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Author
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Topic: RELIABLE Way To Help Victims of Katrina
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SoftTouch
Advanced Member
Member # 2316
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posted
Here is the Latest Update I received via email from “Adventures In Missions” (AIM)
Katrina Relief – Update
Seth Barnes Exec. Dir. of AIM
3:00pm Monday 9/5/2005
The latest: Our team of 70 volunteers is mobilizing to be in Baton Rouge by Thursday. The advance team just left. 17 volunteers are working under Michael Paul to identify families to match up with the 270 families who have volunteered to be hosts.
Michael Paul writes from Baton Rouge:
quote:
I have just returned from the Istrouma Baptist Church, a center with several hundred evacuees. Horribly sad but a great ministry opportunity. I met and prayed with many.
There was a group from L. A. publicly recruiting for 300 evacuees to fly out tonight. They were asking for the peoples’ FEMA number (what’s this?) and most evacuees were afraid they would manipulate their money from them somehow.
There are just over a dozen Red Cross shelters and about that many more independent shelters (pretty much all of which are churches). I have a list of all of the shelters that were open today. New ones open each day. There is definitely no shortage of evacuees. There is definitely much that can be done.
Many folks may be reluctant to leave Louisiana. People here are very committed to this state, and especially the New Orleans area. The Cajun culture is very tight. Many in the worst hit areas (St. Bernard Parish and lower Jefferson Parish) are Cajuns and Creoles and very few will leave LA.
I am believing huge things from a huge God. Our church attendance this morning was about 25% larger than normal. Worship was deep and very tearful for most. Our interim pastor lost everything -- he is a professor at the seminary in New Orleans. The families I am hosting went into the suburbs today to check their houses. They took pictures of the mess. It is bad. They saw dead bodies floating in the water.
Steve Wallace writes:
quote:
Here's a little tidbit that indicates the level of humane, moral and spiritual health that is beginning to rise in this situation. Yesterday during an open share time, one of our elders -- a man whose company is a major international construction/development firm -- shared that many of the emergency commercial real estate space needs were being addressed in an astonishing way. Baton Rouge-area businesses are opening their offices so that their New Orleans competitors have space to operate and stay in business. "Bring your people in here. We'll make space, so you can make a living." Law firms. Accounting firms. Developers. Medical professionals. Amazing.
Ben Messner reports from Gainesville:
quote:
“Janeen and I spent three days last week ministering to the refugees who came to Atlanta. It’s clear to us that God has called us to this ministry. We arrive in Baton Rouge this afternoon and will get right to work.”
Please pray for these people as they lead our ministry efforts on the ground in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
For His Glory,
Seth
For more info on ways to help with Katrina relief efforts, go to www.Adventures.org.
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Posts: 3465 | Registered: Nov 2003
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Robby
Advanced Member
Member # 448
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posted
Billy Graham on disaster: Evil is mystery
Evangelist says 'someday we will understand, but not now'
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Posted: September 3, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
The following is a statement from evangelist Billy Graham on Hurricane Katrina.
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
WND: Billy Graham
The disaster of Hurricane Katrina may be the worst tragedy America has known since the Civil War. The aftermath has almost been frightening. Mayhem, looting, shooting, and raping on one hand - compassion on the other.
Millions of Americans, and millions of people in many countries abroad, want to help. The tragedy is so overwhelming that it is beyond comprehension. Yet it presents a challenge. With the aid of modern technology it is possible to turn the tragedy into a blessing.
I pray especially for the hundreds of thousands who have become refugees because of what has happened. The flood of refugees may be one of the greatest challenges our society has ever faced. It is clear that it will take years for thousands of lives to return to normal.
Once again, Americans are showing that they are the most compassionate people in the world. Scores of organizations and thousands of churches and individuals are involved in opening their arms of love and compassion to these refugees. It may be the greatest opportunity to demonstrate God's love in this generation.
"Whenever any disaster like this strikes, we often ask ourselves why. Why did God let this happen? I have been asked that question hundreds of times, and I have to confess that I do not know the full answer. I can recall walking through the aftermath of hurricanes in Florida and South Carolina, and a typhoon in India that killed tens of thousands, and earthquakes in California and Guatemala, and every time I have asked "Why?"
Job in the Bible asked the same question thousands of years ago, and his only answer was that God's ways are often beyond our understanding, and yet He is sovereign and He can still be trusted. The Bible says evil is a mystery. Someday we will understand, but not now.
I do know this, however: God knows what we are going through, and He still loves us and cares about us. In the midst of suffering and tragedy we can turn to Him for the comfort and help we need. Times like this will make us react in one of two ways: Either we will become bitter and angry – or we will realize our need of God and turn to Him in faith and trust, even if we don't understand.
The Bible says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3). The Bible also promises, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you" (Isaiah 43:2,4). May this tragedy make each of us realize our need of God, and may we turn to Christ in repentance and faith and find our hope in Him.
