HURRICANE KATRINA

As I write this, we are sitting on the extreme eastern side of Hurricane Katrina, watching and waiting for the devastation to come and praying for our family and friends in the direct path of the storm. My wife's father is in Mobile, and decided to try to ride the storm out just about 10 miles from Mobile Bay. He is now regretting that decision, but it's too late to evacuate.

Here in south Georgia, we are expecting only rain with some wind, nothing significant. But, as you all know, the central Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle is bracing for one of the most deadly hurricanes to ever hit the United States.

This morning at church, and again this evening, we gathered to pray for those in the path of the storm. We also took steps to prepare to help those who are going to be affected by the storm, by taking up donations to be sent to the affected region immediately.

If you would like to do more than just watch the storm, if you feel led to make a financial donation for hurricane relief in this area, please visit the United Methodist Church Committee on Relief (UMCOR) website. There you can make financial donations on-line that will be given directly to relief in the Lousiana/Mississippi/Alabama areas. The direct link to the on-line donation site is here.

Otherwise, please contact the Red Cross or other relief agencies and offer your financial help and assistance in whatever way you can. From what we are hearing in our region, this will be the worst natural disaster ever experienced in the southeast, far worse than the devastation caused by the four hurricanes that hit us last year.

And, most important, PRAY! God works in answer to prayer, and if you do nothing else, please pray for the people in the path of the storm.