Church of God Responds to Destruction left by Hurricane Florence
With the death toll rising from the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence, the Church of God disaster relief teams have already started responding with assistance.
Led by Operation Compassion, along with Men and Women of Action and God’s Pit Crew, the teams and supplies will begin arriving in North and South Carolina within the next few days, just as soon as the “all clear” signal is given by local authorities.
On Monday morning, September 17, a police-escorted convoy of nine Penske trucks left the International Offices campus in a relief effort jointly sponsored by the Youth and Discipleship Department, God’s Pit Crew, Operation Compassion and Penske. Youth and Discipleship Director David Blair and Assistant Director Rob Bailey were two of the nine drivers as the convoy headed out to Eastern North Carolina.
Some of the trucks set to leave International Offices headed out for hurricane relief.
“We are so grateful for these partners,” Blair stated. “Penske took great efforts to round up the trucks we needed from several locations to make this Disaster Response Team effort possible.” The trucks were headed to several Church of God locations in the Carolina hurricane zone, including New Bern, Kinston, Greenville, Lumberton, Fayetteville, and Whiteville.
“Due to the slow moving nature of this hurricane and the torrential rainfall that has followed the storm making landfall, our efforts have had to be placed on hold waiting on permission to enter the areas most heavily impacted,” stated Tim Hill, General Overseer of the Church of God. “With sections of I-95 and I-40 still closed from flooding and officials concerned that most rivers will crest well above flood stages in the next few days, we are concerned that the worst may still be to come. While we want to get assistance in as soon as possible, we also want to make sure that we are not putting our relief workers in harm’s way or in any way hindering the rescue operations underway.”
According to Dave Lorency, director of Operation Compassion, the Church of God has sixteen local church sites, along with three warehouse sites, ready for distribution of relief supplies. There are also three locations in the impacted area that will be used to provide hot meals.
As of Sunday, September 16, seventeen trucks with supplies were either in route to North and South Carolina or were staged for delivery of supplies. Another twenty trucks are under lease to help deliver supplies to impacted areas. In addition, sixteen other partner agencies and non-profits have committed equipment, supplies and personnel to assist Operation Compassion.
“While I am proud of all the supplies and equipment that we have staged or on the way to the Carolinas, I am most proud that we have hundreds of Church of God trained chaplains standing by to offer spiritual hope in this most difficult time,” Hill noted. “We must bring hope to many that have lost everything. We serve a God that brings amazing hope, even in the midst of the storm.”
To contribute to Church of God disaster relief efforts, please visit https://app.securegive.com/ChurchofGod.
