Early Response Team deployed to Waterville – Recruiting new team members

Have you ever had water in your home? If so, you know how depressing it can be. The ERT team was invited by the City of Waterville to respond to the needs of the people affected by the recent flooding. The team responded with 13 volunteers from as far away as Bemidji and as close as Pine Island. The age range of our volunteers ran from the 70s to one 15 year old.

Our task is always to provide a Christian presence as we seek to meet the physical needs of the people affected by a disaster. Waterville and other locations in MN are still in the relief phase of this disaster. Recovery will be a long time coming.

 For this one-day deployment they requested that we help with general clean-up. We were happy to be able to help seven households to remove sandbags from around their homes and carry them to the curb for later pickup. We also were able to help a local crew to pickup damaged goods and debris from the curbs and take debris to the dump site. It is dirty work, but it needs to be done.

It was a priviledge to hear the homeowners tell their stories of everything from dealing with the loss that comes with flooding, to hearing them talk about putting up bird feeders! There is so much more we could tell, but we try our best not to break the confidentiality  that comes with every deployment.

Our team remarked at the closing debriefing that it was great to meet the local people, and to be able to work with them to make their homes one step closer to being back to the new normal that is a reality after dealing with flooding. The people of Waterville were extremely grateful that “strangers” would come and help at a time of need like this.  By the end of the day, we were new friends.

If you would like to be a member of our volunteer team, we would encourage your to let us know at   We can keep you informed of the next steps, which includes taking part in an 8 hour basic Emergency Response Team training event. Thank you for keeping us and everyone affected by disasters in your prayers.  We couldn’t do it without you.