On the day that Superstorm Sandy hit the east coast, one pastor of a Disciples congregation in Brooklyn threw a case of water in the back seat of his car and headed out to the worst hit zone nearby. That congregation is now adopting two schools for the long haul. Another partner congregation, within days had worked their connections and were bringing van loads of food and water and supplies to the hardest hit areas.
So much has happened in the news since “Superstorm Sandy” that the nation would almost have forgotten about it – except for the spotlight that Governor Christie of New Jersey brings to the Congressional wrangling over aid funding.
But the people who lived through Sandy won’t forget this storm ever. Some 11,000 are still without power. Three months later! Families are still in temporary housing. In Far Rockaway, New York, sewer lines which came up out of the water-saturated ground in the flooding, now rest on top of the ground and people use Port-o-Potties. It is still early in the recovery.
Disciples won’t forget either.
We were there right away through Week of Compassion solidarity grants to Disciples families and congregations impacted by the storm. And we were there right away through the heads up action of many of our pastors and congregations reaching out to their neighbors – as well as through the region helping to connect ministries and people. We were also there globally through our ecumenical partners Church World Service/ACT Alliance – as Sandy devastated Haiti and Cuba before coming on shore in the US and Canada.
We will be there for the long haul.
I just recently went to the Northeastern Region with Brandon Gilvin, Week of Compassion and Josh Baird, Disciples Volunteering (DHM). We were hosted by the Rev. Mary Anne Glover, regional minister, and several of the pastors and congregations in New York.
Brandon and Josh were doing the ground-work in order to set up mission stations. Those (probably 2) stations will host volunteers from the US and Canada who want to come help with the re-building- possibly starting next summer.
Yes, we’ll be there for the long haul.
On this trip, we took beautiful quilts from a congregation in Georgia to a school in Long Island. We met with pastors and church leaders to give encouragement and to learn about the networks already functioning on the ground. We experienced and we represented that as church “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it;” (I Cor 12:26) And we do something about it.
Thanking God today for heads up action of people in the moment of disaster, and for organized ministries like our regions, Week of Compassion and DHM’s Disciples Volunteering – as well as ecumenical partners – that help us stay there for the long haul. Thankful also for the on-going prayers and attention by Disciples across the US and Canada – lifting up our brothers and our sisters in Jesus name.
