Ways We Can be Respond to the Flooding as Channels of God’s Peace

All of us are looking for ways we can walk alongside all who have been devastated by the flooding we have endured and help their lives be pieced back together.

At St. Paul’s we have been uniting in prayer, in our Sunday worship, in our Prayer Group yesterday, and each of us in our time alone with God. And we’ve entered into becoming part of the answer to our prayers. Our Outreach Committee has authorized Mike our Treasurer to send $1,000 to the Red Cross. A number of us have also opened our homes to friends and loved ones displaced by the flood. And I know that many of us have been offering help in many other ways as well. 

In this posting, I thought I’d offer before us some additional ways we can live out our prayer for God’s healing in the days ahead:

1. The first way is by staying abreast of the needs and the ways to respond to them. An excellent source for this  information is the website “yychelps.ca.” You can access this by clicking here.

2. Samaritan’s Purse is coordinating flood clean-up for the NGO Council of Alberta. On Sunday, I mentioned that the training session that I attended on Saturday set forth the need for around 10,000 volunteers to help with debris removal and general clean-up of people’s homes – everything required to leave the home ready for reconstruction. Volunteers commit to an 8 hour day, one day at a time. No expertise is required, and the training session presenter described the amount of physical effort involved as the equivalent of “a hard day’s gardening.” Samaritan’s Purse anticipates clean-up efforts beginning in a couple of days, and continuing for around a year. If you can help, please contact the Office (403-256-1428), and we’ll then contact Samaritan’s Purse (they asked us to do this, to reduce the number of phone calls). People will receive help on the basis of greatest need, determined by financial resources and degree of damage. Many of the referrals will be from Social Services, but Samaritan’s Purse also welcomes referrals from the families, friends, and neighbours of those in need of help. You can find out more by talking with me, or visiting Samaritan Purse’s website by clicking here.   

3. The Rev’d Anna Greenwood-Lee, our Regional Dean, sent out an email yesterday with the following message:

The Cathedral is coordinating an “in-house” Glenmore Deanery effort for clean-up in the homes of parishioners affected by the flood. Attached are the forms they are using for intake and below you’ll find the email they are planning to send out by 2 p.m. this afternoon.  It probably makes the most sense for each parish to collect the forms from its own people and then send along to Helen at the cathedral, helen.dunn@anglicancathedralcalgary.ca, for coordination.  This way parishes and parishioners not affected can help those who are!

I’ve asked LA to be our contact person in this. If you would like to be part of our Deanery response team, or if you know of someone in need of this team’s ministry, please phone or email the Office. PLEASE NOTE that this is separate from the Samaritan’s Purse response.

4. Today on the radio, I heard that the Food Bank is in particular need of fresh fruits and vegetables. I invite us to drop these off at St. Paul’s by 12 noon Thursday, and then I’ll take them over to the Food Bank for us. 

I’ll post other ways for us to help, as they arise. When you come upon ways we can offer support, you’re welcome to post them here.

This is the true reason for our existence
    to be the sunshine of God’s love
    to be the hope of eternal happiness.
That’s all.
(Mother Teresa)

It’s not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world.
(Tim Dearborn)

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JUNE 28 UPDATE: Yesterday, I was able to deliver 23 bags of fresh fruit and vegetables to the Food Bank. Thank you so much, everyone, for your generosity!