Flooding in the USA draws a Christian response

USA (MNN) — At least 20 deaths were reported in flooding in the United States that spread through Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and Virginia. Damage assessment is currently underway and Christians are getting involved.

The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee is just one agency helping. CRWRC’s Bill Adams says they’re working with Christian partners in New Jersey right now. “A lot of the areas were somewhat rural, so the communities (a lot of them) were smaller communities, but there were thousands of people that were evacuated from their homes. But, there (are) still an awful lot of homes that have been flooded — six feet of water in their homes, so there’s going to be a lot of cleanup and a lot of recovery that going to be needed.”

Since CRWRC is a Christian organization, that can make an even greater difference in people’s lives. “That’s one of the great things about our folks is that they’re very sensitive to the needs of people, the spiritual needs of people. We don’t go in and force our religion on people, but we do go in and let them know why we’re there. Invariably, our people end up praying with the survivors that we work with. There’s as much of a spiritual restoration as there is getting a home repaired,” says Adams.

Adams says the CRWRC is raising $100,000 for the initial response. But, that’s not all they need. “Because we’re so stretched, we have a lot of volunteers, but we need volunteer managers. We need people to take leadership roles on our teams and that’s the way we’re going to continue to grow and meet the demands that are out there today given hurricanes and all of the things that have happened.”