in his eyes the visible change from ‘this is a historical story’ to ‘this is something real because you guys are here.’”

According to MacLeod, students who serve on CMT trips are immersed in devotionals and times of worship during the trip. These devotionals are dedicated to teaching students lessons on certain topics such as counseling, inner city work and evangelism.

“It’s not just an experience, but an educational time,” MacLeod said. “Every single student that I talked to loved the trip and would do it again in a heartbeat.”

CMT also reconnects with team members upon their return to Liberty to hear how the trip helped them spiritually and how the trip affected their relationship with Christ, according to MacLeod.

“There’s definitely a place for any skill set on these trips, and you will grow a lot. Absolutely go,” Marroquin said.

Many areas in New York have yet to be repaired, and CMT has been invited back in the spring by SBCV to continue the relief efforts. Students and faculty are encouraged by both ministries to join the team’s efforts. Contact the CMT office at (434) 592-4161 for more information.