Urgent Need for Work Teams
Heritage Baptist Church, Houma, Louisiana
Hurricane Ida carved a devastating swath through Louisiana. Recently, Tropical Storm Nicholas flooded the area again. Amid it all, several Gospel-preaching churches are asking for our help. Would you be willing to put together a work team of 3-4 people to help those ravaged by the recent storms?
Those who were in the path of Hurricane Ida tell us that the devastation is worse than that caused by Hurricane Katrina. That storm (2005) affected a much larger area. But Ida was more powerful, in some ways rivaling Hurricane Camille (1969). I have had the opportunity to talk to several pastors in the disaster field. They are still without power, and that may not be restored for weeks. The strong wind damage uprooted trees, and the tree roots ripped up electrical and water lines. So, the pastors are begging for work teams to help them share the Gospel, distribute relief supplies, and do demolition work, construction work and roofing. Would you be willing to send a work team of 3-4 people to help these struggling believers?
After Hurricane Katrina, Operation Renewed Hope prepared a Disaster Relief Manual for projects such as this. You can download a free copy of that manual by clicking here. This thorough manual will answer most of your questions about what you will face in a disaster field. It will give you step by step instructions as to how to proceed with a work/mission trip into the region.
To better understand the Biblical rationale behind these disaster relief efforts, please click The Biblical Approach to Disaster Relief.
Can you help? If you would like to volunteer or get more information about how to help, please contact Dr. Jan Milton at Operation Renewed Hope, or 910.987.5072. Any helpers you could send to these pastors – even for a few days – would be greatly appreciated. One of the reasons we love to help ORH is that they keep the Gospel foremost in their thinking. This is not merely relief help, this is a Gospel-giving opportunity.
In some churches, cases of relief supplies are already onsite, but the church needs helpers to distribute these supplies. In other churches, they need those who could share the Gospel with the devastated people around them. And if you have skills in construction or roofing, your skills would mean the world to these hurting people.
Gordon Dickson is the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, OH.