EFCA UPDATE SPECIAL BROADCAST

 

Hurricane Relief – EFCA churches impacted

September 17, 2008

Hurricane Ike has seriously impacted EFCA churches and members in the Houston/Galveston area. EFCA Crisis Response is seeing “Katrina-like” need for funds to help the local churches through recovery and to support them in outreach to their communities. The most immediate needs are for financial donations and volunteer teams. Hurricane Ike also caused additional damage to the area in Louisiana hit by Hurricane Gustav where Crisis Response has been working in the last few weeks. The amount of Hurricane Ike damage is massive. To read a full summary of EFCA churches impacted, go to the Hurricane Relief page on the EFCA Web site.

Mark Lewis, EFCA Crisis Response director was able to assess damage in the Galveston region. He shares the following:

There are large piles of debris left by receding waters. Boats are washed up on roadways. Homes and businesses are in ruins. We found Galveston Bible Church, and church members starting the grueling cleanout process. They were hauling out water soaked chairs. Other guys were trying to get the sheen of mud and standing water off of the hardwood floors. The sanctuary had 2 feet of standing water. The nursery and Sunday school rooms had 4 feet of standing water.

The ongoing stress in the broader region from being out of power is showing. We met with an EFCA pastor of a church plant. He was visibly distraught from the stress of evacuating and the stress of desperate phone calls from congregants living without power and water—literally trying to survive. The pastor said he had no idea what to do or what the future held. He spent all the funds he had personally to help people and evacuate his family. The meager church plant account has been emptied trying to meet needs in the church body and community. The pastor has no idea if his church will survive this crisis. Yet he shares, "We feel so blessed to be a part of the denomination. You (Crisis Response) and you’re team are an incredible asset to God’s Church. The people of Gulfbay EFC are overwhelmed by the generosity of the EFCA and the compassion of the Crisis Response team."

To learn more about the situation in the Galveston area and the work that Crisis Response is doing, read the EFCA Crisis Response blog.

Crisis Response is making plans to mobilize teams and resources to support the new needs in Texas and Houma, LA, as well as the ongoing needs in New Orleans. People and organizations in Houma are afraid they will be forgotten as some relief agencies have moved on to Houston. Feeding stations are being shut down and resources are being diverted. Crisis Response is committed to their work in Houma, Galveston and New Orleans, and will continue to provide relief and share the love of Christ to these people in need.

If you are interested in organizing a volunteer team, review the information on the Hurricane Relief Web page.
If you are willing to serve immediately, email hurricanerelief@efca.org.
To review a list of needed supplies, read the EFCA Crisis Response blog.

Prayer requests:

• Pray that ministry workers would encourage and serve the local church pastors and their congregations.
• Pray for effective planning and mobilizing of available resources for healing, restoration and maximum ministry impact.
• Ask God to raise up the workers to minister the gospel to the many in need.
• Pray for the provision of supplies and finances to meet the immediate needs of these EFCA churches and their communities.
• Pray that the body of Christ would respond to Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Gustav, while staying committed to the restoration of post-Katrina New Orleans.

To support the work of EFCA Crisis Response with a financial donation, give a gift online or send donations to:

EFCA

Hurricane Relief Fund

901 E. 78th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55420

*Please indicate on your check: Hurricane Relief 21709-3969

There are so many people with the need to have the love of Christ expressed to them in very tangible ways. Pray that God would burden people's hearts to give and to serve!