Reminder of the long lasting effects of Katrina

Please don't forget those in Mississippi, as well as elsewhere, that were trememdously affected by Hurricane Katrina. As the hype goes down and something else becomes more news worthy, remember that there are three stages of relief effort. The first was the emergency stage where it was made sure that people were safe and physically cared for. The second is the relief stage where relief and clean-up begins. The final stage is the recovery stage in which things are being put back together to make a sense of normalacy. For Katrina, it's been said that this process will last about four years. And that's only if another hurricane doesn't hit the same area within this time frame.

UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) has a reputation for responding to disasters first and staying there the longest. And I can say that they have certainly done a wonderful job here in Mississippi. This is because we United Methodists are UMCOR. We are the ones responding to the need. And the reason for this post is to simply remind all that the hurting is still there...and will be there for quite a while.

My district superintendent shared some information with us the other night. He told us that hundreds of thousands of health kits and flood buckets would be needed over the next year. He told us that we had to keep volunteering. He told us of the millions of dollars of uninsured flood damage to churches and parsonages alone. He told us of the insurmountable amount of deductibles that would have to be paid on our churches and parsonages. And he told us that if the disaster would have hit us, these brothers and sisters down in the southern part of our state would be doing everything they could to care for us. And I believe him too. We're all brothers and sisters in Christ. Lets not forget those who need us most now.

In the love of Christ,
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