Guidelines for Tenth Members

(Note: Here is the text of the bulletin insert for this Sunday. I should note that it is put together as a guide for immediate individual response. We wanted to give individuals guidelines who feel compelled to act quickly. We will be planning how Tenth can help as a congregation and what will be effective long term. Thus, we are exploring how to designate the Thanksgiving offering, for example; sending one or more mission teams either soon or over the coming year; is there a specific church, ministry, or project for our church to focus on. David Apple will head up the planning of these efforts. Thanks to Jonathan Olsen for getting the ball rolling and putting together this information.)


Many have asked how to help following Hurricane Katrina. Tenth encourages members to help through the relief the Presbyterian Church in America has in place. Visit Marion Clark’s blogsite for daily updates and more specific details: www.marionclark.blogspot.com.

Give Help:
MNA Hurricane Relief Website
Mission to North America has a new Hurricane Relief, Recovery and Resettlement website up and running. Go to www.pcarelief.org to indicate availability to help with hurricane relief and recovery. You can also register there if you have housing available for hurricane evacuees
(click on “Offer Help”).

MTW Minuteman Appeal for Hurricane Katrina Relief
Because of the magnitude of the disaster on the Gulf Coast, Mission to the World is joining with Mission to North America in order to assist them in the overwhelming task ahead. MTW has issued a Minuteman appeal for funds, and both organizations are recruiting short-term teams. To read the appeal and contribute to this appeal, go to http://www.mtw.org and look for “minuteman appeal” link.

Meeting Immediate Needs in Louisiana
Acadiana Presbyterian Church is presently working with other churches in town to provide relief for refugees from Katrina. If you want to help with material goods (pillows, towels, sheets, books, bottled water, non-perishable foods, clothes, diapers, toiletries), you must contact Acadiana Presbyterian Church (stanleypace@hotmail.com or 337.781.6414) and send items directly to them. If you want to make a monetary contribution, make checks payable to “Acadiana Presbyterian Church” with the memo “Katrina.” Address: Acadiana Presbyterian Church, 1515 W. University Ave., Lafayette, LA 70506.

Meeting Needs in Philadelphia
If you want to help with people who come to Philadelphia, register as a volunteer at www.phila.gov/katrina. The Tenth staff is thinking and praying through the best ways to serve those who come to Philadelphia.

Pray:
· For those who are still trapped in buildings or have yet to receive the
· sufficient help they need.
· For those who have lost family or friends and for those who still are missing someone close to them; that we grieve with those who grieve.
· For all of the workers in the South: firemen, rescue workers, police, and volunteers.
· For our sister churches in the South; pray that the light of Christ will shine through His people in this very dark season for so many.
· For Tenth’s possibility to send one or more teams to affected areas and work with PCA-coordinated efforts in the coming months.
· That we will be involved compassionately with those who are hurting at this time
· That we humbly recognize the limits of human competence; that we
· recognize our dependence on God and cannot put our confidence in modern telecommunications, in our insurance coverage, and in the ability of our government to do something about a disaster.
· That God’s people would trust and praise God for his power, goodness, and sovereignty, even though we cannot understand God’s purpose.
· That we use this as a time not to question God, but to question ourselves; that we would use this as an occasion for our own repentance—
· see Luke 13:1–5.