Hope after the Storm:
Couple Loses Everything to Find Everything

With Hurricane Katrina fast approaching New Orleans, Charles and Monica Armelin joined the thousands who were evacuating and heading west. Desperately searching for a place to stay, the Armelins didn’t find an available motel room until they reached San Antonio. While waiting out the storm, they continuously watched television reports, anxiously looking for news from home. When the news came, it was not good: Their home, their business with $75,000 worth of equipment—everything—had been washed away by the hurricane. Nothing was left. The insurance company said there would be no compensation because the loss had occurred due to an “act of nature.”

The couple settled in San Antonio, and Monica soon found a job that transferred her to the Dallas area. The Armelins moved into an apartment in Garland, but with Charles unable to find work in the computer field, the expense was well above their budget. Charles was repeatedly told he was overqualified or there were no open positions. Faced with the need for more affordable housing, they turned to Guaranty Bank for help.

They were shown five or six properties that were too expensive, but finally located an affordable lot in South Dallas. However, they still faced the problem of building a home with very little money. The representative from Guaranty Bank asked Charles if he had ever heard of Prestonwood Baptist Church. “What’s that?” Charles asked.

“It’s a large church in North Dallas that partners with Habitat for Humanity and helps people build affordable homes,” he recalls being told. Charles obtained the contact information and signed up on that very day—Friday, July 7—for a Habitat Home. One day later, a crew from Prestonwood began work on his new home on Valentine Street in the Bon Ton area of South Dallas. The house was completed a month later. At the dedication, Charles remembers dropping to his knees, thanking God for what He had done.

Two weeks before the completion of the home, Prestonwood Minister of Global Outreach Mike Fechner called Charles to see how he was doing, and asked if he needed anything. In fact, Charles said, Mike made several phone calls to check up on them over the next few weeks. Charles came to Prestonwood to meet Mike and attended a Friday Morning Men’s Bible Study when Tony Evans was speaking. “I saw 500 men crying and praying over what God was doing in their lives,” Charles said.

After their prayer time, Mike asked Charles how much income he would need to take care of his household. When Charles told him, Mike made some inquiries, returned, and offered Charles a part-time job at the H.I.S. BridgeBuilders Eye Clinic.

“Mike and Pastor Graham are a blessing to everyone they come across,” Charles said. “If more churches would do this, less people would be in trouble.”

Charles now works full time teaching computer classes for H.I.S. BridgeBuilders and he and Monica are faithful members of Prestonwood.

“I looked around and saw what Prestonwood was doing and I thought, ‘Hey, I want to be part of Prestonwood because they are in my neighborhood, serving this community and serving me,’” Charles said.

“God blesses me every single day,” he said. “He has given me a house, a job, and a good church home.”

So moved by how God has blessed them, Charles has helped start a block service in Bon Ton keeping the neighborhood clean, taking care of lawns, and helping senior adults with small home repairs. He has a strong desire to pass on to others the help he has received.

“Every day when I open my eyes,” he said, “it’s a blessing to serve the Lord and help others.”