Review of disaster responses in 2008

enlarge>>

Written: 12/16/2008 3:23:14 PM

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the church’s humanitarian aid organization, has led the way to respond to disasters worldwide, and Central Texas Conference congregations lived out UMCOR’s goals at a local level.

During two conference-wide collections, our congregations collected and delivered over 450 flood buckets and bulk cleanup supplies to UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, La., with more to be delivered before the end of the year. These will replenish the low supplies at the Sager Brown Depot and will be distributed to communities in need.

In addition to collecting materials, conference churches also collected almost $18,000 in financial resources for relief supplies.

Conference churches also sent 350 flood buckets to be directly distributed in San Leon, Tex., a small community near Galveston that was devastated by Hurricane Ike. One community leader reported in mid-October that out of 1,800 homes in the community, approximately 1,500 were uninhabitable.

Many of our congregations served as shelters for evacuees fleeing the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Our members served as volunteers for the Red Cross and other relief agencies. And members of the Conference Spiritual Care Team for disaster response visited with shelter residents as they struggled to make sense of their loss.

As communities were opened for volunteers to assist with cleanup and rebuilding efforts, two conference-wide mission teams went out to serve families that could not rebuild their homes alone.

The first team made the two-day drive to Morning Sun, Iowa, where they completed demolition work and installed insulation and sheet rock at a home heavily damaged by flooding in the spring.

“There is a resiliency and a faith [in Morning Sun] that you feel can overcome any natural disaster that comes their way,” says team leader Susan Luttrell. “But that is not to take away from the obvious great need of help that needed in this region. It was difficult to leave knowing that already many parts of the country had forgotten what the Midwest was going through and still is.”

A second group headed to Port Arthur, Tex., to serve as an Early Response Team, helping with cleanup efforts after Hurricane Ike. The team, led by Rev. Laraine Waughtal, CTC Disaster Response coordinator, assisted with home demolition at four homes in Orange, Tex.

At the end of an intense week, the group celebrated Holy Communion together with two homeowners. Rev. Waughtal comments that it was fitting that they used a toolbox as an altar, the only item available to serve that purpose at the time — a symbol of the hope that the team witnessed transforming the neighborhoods as they made strides in their recovery and a representation of the most important “tool” we need, Christ.

Another conference-wide team delivered flood buckets to and served for one week at the Sager Brown Depot, assembling and verifying relief supplies sent by churches from across the United States. Volunteers also boxed the supplies and prepared them for shipment to many locations across the globe where UMCOR provides for those left most vulnerable by disasters.

For more information about opportunities to participate in disaster response with fellow United Methodists in the Central Texas Conference, please visit www.ctcumc.org/disaster.

Comments

There are no comments
be the first to post one...

view discussions throughout the site