05 Oct A Note From Nathan…
FPC Family,
When we think of mission trips, we often think about traveling to unfamiliar places in order to help strangers. Rarely do we think about mission trips at home, helping people we know. However, local mission trips are going to be the new reality as water has found its way to places it should never be.
I am so thankful for this congregation’s response to the tragic flooding thus far! Our congregation’s response to the South Strand Helping Hand’s need for support was overwhelming. The shelves at Helping Hand were so bare at the beginning of last week that they had to spend $500 from another part of their budget to keep up with the demands of those affect by the flooding (and those families that were no longer getting assistance from Backpack Buddies with school not being in session). We ended up taking 8 vehicles full of food over since last Wednesday and they were incredibly appreciative of our efforts.
With a large contingent of our youth present, we were also able to sponsor and volunteer at a community meal held at the Mt. Olive AME church not far from our Kings campus. I can speak for myself and the wonderful parents who helped to organize the service that we were thankful for the great volunteer response and proud of the witness of those who came. We hope that this event can be a starting point for further interactions with this church, even after the flood recovery effort is done.
The next phase of our helping effort is to physically help in homes as the waters recede. I have compiled a large list of names of people who would like to help and we are quickly mobilizing when homes in need are identified. Just this past week, we were able to move and empty sandbags for members of the church and help to take down moldy sheetrock for one of our Growing Tree families. Our plan in the future is to assess needs in those homes, an appropriate number of people for those projects and then to send a Sign up Genius email to those who have expressed interest in helping. If you would like to receive these invitations, please email me at nsee@mbpfc.com.
Thank you for your support and look for many future opportunities to help,
Nathan
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