Oso Landslide relief efforts

[Haruo]

[William Thornton]

[Haruo]

Oso Community Chapel is in the news a lot the past week, but no mention has been made hereabouts of its denominational underpinnings. The Hallows Church, which meets at Fremont Baptist in the evenings, is also an SBC plant, but they are very quiet about it. (If you bring it up they basically say "that's just our source of funding", although it's clear they think our pastor is the wrong gender etc.) Thanks for pointing this out, William.

[Haruo]

I wonder if a town of 180 (half now dead) can support another, more progressive church start...

[Mrs Haruo]

There is too much pain, and too much unstable mud to plant anything right now. Only essential LOCAL emergency responders are allowed in the area. The Stillaguamish river is still in a very dangerous state. Cash donations are the most useful right now, but I would imagine in the aftermath, some day, some pretty homemade quilts will be a great comfort to those who have lost EVERYTHING.
What would you appreciate most if you had been slapped by a wall of mud and rocks and all you had were the clothes on your back, if that? When I thought my world had ended, and I was checking into a shelter, once I had made my bed and put what few belongings I had away in my drawer, the director came in and gave me a little cloth bag with some personal items that someone somewhere had put together -- a book to read, some nice smelling soap. Hand lotion that didn't smell like the hospital I had been in, a couple pens and pencils and paper to write a letter to my family to let them know where I was-- it told me that someone, somewhere, gave a **** about me when those I had trusted had taken advantage of me and then turned away. Look at those around you tonight and your comfortable surroundings and hold them close and thank God for what you have, and that you have a safe dry bed to sleep in. Life is too short to worry about whether the towels in the bathroom match the wall paper.

[EdnaMurphy]

All kinds of landslides occur in out lives. Sometimes they are a mountain caving in. Sometimes they are a flood. What kind of ongoing relief efforts does the Baptist church have for people who have lost everything and will have a hard time getting back to a normal life?
Edna

[Ed Pettibone]

[Sandy]

The various state conventions in the SBC have disaster relief ministries that include being able to provide hot meals for victims, shower trailers, tool trailers and equipment for volunteers to use in cleanup of property. They also have mobile facilities for doing laundry, important for salvaging clothing, and distribution of clothing, personal items, household goods and even furniture and bedding. When there is a disaster, the local churches and association in the area where it occurred coordinate the resources coming into the area, requisition the trailers and equipment, and organize the volunteers.

The SBC was involved, long term, in New Orleans and along the Mississippi gulf coast for Katrina, and in fact they are still doing renovation and restoration work there. Likewise, there are volunteers in continuous projects in New Jersey and New York following up from Hurricane Sandy. They've been at the landslide site since day one, and while that won't be as long term as some of the hurricane and tornado disasters where they've helped, there will be an organization in place as long as needed.

[Dave Roberts]

One of the things that I learned very quickly is that there are no denominational labels attached to disaster relief. Following Hurricane Isabell in 2003, our church, a fully CBF congregation, hosted a Mississippi Baptist feeding unit. Everybody in the unit was from almost ultra-conservative SBC churches in Mississippi. They, along with folks from our church, stirred pots, washed utensils, packaged food, and provided relief. We provided housing for them, and they worshipped with us. When the work was being done, nobody asked for your denominational credentials. They just wanted to know if you would help.

[Sandy]

[Mrs Haruo]

Many years ago I took a class from the Red Cross for training in operation of emergency shelters. Between earthquakes and brush fires, train derailments, toxic spills and an occasional riot, the area I lived in in Central California often needed workers when a neighborhood needed to be evacuated for one reason or another. The Red Cross has rules they follow for their shelters for the safety of all concerned. One that surprised me at first was that if someone wanted to donate home canned food, it was to be politely but firmly turned down. A gymnasium full of folks with food poisoning would be a miserable experience for all. Part of the training was about other agencies the Red Cross cooperates with both in this country and around the world. I was pleased to learn (being Mennonite Brethren) that the Mennonite Central Committee- the relief arm of several branches Anabaptist churches was often the first to be accepted by other countries - because they fly no national banners and are known by countries around the world as being politically neutral.

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: Here is another very effective Disaster Relief organization:

A Tradition of Humanitarianism

The Jewish people have a long history of humanitarian activity to aid both Jews and non-Jews during times of crisis. As Rabbi Hillel indicated when he posited, “If I am not for myself who am I? But if I am only for myself, what am I?” Jewish teachings point out the responsibility of Jews to help repair the world. International relief work enables Jews to put this principle into practice to help some of the most vulnerable people on the globe in their greatest time of need.

Over the past several years, the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief has been active in response to major crises in Sudan, Haiti, Japan, and the Horn of Africa.


SEE: http://www.jdc.org/jcdr/ This Site also has links to their several Member organizations .

And Another; How Islamic Relief is Helping http://www.irusa.org/countries/united-states/