Help us help them.

Why help this ministry?

   We believe God appoints calamities – like earthquakes and hurricanes and floods – for His ultimate glory and our ultimate good. In response to these demonstrations of His sovereign providence, our church strives to keep that in mind. We take a long view of the disasters that have occurred in the Gulf states, in Pakistan, in Sri Lanka, in California, in Jamaica, and other places. We are deliberately trying to emulate Christlike love (the kind that impoverishes itself for strangers and for fellow believers).

   We are attempting to rebuild the external, visible lives of these people. But, preeminently, we are seeking to minister to their souls. While we recognize the immediate crisis and want to help, we also see a dire need for a plan to consider the longterm ramifications and realities. We are preparing ourselves for a long haul ministry of meeting not just felt needs but continuing and deeper needs. It may be months before these folks are able to call any place "home" again, months before they are able to land jobs and find some stability. They are destitute. Cots and water and bandages and rebuilding supplies are helpful now, and we want to factor in ongoing vital needs, as well.

   Our theology teaches us that God did not merely "permit" these apparent catastrophes; He appointed them. His ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and our thoughts. We do not claim to know all the possible purposes He may have in bringing this natural calamity (America's worst in over a century), but we know that He does have purposes for His glory and our good. We trust His sovereign goodness and greatness, and we seek to trust and obey Him with what we have.