Ministries' Response to Hurricane Victims Lauded; Prayer Asked for Worn-Out Volunteers
by Ed Thomas and Allie Martin
September 23, 2005
(AgapePress) - American churches are receiving praise for their quick and compassionate response to the needs of Hurricane Katrina victims. Some of that recognition is coming from the president of an organization based in Houston, Texas, that has provided emergency relief around the world. Dr. Doug Stringer says 15,000 people came through his Somebody Cares America offices in Houston during the first few days following Katrina. But he says churches across several states stepped in to meet the overwhelming need by working together. "So we've been able to mobilize many churches [and] various denominations, not just here but in San Antonio, Dallas, Beaumont, as well as helping our friends over in Picayune, Slidell, Waveland, and New Orleans," Stringer shares.
And even this man who saw the response from Houston churches for Indonesian tsunami victims -- some $200,000 in relief supplies sent to help -- admits he was impressed with the giving spirit of American Christians, and Americans in general. He says he was touched "just to see the body of Christ rising to an occasion of being the immediate rapid responders of crisis relief, because they're the tangible, hands-on people of the community."
He adds that "it was just really impressive to see how the church community and the community at large really are a very benevolent people."
Somebody Cares America combined with churches and groups in Houston to send the aid to tsunami victims last winter. Now many Indonesians in the Houston area are volunteering to help Katrina evacuees who have been living in shelters.
And Here Comes Rita...
A Missouri-based ministry that has provided relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina is preparing to help those in Hurricane Rita's path. For the past three weeks, Convoy of Hope has delivered more than 330 tractor-trailer loads of ice, water, food, and other necessities to hurricane victims.
Now, while the ministry prepares for the clean-up phase of its efforts, it is also preparing for Hurricane Rita, the massive storm set to make landfall along the Texas coastline late Friday or early Saturday. Jeff Nene, director of media relations for Convoy of Hope, shares his organization's approach to dealing with such a storm as Rita.
"We tell people we do two things in a case like this," he says. "We pray that it won't happen -- that God will somehow calm the storm. And then we plan like it's going to hit full force."
Toward that end, he says Convoy of Hope is currently working with local churches, trying to set up several "what-if" scenarios. "What if it hits in Corpus Christi; what if it hits in Galveston. What if Houston gets hit with flooding really badly."
Nene says prayer is needed for relief workers and volunteers, many of whom are already overworked and under tremendous amounts of stress.
"The guys that are down there for two and three weeks at a time -- it's not the physical toll as much as the emotional toll," he explains. "You're living in conditions that are very rough, and you're just giving of yourself all day long. And there comes a time when, unless you can get your batteries recharged, you don't have anything else to give."
Nene says Convoy of Hope has tons of supplies in a warehouse just west of New Orleans, ready to be shipped after Rita makes landfall.
Ed Thomas and Allie Martin, regular contributors to AgapePress, are reporters for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
