OK&TX Disaster Response

SAVE THE DATES!!  Fun for the whole family! Food, great information, some giveaways! Free Disaster Response Workshop Friday and Saturday, Apr 17-18, 2015, Bethel PCA, 17990 Midway Rd, Dallas, TX 75287. Topics to be covered:

• Equipping your church to respond to disasters
• HAM radio and social media during disasters
• Preparing your family for disasters
• Building Sheds of Hope
• Assembling your 72 hr family kit
• Introduction to CERT
• Teaching children to prepare for disasters through interactive activities
• Responding to disasters

REGISTER NOW!! Click here to register for the free BBQ dinner and presentations. Child care upon request.

Contact Rick Lenz at rlenz@pcanet.org or 817-690-8107 for more information

MNA Disaster Response is conducting a special Care and Comfort training event at Grace PCA, Dalton, GA, on Oct 17, 2014. It is intended for all who are called to serve Christ through mercy ministry (that’s all of us!).  This one-day event will provide training on how to best compassionately and appropriately share the love and hope of Jesus Christ in a tempest-tossed world. Go to http://www.pcamna.org and click on Disaster Response to learn how you can be part of this great opportunity!

We are building a national MNA disaster response warehouse in Dalton, GA, for pre-positioning equipment and supplies, training and housing volunteers, and generally building our capability to respond.  We can start the building but need your help to complete the structure and outfit it with equipment, shelving, furniture, etc.  Go to the MNA Disaster Response website at http://www.pcamna.org to donate. Do it today!

We’re still building Sheds of Hope in Moore, OK until the end of August 2014. Currently we have about 180 sheds built. Help us get to 200 sheds built for tornado victims and for God’s glory.

We are still working in the Moore/OKC area building Sheds of Hope. We have built over 170 sheds and have at least 7 partially built sheds in N TX!  We will be building through August 2014 when we transition to follow up with shed recipients. VOLUNTEER today to help build sheds!!  We would really like to train church teams how to build the sheds and get a commitment from them to build a couple sheds within the first week following a disaster. If we can do that, we could have sheds on the ground when the sheds are most urgently needed. Interested?  Contact me today!

Several devastating tornadoes hit OK including an EF-5 tornado in Moore in May.  Over 5,000 homes were destroyed as well as schools, a hospital, and many businesses. The PCA churches in OK and the RUF Campus Ministers are leading the response effort. Together with MNA, they have hired a coordinator and are looking for places to house volunteers.  In addition to debris cleanup and counseling, they will be offering Sheds of Hope to those affected to store whatever they were able to salvage or accumulate since the disaster.  Check it out on Facebook at Sheds of Hope – Oklahoma Tornado Relief or at http://www.shedsofhope.com How can you help? Pray, give, go!  Pray for God’s hand in the response. Donate cash and volunteer at http://www.pcamna.org. Please no non-cash donations unless specifically requested.

I was in Granbury on 16-17 May assessing the situation following the devastating tornado, checking with N TX PCA churches on any members/regular attendees who live in that area. We didn’t have any who had any damage. On 18 and 20-21 May, I ran the Assistance Center on behalf of the TX Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) at the Church of Christ together with the Red Cross rep. The PCA is a member of the National VOAD as well as a member in a number of states. Those affected by the tornadoes could come to the Center to get city permits to get into the area, get temporary financial assistance, food, and other services from many VOAD and local agencies. Granbury was very well organized compared to many other communities. The 48 member Ministerial Alliance has been very active and is taking the lead on meeting unmet needs. Mission Granbury and the Christian Service Center have had on going programs to assist people. Hood County and Granbury are developing a Long-Term Recovery Committee (LTRC) to determine unmet needs and there have been thousands of volunteers helping..  There may be some opportunities there to volunteer in the LTRC. Grace Community PCA sent a team to work cleaning up debris one day and I’m encouraging other churches to do likewise. If someone is interested I can plug them into where ever the volunteer center is currently located. Habitat had built 60 homes, 57 of which sustained damage some total destruction so they are taking the lead to rebuild so that might also be a place where a PCA team could go.