| Kennya Durr email of 9/2: |
|
Dear Brothers & Sisters,
Our initial contacts of the congregations
listed by Bro. Lawson came up empty. All thirteen of those congregations
came up with "Line down - Hurricane", "All circuits busy" or a fast busy
signal. It wasn't until we expanded our search further north that we were
able to reach churches. The only church in the area we have been able to
reach directly that we know is both assisting with displaced residents and
coordinating relief efforts is the Goodwood Boulevard Church of Christ in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana (90 miles northwest of New Orleans). I spoke with
the secretary, Sharon Duhon, on the phone today about what they are doing,
she said that they have about 140 displaced people staying in the church
building. When I asked what assistance is most needed right now she stated
that we could send funds directly to that congregation. There are several
semi-trucks of supplies and aid that are expected to arrive there between
tomorrow and next weekend (from Churches of Christ). She said that
whatever they don't use they would forward to the other areas that needed
assistance. She also informed us that most locations in southern Louisiana
with an area code of 985 or 504 will be unreachable because of
infrastructure damage. Many of the congregations in New Orleans are
heavily damaged, especially the Church of Christ in Slidell, LA.
Apparently the South Baton Rouge Church of
Christ is also one of the larger congregations that is housing displaced
families and coordinating relief efforts in the area. But we have been
unable to contact the church by phone (Office# 225-927-4673). According to
their website (www.sbrcc.org) they are
currently helping evacuees. The White Ferry Road Church of Christ Relief
Ministries in West Monroe, LA is also coordinating on the north end of
Louisiana. They even have a map online showing the hurricane points of
contact by county and help locations (www.wfrchurch.org).
The Airline Drive church in Bossier City, LA and others redirected us to
the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort based in Nashville, TN. They
seem to be completely organized and mobile (like the Red Cross or FEMA)
and have lots of information available online (www.disasterreliefeffort.org).
So our immediate plans here at Colonial
Village will be to direct our members on Sunday to send funds directly to
the Goodwood Boulevard Church of Christ in Baton Rouge (www.goodwoodchurch.org)
or to the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort in Nashville. Their
contact info is as follows:
Goodwood Church of Christ 10715 Goodwood Boulevard
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70815
Phone: 225 272-8936
Churches of Christ Disaster Relief, Inc.
410 Allied Drive Nashville, TN 37211 Phone: 1-800-541-2841
With the level of damage many of these southern areas have received it is
certain that it will take quite some time before things are restored to a
somewhat normal state of being. There won't be any quick fix and they will
need our continued assistance and prayers during this time of transition.
Our short term plans right now is to just send all we can monetarily to
help out. But in the not too distant future we hope to send a semi-truck
of supplies from our community to the Goodwood congregation and
maybe other places that are coordinating efforts. One of our ministers
(Bro. Leroy Smith) is a licensed semi-truck driver and he is looking into
that possibility for us currently. And we are confident that community
around our church would be more than willing to support such an effort.
Perhaps other sister congregations in the Chicagoland area might be able
to follow that pattern and involve their surrounding communities with
contacts within their block clubs, PTAs, neighborhood businesses, etc.
I hope this information is useful, please pass it on to anyone you think
might be able to use it.
In His Service,
Kennya F. Durr
Church of Christ in Colonial Village
12814 S. Lowe Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60628-7402
Mobile: 630.202.7356
Residence: 773.468.2448
eFax: 312.896.1514
Church Office: 773.821.5197
My Website:
www.highertechnologies.com
|