Seizing opportunities to help residents of the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast recover from devastation left by this season’s hurricanes is one of the topics of discussion at this week’s InterVarsity Urban Project Consultation in Tampa, Florida.
Randy White, InterVarsity’s National Coordinator for Urban Projects, has assembled an outline of opportunities for staff and students. Weekend service projects are being coordinated with partner agency Convoy of Hope. Displaced New Orleans staff member Myron Crockett is directing three consecutive week-long “urban plunges” next March, for students who plan to volunteer during their Spring Break. More week-long “plunges” are being scheduled for next summer.
Central Florida Area Director Evan Keller is already making plans to return to the Gulf Coast area of Mississippi in December with a work crew of staff and students, after making a short visit with a crew of church volunteers in late September. “We served hot meals, helped citizens gather supplies, assisted at distribution centers, scraped mud from floors, listened and prayed,” he wrote. “The highlight for me was long hours of chain sawing; something about sweating for God is oddly fulfilling for me. Perhaps better than that was the way evacuees who had hope in God were encouraging and sharing Scripture with us.”
The hurricanes hit at a busy time of the year, when staff were focused on establishing connections with new students on campus. Those in the Houston area found themselves serving refugees from Hurricane Katrina first, and then evacuating to get out of the way of Hurricane Rita. But now staff across the country are evaluating steps they can take to help students respond with Christian compassion to the enormous needs that remain, following one of the worst hurricane seasons on record.
InterVarsity has established a special account, the Gulf Coast Fund, to aid InterVarsity staff and student work in this area. You may contribute by going to https://www.intervarsity.org/donate/ and clicking on “Student work in the Gulf Coast.”
Hurricane Katrina was just one in a long list of 2005 disasters. Urbana.org has a very thoughtful article by Jack Voelkel on Compassion Fatigue: How Long Can Generosity Be Sustained?
Previous stories on this subject:
Katrina Response Continues
Hurricane Disrupts, Intensifies Ministry
Gulf Coast Fund Established
Recovering from Katrina
Photo on this page by InterVarsity staff worker Jon Stone
