Hurricane Relief

Yesterday I spent all day in the hot sun collecting water for Hurricane Katrina victims. Our church is having a water drive until 8pm tonight, and then they've got a tractor trailer that they're going to drive it all down with. We're doing it along with another church in the area, and between the 2 of us, we've collected 3 trailers full of water! It is so cool to see how generous people can be. One man pulled up in his truck and handed us a $100 bill. He wasn't the only one who donated that much. One person even donated $500 dollars! But by far, the most rewarding part is seeing people drive up with a jug, a case, or even just a bottle of water. And they are grateful for the opportunity to give it. They know they are doing a good thing and it shows on their faces. I know I was thankful for my small part in helping.

I was also really impressed by the way Newspring, the church I used to go to when I lived in SC, responded. They made a commitment to donate $5 for every person that showed up last Sunday. Now, to understand the magnitude of this, you need to realize that Newspring averages about 3-4,000 people a week! (Compared to 300 people when I first went there 3 years ago!) So, when over 4,000 people showed up on Sunday, Newspring wrote out a check for over $20,000! That's a lot of money! Plus they're sending down a trailer full of supplies, plus they're sending work teams to help with the rebuilding.

I just want to say that I am pleased with the way the Body of Christ is coming together like this to provide relief for people in Jesus' name.