This post is not about books or reading, but it’s certainly about how I spent my Sunday. We went to church this morning and began to hear the stories of how members of our church and others from all over the country have been working already to help people in Galveston, Houston, and surrounding areas, all the way to Louisiana, recover from Hurricane Ike. Our denomination, Evangelical Free Church of America had crisis response teams in southeast Houston by Monday after the hurricane had passed on Saturday. They and members of our church, Trinity Fellowship in Friendswood, have been working all week, cutting down trees, clearing debris, gutting water-logged houses, and acting out the love of Christ.

If you would like to read more about their efforts or discover ways in which you can help no matter where you are, Mark Lewis, Director of EFCA TouchGlobal Crisis Response, is blogging daily at EFCA Crisis Response. If you live in the storm affected areas and you would like to communicate needs directly to Mark Lewis, email him at crisisresponseATefcaDOTorg. To donate money or needed materials and tools, email efcahurricanereliefATefcaDOTorg. You can also email my pastor at mailATtrinityfellowship if you have needs or donations.

Please, there are many, many needs here and especially further south and on Galveston Island, and the need won’t go away anytime soon. The national media will soon have gone on to other more interesting stories, but the people, especially the poor and the elderly, will still be with us and in need of your help and prayers. Consider contributing money, time or material goods as you are able. I have seen the fruits of the labors of the EFCA crisis response teams, and they will put your contributions to good use. Also, you don’t have to be affiliated with an EFCA church to volunteer or to contribute. They are organizing and coordinating volunteer teams from many groups and from all over the country.

(Because we have been dealing with the illness and death of a family member in addition to our own minor hurricane clean-up, we haven’t been directly involved in the crisis response this week. However, I see the need everywhere, and I’m sure that God is calling us to help and probably calling on you, if you are a Christian, to do whatever you can to minister to those in need here in Houston/Galveston/Southern Lousiana.)

Pictures of my neighborhood, which was not as hard hit as some others, immediately after Ike.