Photo: Barry Carlin Dear children,
Thank you for your prayers and for gifts you sent to help the families who lived through the hurricanes of 2005. Do you remember their names? Katrina, Rita and Wilma. They damaged homes and towns all around the Gulf Coast of the United States. Hurricane Katrina was the largest hurricane ever in the United States.
A great deal has been done to repair the damage caused by those storms, but a lot more still needs to be done … and paid for. Some people whose houses were damaged are back in their homes. Many others, especially in New Orleans, are still waiting to see if they will be able to rebuild. Many people were very generous and sent a lot of money to help with the rebuilding, but even more money is needed.
Thousands and thousands of volunteers from all over the country and all around the world have come to the Gulf to help families who lost their homes and belongings. Maybe your parents were among them. If so, I’m sure they have told you about the long hours of work and the good feeling they had at the end of the day.
Some churches in Louisiana and Mississippi are helping by giving relief workers a place to stay. It is a little strange to see sleeping bags and pillows piled up in the Sunday school rooms and fellowship hall. Can you imagine sharing your Sunday school room with a volunteer work team?
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has set up five Presbyterian Volunteer Villages in Mississippi and Louisiana for some of the work teams. Staying in a village is like camping with lots of people! The villages have places to sleep, toilets, showers and kitchens. There is one BIG tent, like a circus tent, where the teams get together each night to worship and talk about what they did that day.
When we baptize a baby, we make a promise to help that baby grow up in the church and learn to love Jesus. That is why we have Sunday school, and why we have adults in the church who love us so very much. When the hurricanes hit, we Presbyterians made a promise to the people who survived, that we would come and help them for at least six years. We need to keep that promise. We believe everyone should be able to go home after the storm.
Remember: when you put your dimes and quarters in the fish bank for the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, you’re helping the church keep its promise.
Grace and peace,
Mr. John
The Rev. John A. Robinson, Jr. is the Associate for National Disaster Response of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance program.
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