History of Events

Committed Relief grew out of  an obvious need to minister to victims of  disasters, both natural and man-made.  In 1995, Calvary Chapel La Habra sent a team of servants to Kobe, Japan after the 7.2 earthquake that killed 6,500 people. The team held concerts in a local park, along with street ministry, that attracted thousands of hurting people, and led to the planting of the first Calvary Chapel in Japan.

The next opportunity for a disaster relief response was in the wake of 9/11/01. Our first team that went in was comprised of firefighters and police officers from the body who worked with their counterparts in New York City. Soon after that other teams arrived to help with the “Festival of Life” that Horizon Christian Fellowship put together.

Committed Relief again felt compelled to try and help in the aftermath of the Great Tsunami that struck southeast Asia in December of 2004, killing 225,000 people. Team members came alongside a ministry that had started to build an orphanage outside of Phuket, Thailand, and helped them complete that building and also built a church.

Within days of Hurricane Katrina striking the Gulf Coast in August of 2005, a small group of Calvary Chapel pastors from southern California arrived in New Orleans to see what God would bring their way. God brought them to the small town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, arguably the hardest hit area on the whole Gulf Coast.

After talking with city officials, they received permission to establish a relief camp on the local little league field. These pastors contacted other Calvary Chapel pastors and shared the need and the vision they had been given from the Lord. Over the course of the next 12 months, God’s love for the hurting was revealed time and time again through His servants at “Camp Hope”, the name given to the Committed Relief site on the little league field.

Over 50 different Calvary Chapels from all over the United States sent teams to serve at Camp Hope. The early servants slept in sleeping in small tents and showered in the dugouts.  

As time went on, a portable shower trailer and bathroom trailer were moved onto the grounds. Starting with some donated backyard barbeques, Camp Hope soon had a kitchen that  fed 6,000 meals a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snacks.

No one ever walked away hungry. Police and firefighters from 10 different states found a hot meal and loving hearts when they parked their vehicles and walked into “The Big Top”, a donated circus tent that served as the community dining room. Local residents found hot coffee and cold drinks available all day long, and the promise of some hot grits at all 3 meals.

Although at times it seemed that we didn’t have enough servants to get things done, God always came through. An average week saw between 50-70 servants working out of Camp Hope, at an average cost of $5,000 a week for food, not including donated items that showed up. That first Thanksgiving when we fed the community, the bill for the week was $33,000!

The spiritual needs of the local community were also met. Every Sunday morning services were held “under the big top”, as well as a Wednesday night bible study. We even rigged up a patchwork baptismal and were able to baptize many into the Holy Spirit.

Strong relationships were forged, not only between servants and the locals, but between those from many Calvarys across the country. A group of older men came to the camp every morning for grits and coffee, and were dubbed “The Breakfast Club”.

As time progressed, many locals continued attending the Sunday and Wednesday night studies because of their hunger for God’s Word. It became apparent that the area was ripe for the planting of a Calvary Chapel. Property was located, a pastor was raised up, and as Camp Hope closed down almost 1 year to the date of it’s opening, Calvary Chapel Bay St. Louis was dedicated.

While in Mississippi, Committed Relief was able to purchase a mobile kitchen, which along with the command center, enable us to set up almost anywhere and feed and tend to the physical and spiritual needs of victims of disasters. 

On August 15, 2007, a powerful 8.0 earthquake struck Peru, ultimately killing over 500 people. Committed Relief sent a team to the town of Canete, near Lima. They came alongside a local believer, Pastor Jaime, to assist in facilitating needs of those affected by the crisis.

They worked at a food distribution center that handed out hot meals to local families, as well as sharing the gospel message. They also worked on Pastor Jaime’s church building, making sure that it would be ready for the next Sunday service.

The team, along with the body of Calvary Chapel Montebello, joined together to buy Pastor Jaime a car so he could visit surrounding neighborhoods and distribute food and God’s Word. 

When the 2007 California wildfires broke out, Committed Relief again heeded the call and responded to help. Arriving in Fallbrook to assist with the feeding of emergency personnel and the community, it was learned that the small mountain-top community of Palomar Mountain needed to have breakfast prepared for the many firefighters that were battling flames in the rough mountain terrain.

We towed our mobile kitchen up the steep, winding mountain road and pulled into the incident command area to the cheers of firefighters and locals. Immediately the next morning a good, solid breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and the like were served to the weary crews as they prepared to face the long day.

Our breakfast was so popular we found ourselves a victim of our own success. The word got out, and we found 500 firefighters lining up the next morning for more good food. Over the course of the next 5 days, Committed Relief served approximately 1,000 meals a day, now also preparing lunch and dinner to supplement the Red Cross, which was also in place.

