Hurricane Katrina Updates
Last Updated on Tuesday, September 27, 2005
From Ron Haynes, Director of the PCA-MNA Disaster Relief Efforts:
Katrina
Relief Update – Monday October 17
Additional
volunteers are needed: If you have construction and other specific skills, please join the relief effort; a detailed list is
presented below – please review to see if your skill is listed! Also, as
a part of church sponsorship, please consider assisting the affected churches
with their benevolent giving. Thank you for your generous contributions,
labors and prayers. Jim Bland, MNA Coordinator
Call
for volunteer [re]building skills: all roofers, general contractors, anyone with construction
skills and/or background, medical or other professional skills - your skills
can be put to good use right away. Many families in the Gulf region are
seeking help in repairing and rebuilding their homes.
We need
folks to: Address medical needs, both doctors and nurses; Share the Gospel and
pray with people - you don't have to be EE trained - a visitation approach will
be used; Chainsaw trees and clear debris – we are slowly moving out of this
phase but there is still work to do; Mud out houses; Pull up carpet; Tear down
drywall; Replace sub floors/wall studs/drywall; Roofing; Serve as general
contractors; General construction – any skills related to construction.
You may
sign up as an individual or you may form a team and sign up the team to
come. MNA does not charge any fees to volunteer team participants.
Expenses for each individual or team will vary according to the work site in
which they are serving.
· You may register as an individual on
the web site. We will then add you to a team. PCA Relief
· If you are putting a team together,
you may register your team on the web site. PCA Relief
It will greatly help our management of telephone calls if you are
willing to register and then let us call you back. If you must begin with
a phone call, you may reach MNA Disaster Response at 636-299-1424 or
636-299-1422.
Celebration
of what God has Done (this is only a partial list, of
course!):
At
First Presbyterian Church in
FEMA
established a medical unit in the church to serve the crews and the
community. In addition, each day multiple work crews are mobilized to
complete work orders in the community, which include debris-cleaning and
chainsaw work. Over 1200 volunteers have served in
All in
all, up to 350 volunteers have worked each day in various staging areas.
General areas served thus far are listed below. Work is completed in a
few of these areas.
In
Prentiss
Braxton
Picayune
Ocean Springs
Saucier
In
You
will notice that
In
addition, drivers have taken truckloads of supplies from Jackson into
communities in need; and in Brandon, MS, disaster headquarters is operating
with a task force of anywhere from 6 - 10 volunteers.
As we
move from the cleanup phase to repairs, rebuilding and personal ministry, may
God richly bless all those being served, as well as His servants.
Hurricane
Rita: We praise God that our families in
Please consider participating in our
Hurricane Recovery Church Sponsorship (also
referred to as adopting or partnering with a church): Six PCA churches and ministries in
the Katrina damage area thus far have been identified as needing outside
support in order to continue even their minimum ministry programs, and in order
to maintain full support of their pastor and other critical staff. They
face these challenges due to a combination of storm damage to their buildings
and loss of income through members moving or losing their jobs. As
damage assessments continue, the losses to most of these churches are proving
to be even greater than we thought initially. Please consider taking on
the support of missionaries, campus ministers and other benevolent support to
which these churches are committed; this will provide ministry both to these
churches in reducing their financial obligations, and will also ensure those
who were under their support will not fall short. MNA has a list of
these churches and will keep the list updated as to needs and support committed
for each. For the list of the churches and further details of
sponsorship, please email:
MNAChurchRecoverySponsorship@pcanet.org.
Your email
must include your name, the name of the church in whose behalf you are
inquiring, and your position as a member or officer of your church. Out
of a desire to protect these churches from potentially problematic contacts,
MNA will not send this information to parties whom we cannot identify as
credible inquiries. Our hope is that these sponsorships will supply
additional financial support to these churches, so that the relief funds may be
used primarily to address the needs of families affected by the disaster.
PCA
Chaplains have
been assigned ministry with the troops in Katrina disaster response. For
reports from the field, go to: Chaplains Involved in Hurricane Katrina Response.
Housing: You may still register if you need housing, or know
of someone in need, at PCA Relief. We are continuing the housing
effort, but evacuees are now relocated in many cities across our
nation. Please check with your community agencies to see if you might
address this need in your local neighborhood.
Supplies: Our distribution center in
Other
ways to volunteer: If you
wish to volunteer but need to stay close to home, check with your local
agencies about needs in your community. Evacuees are now being relocated
in significant numbers even to cities outside of the Southeast. There may
be relief needs in your community that you can address.
Financial
Donations:
As of October 14, over $2.7 million has been given for Katrina relief and
almost $500,000 additional giving for hurricane relief (Katrina or Rita)
through MNA. MNA does not take administrative or general fund support
from the gifts; the moneys are used for PCA family and church needs, and a small portion for the expenses of relief
operations. Checks should be made to MNA, designated for Hurricane
Relief. Please mail checks to MNA,
Use a PCA Foundation Advise and Consult Fund for your
giving to hurricane relief.