Better Together
As I sit down to write this blog, Idalia made landfall at Keaton Beach, Florida at 7:01 a.m. (Central Time) as a Category 3 Hurricane. I’m sure many of you like me have been glued to the weather reports the last few days. We know what it is like to prepare, evacuate, ride it out and anticipate the landfall of a hurricane here in the Panhandle. Over the next few hours and days crews will assess power outages and work towards restoration, damage to homes, businesses and property will occur through insurance adjusters. Many relief agencies will descend upon hard hit areas providing food, water and shelter and comfort. It will be a while before some sense of normalcy returns to these areas.
It is during these times of disaster relief and recovery that I am proud to say that I am a United Methodist Christian. You may think that strange but one of the areas we as United Methodists are known for is our long-term disaster assistance and recovery. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is active around the world demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ in disaster situations as are other agencies. UMCOR is in it for the long haul. Long after other relief agencies have moved on, we still have boots on the ground as we help communities rebuild. UMCOR assisting with the wildfires in Maui, tornado relief in Oklahoma, landslides in California and Hurricane Idalia. UMCOR is actively working in our Alabama-West Florida Conference assisting with Case Management and the rebuilding of homes in Selma, Alabama from the November tornados.
Many organizations are asking for monetary assistance for disasters. Our UMC bishops will issue an appeal soon for monetary relief for Hurricane Idalia. The structure of UMCOR is set up so that 100% of funds for appeals is channeled to that disaster (no overhead comes out of donations to specific appeals). The unique nature of the connectional system of the United Methodist Church allows us, Navarre UMC, to do more together with other United Methodist Churches than we can do as a single church. Through funds and disaster relief teams we, Navarre UMC and the UMC at large become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. We embrace our calling to share the love of Christ with all. We are BETTER TOGETHER.