The servants had many chances to sit and talk with the firefighters while they were eating, and many of those talks turned into prayers of repentance and then prayers of salvation. Many of those who were saved were American Indian Reservation firefighters from Arizona and New Mexico.

A Sunday morning service was held, with worship and a bible study. As we were packing up to leave, one of the servants walked over and sat with a male and female firefighter who were just finishing up eating. Neither had heard the Gospel message before, and eagerly listened and gave their lives to the Lord. His name was Joseph and her name was Mary!

Due to our service in the Gulf Coast, Committed Relief was invited to work on the ABC Television show “Extreme Makeover : Home Edition” as they attempted to build a church and a house in New Orleans. A team of 20 servants flew into New Orleans and were immediately drafted into working the church build in the 3^rd Ward, one of the most crime-ridden and poorest of all.

During the 24 hour a day work on Noah’s Ark Missionary Baptist Church, team members were able to be an example to the many contractors and other volunteers on site. We held a mid-week bible study in the feeding tent that was also attended by some of those same contractors. At the end of the week many new friendships were formed, and many of the contractors got to see a different side of Christianity in action.

The 2008 Hurricane Season spawned many named storms, the two largest being Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Committed Relief towed the command center, mobile kitchen and support vehicles to Donaldsonville, Louisiana, where we worked alongside Samaritan’s Purse as we fed the community and volunteers, as well as worked tarping houses and cutting up trees that had fallen on fences and houses.

As we watched the news reports, Hurricane Ike crept closer and closer to the Gulf Coast. After Ike struck, we left half of our team in Donaldsonville and headed to the Houston area. It was a very eerie feeling driving the normally busy interstate that was now almost empty of vehicles. As we got closer to Houston, the police had certain off ramps blocked off. A quick glance revealed that most of these off ramps led to flooded roads.

Arriving in the parking lot of Calvary Chapel Houston at 1:00 a.m., we couldn’t help but notice how bright the stars were due to the lack of any lights; power was out, trees were knocked down, and roofs torn off. Daylight brought the usual Houston weather: hot, muggy and sticky. Camp was set up and another Samaritan’s Purse team pulled in to work with us. During the next 2 weeks we again fed the community and the volunteers. The local city officials were very happy to see us, and visited the camp daily, helping us by getting diesel delivered and trying to find ice to keep the food cool.

Once again crews went out to tarp roofs, cut up downed trees, and minister to the community. There were many instances of the crews praying with the homeowners prior to the work starting, while neighbors watched and secretly hoped that they would also get a visit. They always did, resulting in many folks getting saved.

When the area closer to Galveston was finally opened up, an advance team found itself driving through what remained of San Leon, a small fishing community on Galveston Bay. A large number of the modest homes in this community so dependant on the shrimping industry were totally rendered unlivable and many more were totally destroyed.

Team members contacted the head elder of a local Baptist church and were able to secure the parking lot as our next base of operations.  Committed Relief volunteers moved all of the trailers and vehicles from Friendswood and began assisting with food giveaways and mucking out houses and piling up debris so that it could be hauled away quicker.

Two stories stick out as examples of how God’s servants can affect others just by their loving attitudes. The first involves an older lady who had signed up at the camp for help with packing. Two volunteers arrived at her heavily-damaged house and saw her sitting on a pile of debris. This woman asked if they could just help her pack up some of her belongings in boxes.

She related that she had raised 2 of her grandchildren, and none of them had come to check on her after the hurricane. She was sleeping in the back seat of her car, and eating out of a box of Cheerios. She was invited to come to the camp for dinner, and upon her arrival she was talked into sleeping with the female volunteers.

For the first time in a long time, this woman slept on a comfortable cot, ate a hot meal, and was loved on by the ladies. She gave her life to the Lord early the next morning!

The next incident involves a Vietnamese shrimper and his family. A crew from Committed Relief came out and worked on his house, tearing off the ruined siding down to the studs so that they could dry out prior to rebuilding. He kept following some of the guys around and asking how much they were going to charge him.

When they told him that it was being done for free because Jesus loved him and his family, he couldn’t believe it. He would then follow another group around and asked them the same question. When he kept getting the same question, he became very excited, grabbed his camera, and insisted on taking a picture of the crew that was working on his house.

He told them he was going to send the photos to his family in Vietnam to show them what American Christians were doing to help him. He gave his life to the Lord that evening, as many volunteers looked on, weeping.

These are but some of the awesome things that the Lord did through his servants, working together as Jesus’s hands and feet.