Water, Water Everywhere

Water, water everywhere.

From the Midwest flooding to Hanna to Gustav to Ike, our country has been buffeted by the forces of nature this Spring and Summer. In good old fashioned Christian Methodist tradition our people in Mississippi have responded with generosity with almost $19,000 in cash aid and with hundreds of flood buckets and emergency kits.

Additional flood buckets are beginning to be stored within the state to help with internal and neighboring conferences needs. Contact Brenda Hiatt at 601-917-7094; bhiatt@comcast.net if your church has flood buckets or kits to contribute.

In terms of volunteers many have already inquired about the need for folks and I think at this time I may want to quote our State Disaster Coordinator CJ Caulfield “ Patience! In the immediate aftermath of disasters, our inclination to provide assistance can sometimes become a piece of frustration as we look for avenues of ministry. We work diligently with the locally impacted community to provide to them what they need rather than overwhelming them with potentially unneeded resources.” Once needs assessments have been conducted the affected coordinators will let us know and we will help pass the word around.

On the subject of storms more that 500 people have been reported dead and more than 650,000 have been affected in Haiti according to the food relief ministry Stop Hunger Now. This poorest of the poor island country has been hit by Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Fay and Tropical Storm Hanna. This organization is responding to Haiti’s crisis by providing much needed relief for the victims who are facing life threatening situations. It is feared more deaths could emerge since aid is trickling slowly into the country. Stop Hunger Now is working to send four shipments of life saving food and clothing valued at $1 million, but is asking for help in raising $28,000 to finance the costs of shipping these containers. This potential partner in ministry is asking for help in their ongoing work in disaster and hunger relief. See the following link to their web site We need your help today. Please click here.

The subject of hunger seems to keep popping up all over the place especially since the cost of food and its transportation component have gone up substantially in the last year. I would like to share with you the following link which presents the extremes to which people are forced to go to when they are so poor they cannot afford to pay for their food; the article details the real life situation of thousands of Haitians (even before the recent hurricanes) who purchase and eat dirt cookies, literally! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22902512/from/ET/ By means of comparison the weekly mix of groceries for a typical family and their cost varies according to the standards from country to country … $500 in Germany, $342 in the USA and $317 in Japan. If you would like to receive an eye opening e-mail which illustrates this point more clearly let me know and I will send it right away (it has a picture of the typical family, their groceries and their cost). Not as insidious, but just as real, it goes without saying that hunger also exists in our country and in our state.

More than ever … Pray, Give Do!!!

Jorge.