Christians Rush to Storm Ravaged Florida
By: Stefan J. Bos
PUNTA GORDA, FLORIDA (ANS) — Churches and Christian relief organizations stepped up efforts Monday, August 16, to prevent an outbreak of disease among over one million Americans, who were left without power and proper sanitation after Florida’s fiercest hurricane in 12 years, which killed at least 16 people.
Several people were reportedly unaccounted for, including church music and youth ministers, their families, and a pastor. Tens of thousands of people in especially coastal areas became homeless since the 145-miles per hour (233-kilometres per hour) winds of Hurricane Charley smashed ashore on Friday, August 13. People were seen shifting through the rubble on locations where once their houses or mobile homes stood.
“I feel like I am losing part of my family,” said a woman close to tears. “I have been living here for 11 years, and there are lot memories there,” she told the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), as her husband comforted her. “I heard my parents had stayed,” said Mary Berger. “We had to come to pick up the bodies…,” she told CBN, which is raising funds to help Hurricane survivors.
Bill Horan, President and Chief Operating Officer of the relief group Operation Blessing, told CBN’s The 700 Club that his organization teamed up with the Salvation Army to feed the hungry and give moral support to those in need. He said trucks were delivering food and other supplies, including ice and mobile kitchens to the Salvation Army, the world famous Protestant humanitarian aid organization.
SOUTHERN BAPTISTS
They also cooperate with Southern Baptists who he said “do the cooking” and have much experience in emergency situations. “It is an excellent partnership”, he said, adding that it reminded him to the famous Bible story in which Jesus feeds thousands of people with five barley loaves and two small fish. “We are really feeding the multitude” he explained.
At the same time over 70 Southern Baptist disaster relief units from 11 states had been activated as of mid-afternoon Aug. 16 to assist with cleanup and recovery efforts in southwest Florida in the wake of Hurricane Charley, Baptist Press (BP) reported.
Despite widespread destruction around them, Baptists began counting their blessings outside Eastside Baptist Church in Punta Gorda, Fla., one of the hardest-hit areas, BP noted. “Community service at 11 a.m. Come as you are,” a spray-painted sign reportedly said. As people gathered in the church’s parking lot, United States President George w. Bush apparently passed by in his motorcade, rolled down the window and gave them a thumb’s up before continuing his route to survey the damage.
MISSING BAPTISM
Another Baptist church member, Jim Schaaf, missed his scheduled baptism on August 15 because of the storm. Instead, he and his wife, Joan, spent his birthday and what was to be his baptism day roaming through the deserted and disheveled property of First Baptist Church in Punta Gorda, Fla. the Florida Baptist Witness newspaper said.
Although the main building suffered what appeared to be superficial damage — with the steeple snapped off its base and lying on the roof, the church parsonage seemed to have significant damage, including the loss of a large portion of its second story, a reporter noted.
The church music and youth ministers, Joe and Brian Odom, and their families, lived in the house. Joe is Brian’s father, according to the Schaafs. As of Sunday morning Aug. 15, the whereabouts of the staff ministers and the church pastor, Paul Russell, and his family, was unknown, the newspaper reported.
“JUST PRAYING”
The Schaafs evacuated their home as the predictions for the hurricane worsened. “When we saw what was coming in, we just prayed,†Joan said, adding that if the storm surge had been as bad as predicted, there would have been many more deaths. Despite Hurricane Charley, Jim Schaaf does not question his faith.
“It makes me think, “he was quoted as saying, “that God’s with us to save our lives and show us His true power, and how … He sent His son for us to die on a cross so that we can all be saved of our sin and so that we can go on with our lives,†Schaaf said. “It looks terrible, but it’s a blessing that we’re alive.â€
President Bush suggested that while he appreciated the humanitarian efforts “the government must help to help people to rebuild their lives.†Damage of the storm is estimated to run as high as 18 billion dollars.