Across America this weekend, not a minute will go by without millions praying for those impacted by the hurricane - the loss of loved ones, homes, jobs. Our hearts go out to you, and the message we would like to get through to you is that we care, and that we are helping in every way we can.
Posts: 364 | Registered: Sep 2002
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SoftTouch
Advanced Member
Member # 2316
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posted
Here is a way we can help. Adventures In Missions (AIM) is a Credible Christian Organization which Son of David (my previous Congregation) worked with a couple of time in the past couple of years. Our young people went on a Missions trip to New Orleans two years ago. Here is an Email I received from an ex-director of AIM sharing his correspondence with a Brother in Christ and at the end it gives a link where we can donate to Help the Victims though their organization as the Lord’s Holy Spirit leads.
The following email exchange took place last night between Steve Wallace, a pastor in Baton Rouge, LA, and Seth Barnes, Ex. Director of Adventures In Missions (AIM). We will keep you updated from the field with daily updates.
> Steve,
>
> How did you guys fare in Katrina's wake?
> If you look at AIM's web site, you can see that we're mobilizing help.
>
> Let me know if you see any ways that we can respond.
>
> seth
Steve writes:
Thanks so much. For us personally, damage to personal property was minimal, and everyone -- friends and family -- are all right. Stunning, though, the impact on the entire region.
Carole, Becky (Drew's girlfriend), Drew and I spent the day serving through the local Red Cross and needs are so widespread, volunteers are almost overwhelmed.
Churches have been wonderful, and local communities have exceeded expectations, but the needs are all-consuming.
Drew and I drove a couple of folks from a suburb community center evacuation site to the downtown bus station only to find the bus station closed due to loss of power. We ultimately found distant relatives for each of them to stay with in the downtown area. Not home, but close enough to cause both to collapse from the sheer sense of emotional, mental exhaustion. Breaks your heart.
They had both been in the Superdome (yes, many have gotten out by other means), and their stories were gut-wrenching -- murder, rape, thievery, exploitation and hording of food and medical supplies. It has been awful.
What is there to do? We try to consider what we do when a family is burned out of their homes but lives to talk about it. There are over a million and a half people in the region that face that possibility. People are offering homes and jobs -- folks who've likely never had 'surprise' guests are turning over spare bed rooms to strangers, feeding them, clothing them, providing transportation.
And, yet, beyond the obvious -- shelter, food and water, medical care, and some means of providing for themselves, the dear people we have spent the week with have these needs and more. They need the chance to call relatives and simply tell someone they are okay -- literally dozens of people used our cell phones, for the very first time having the chance to tell family they had survived and were in the Baton Rouge area. No one knew. The region was terribly ill-prepared for this.
Also, all need pastoral care and the chance to tell their own stories. You know this firsthand, dozens of times over, from having witnessed the same phenomena over the years. Victims need prayer, a loving hand, a touch, someone to listen to them for an hour or more -- they just need love. Seth, we didn't want to leave them. We didn't want to leave.
Babies separated from parents. Couples separated from each other. Family members saved but relocated to multiple shelter sites, many times in separate cities, and often with no means of communication. It's awful. Moms who struggled to save young kids only to have them slip away from rooftops (the media is being kind not to show footage that we now know they have on hand). You almost can't bear to listen, but they need to talk it all through.
Trouble is, you know how difficult it is for many volunteers to do that. They lend help sorting donated clothing -- and there are tons of donations, serving meals, icing down bottles and bottles of water, unloading trucks and so on, but hundreds of evacuees lay just beyond the supply areas of community centers, church gyms, warehouses and civic centers. They are in dire need of the personal. Not one person turned down the chance to pray -- many quoting Scripture and sharing their regrets for the actions of fellow citizens. They cried, and cried, and cried. Some said for the first time. Unbelievable.
This work will probably go on for a long, long time. Fortunately for us, the area Red Cross coordinator for two neighboring parishes (counties) is a member of our church. I say fortunately because he is able to focus our efforts where the needs are the greatest, and is able to do so daily.
Evacuees will be scattered across Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama (maybe more states, who knows). They are vocal, many wondering if they'll be able to go back. Others asking why they should -- lost spouses, kids, businesses, homes and cars. Brother, according to the survivors, when the flood waters recede, thousands and thousands of bodies will surface.
Again, it will be awful.
This is going to take months of hard work, love and service. No amount of help would go unappreciated. You'd be so proud of the students whose mission trip experience and volunteer spirit allows them a "take care of the needs, and work 'til you drop, I don't care if I'm tired and missed lunch" attitude.
Thanks so much for your prayers, your heart, your training and the clarity of your focus. More than a few local folks are serving with AIM hearts, let me tell you.
Maybe, at some point down the road, God will have provided a troubled region with a greater sense of His desires for us, more than a few newly-integrated churches, and the determination to build our communities differently. We pray.
Click Here http://www.adventures.org/a/katrina_relief/ to Discover ways You can Help!
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Posts: 3465 | Registered: Nov 2003
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