The flooding caused by all the rain in SC has damaged more homes and displaced more people than anyone truly knows at this time. Some of our own FBC members have family members staying with them until the waters recede in Columbia and elsewhere. People from across the country are offering their help and I know many of you want to do something as well.
The two most important things you can do immediately are pray and give. Pray for the victims and first responders. Pray for those coordinating relief efforts to have wisdom. Pray that God’s people will be Jesus’ feet and hands.
Then give. As a church family we are coordinating our efforts with the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s Disaster Relief group. Feeding stations are already serving meals and soon mud out and chain saw crews will be at work. Assistance is being provided at many levels and all of it takes money. You can learn more about these efforts by clicking here and here.
There are two ways you can give. One, we are going to receive a special offering this Sunday at FBC and all of it will be forwarded to our SC Baptist Disaster Relief ministry. That’s right; we are going to pass the offering plates two times this Sunday. We will receive our regular offering, and then we will pass the offering plates a second time at the end of each worship service and this offering will be for Disaster Relief. If you write a check, make it out to First Baptist Church and put “disaster relief” on the memo.
Two, you can give online at our church website by clicking here and choosing “Disaster Relief” where it asks you to “select a fund.” Again, all these monies will be forwarded to the SC Baptist Disaster Relief efforts.
Information about volunteering to help can be found here and here, but please understand that most of the volunteer services at this time require people to have been trained. Those at FBC who have been trained in the past by the SC Baptist Disaster Relief Group have been notified to be ready when called on to serve. If you have not been trained, plan to participate in a future training. Information about future training opportunities can be found here.
This effort is going to last for months and the opportunities will be many. But giving this Sunday will be a good first step.
Pastor Steve Hogg
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