Lancaster, Texas – This weekend we met an incredible woman named Maria, who had lived in an apartment complex that was severely damaged by last week’s tornado. Her apartment received minimal damage, but some of the buildings had been condemned.

On Thursday, Maria was told that all of her belongings had to be out of the apartment by midnight on Saturday. This left her only two days to find another place to live and storage for her belongings—two days to have everything she owned packed and moved out.

Maria has been standing strong in the face of the all unknown that this tornado brought, and she continued to believe that God would provide a way for her. But without many options, Maria could only take what would fit in her car. She had to leave the rest behind.

Late Friday evening, an OBI staff member heard about Maria’s plight. So first thing Saturday morning we called Maria and offered her a team of volunteers to help pack and move her belongings.

Maria’s joy and appreciation were inspiring and even contagious as we all rallied around her in a race against time to get everything finished. Even after the sun went down, OBI staff continued to work by truck headlights and battery operated floodlights and as our volunteers completed other projects around the city they joined in the effort too.

At 10:30 pm, we finally closed the door to the U-Haul. Together, we had successfully kept Maria from losing everything she owned. For her, it was a miracle and sign of God’s faithfulness; and to us, a true sense of team work and the chance to help someone in need.