Hurricane Harvey - How You Can Help

Written by Glyn Norman

I know many of us have been distressed by the scenes of incredible devastation as a result of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and naturally, we want to know how we can help. This church is part of a network of churches called the Relational Discipleship Network, and I am part of a smaller "micro-network" of pastors that meet monthly by video chat for coaching, accountability, prayer and encouragement. One of the pastors in my micro-network is Matt Roberson who pastors a large church in the Houston area, called The Met.

 As you know, Houston was one of the major areas hit hard by Harvey, and Matt's church has been stellar in stepping up to the plate and providing relief to victims of the hurricane.

They have sheltered 800 people (with 150 pets) for 5-6 days. They have "mudded out" and cleaned more than 200 homes. They continue to distribute donations they have received from their church and other sources (clothes, hygiene supplies, non-perishable items etc.). Going forward they will continue with the clean-up and restoration of homes.

 The Washington Times recently reported that Christians have outpaced FEMA in providing aid to victims (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/12/christians-outpace-fema-aid-hurricane-victims/) and churches like The Met are at the forefront of such efforts.

They opened up their church, starting with the youth facility and then expanded to larger areas as the need grew. They are being the hands and feet of Jesus, and the reputation of the church of Jesus Christ is being massively enhanced by their actions. All this while still being in the midst of cleaning up their own campus.

 Since Matt is part of my network, I consider The Met to be, in some sense,  a "sister church" and as the elders and I were discussing and praying about how to come alongside them in their efforts, it seemed good to us (and the Holy Spirit) that we should give this week's offering to them. So, this coming Sunday, all funds given (except those specifically designated otherwise) will be forwarded to The Met for their ongoing relief work in the community.

 If you wish to give online to this effort before Sunday, you can do in the following ways:

TEXT "centralsj" to 77977 (Select "Houston Disaster Relief" fund)
ONLINE with Pushpay  (Select "Houston Disaster Relief" fund)

We'll have a video to show on Sunday about what the church has been doing, but for now, here are some still images.

Thank you for your generosity to those in need.