Saturday morning...
I thought of starting this off telling you about the weather conditions but since they haven't changed in days (rain with intermittent glimpses of the sun) I decided to leave that out.
Plans are formulating for our culto unido- all of our churches (or at least delegations from each church) will worship together in La Joya. I am hopeful that it will make a positive impact for the ministry of our church there as well as be a blessing for us to be together after such a tragedy. Rather than cook for 700 people, we were able to negotiate a good price to buy the food already made. That relieves an enormous amount of stress and will permit us to focus on our reason for being together- to worship God and to share His love with a hurting community. As you worship tomorrow, pray for our Baptist family that will gather together- (9:30am ET).
Things in Santiago are in recovery mode. As you can probably imagine, the process isn't always fair- some people get lots of help and some none. People who didn't even have effects from the storm manage to jump in and take some of the relief aid. The thieves have been busy- during the hours before the storm, when people were heeding warnings to evacuate, the thieves were heading in to rob people and stores. It is a mess in every way.
One of our pastors wrote a brief message, We still celebrate Christmas, dealing with how to truly celebrate this amazing historical event despite living through difficult days. It is being printed and will begin to be distributed next week. It is an important message- pray for receptive hearts.
One additional little comment: I shared with you about the relief funds of the SBC. I should have reminded you that 100% of money given to that fund goes directly to either hunger and/or disaster relief. (I think you can decide which.) Administrative costs are handled from other budgets. I think that if some big disaster arises, like the sunami, etc. you can designate the funds you give to go to a certain disaster or relief project. In my particular case, I don't think you need to do that. I have had all the financial support I need. The beauty of the cooperative spirit- working together, pooling our resources, trusting our leaders to administer it in a just and appropriate way, we have funds available for each emergency that arises. So, once again, thanks for your support as SBC churches, and keep on the faithful giving!
A word of congratulations to Mill Creek in Fincastle, VA- their children led the church to raise over $1000 for the world hunger offering last October. Now you know a particular ministry that was helped by those gifts!!
Plans are formulating for our culto unido- all of our churches (or at least delegations from each church) will worship together in La Joya. I am hopeful that it will make a positive impact for the ministry of our church there as well as be a blessing for us to be together after such a tragedy. Rather than cook for 700 people, we were able to negotiate a good price to buy the food already made. That relieves an enormous amount of stress and will permit us to focus on our reason for being together- to worship God and to share His love with a hurting community. As you worship tomorrow, pray for our Baptist family that will gather together- (9:30am ET).
Things in Santiago are in recovery mode. As you can probably imagine, the process isn't always fair- some people get lots of help and some none. People who didn't even have effects from the storm manage to jump in and take some of the relief aid. The thieves have been busy- during the hours before the storm, when people were heeding warnings to evacuate, the thieves were heading in to rob people and stores. It is a mess in every way.
One of our pastors wrote a brief message, We still celebrate Christmas, dealing with how to truly celebrate this amazing historical event despite living through difficult days. It is being printed and will begin to be distributed next week. It is an important message- pray for receptive hearts.
One additional little comment: I shared with you about the relief funds of the SBC. I should have reminded you that 100% of money given to that fund goes directly to either hunger and/or disaster relief. (I think you can decide which.) Administrative costs are handled from other budgets. I think that if some big disaster arises, like the sunami, etc. you can designate the funds you give to go to a certain disaster or relief project. In my particular case, I don't think you need to do that. I have had all the financial support I need. The beauty of the cooperative spirit- working together, pooling our resources, trusting our leaders to administer it in a just and appropriate way, we have funds available for each emergency that arises. So, once again, thanks for your support as SBC churches, and keep on the faithful giving!
A word of congratulations to Mill Creek in Fincastle, VA- their children led the church to raise over $1000 for the world hunger offering last October. Now you know a particular ministry that was helped by those gifts!!
