Waters Of Destruction; Waters Of Comfort. SLBC 2011 Minot Flood Relief.

Photo by: Larry Phillips

To see the devastation of Minot and be a small part of the relief efforts was an extremely humbling experience.  To think that some 10,000 people were displaced from their homes, their memories and their security due to the 2011 Mouse River Flood not only created a heaviness of the heart, but also a sense of our finite abilities in contrast to the power of mother nature.  

Photo by: Larry Phillips

On September 30th through October 1st, Sidney Lutheran Brethren Church took a small team of workers to Minot with the intent of helping with the flood relief.   On Friday the team worked at a retired widow's residence in preparing the house for the winter season by insulating the main floor and boarding up broken windows.  The owner of the house simply came to terms with the reality that this winter would be spent living in a FEMA trailer rather than the comfort of her longtime home.  On Saturday, the team spent time working at a house that was radically ravaged by the waters of the Mouse River.  The waters completely filled the basement and filled three quarters of the main floor, thus requiring the house to be brought down to the studs and the sub-floor.  The owners of the house were a young couple in their mid-twenties with a brand new 6 month old baby.

Photo by: Larry Phillips

While one could easily spend a whole article contemplating the physical damage that has occurred in Minot, ND, there is no way one can measure the emotional toll that this event has taken upon the people.  Memories were literally and metaphorically washed away by the waters.  The comfort of routine was replaced with uncertainty.  The warmth of  a neighbor's smile, displaced.  The comforting smell of one's own flower garden, substituted by the smell of mold must.  The anticipation of a family gathering around the table to celebrate Thanksgiving, gone.  All things of familiar joy and comfort displaced; almost feeling like one has been robbed yet with no specific culprit for justice to be enacted upon.  Truly the flood of Minot did much more than wash away physical items, it touched deeper.  It went to the heart of the community.

Photo by: Larry Phillips

The idea of water destroying and impacting mankind is a very real threat.  We need only remember Hurricane Katrina from several years ago.  Our minds may also drift to the great flood of Noah's time in the book of Genesis.  The concept of flooding water certainly brings forth pictures of destruction, displacement and sorrow.  Water though, is not just limited to the picture of destruction.  Water also brings about comfort.  Water cleanses.  Water washes dirt away.  In scripture we are reminded of the idea of baptism when we think of water.  God through the water word of baptism miraculously washes away sin and puts His name on us.  King David once said, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."


The difficult reality for the residents of Minot and for us to process is that mankind was powerless to stop the flood waters.  The flood invaded every aspect of people's lives.  Conversely the comforting picture of water is that God's grace floods into our sinful world, penetrating hardened hearts, washing us and  declaring us whiter than snow.  Unlike the robbed memories, lost memorabilia and forced displacement in the Minot Flood, the washing atonement of Jesus Christ can never be taken away, lost or displaced.  The current events of the day cannot reach back into time and change what Jesus accomplished nor keep Him in the grave.  

Photo by: Larry Phillips

While the residents of Minot may find themselves with empty hands, shattered real estate and broken dreams, the good news of the Gospel is that nothing can drown the Cross of Christ.  The team from Sidney Lutheran Brethren Church witnessed profoundly how the Gospel was filling empty hands, providing rest and mending broken dreams.  The floods invaded and destroyed; the Gospel is continually washing and granting comfort.


May our sympathies continually extend to Minot, ND.  May our prayers of mercy for them abound.  May the God of all grace and comfort continually flood the hearts and lives of Minot residents as they continually journey through the flood recovery.


To View More Pictures:
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2011 Flood Video:
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To learn more about the ongoing Minot Flood Reliefs visit:
www.missionminot.com