As I write this post, tropical storm wind and rain pelt my windows, but I’ll sleep fine tonight. The same cannot be said for our neighbors a mere 140 miles to our east. 

Friends, it has been just over three and a half weeks since Hurricane Laura made landfall. By windspeed, it was the strongest hurricane ever to hit the state of Louisiana. The sheer force of those winds caused over $10 billion in damage and took 77 lives. Virtually everyone in the corridor from Orange, Texas, all the way to Jennings, Louisiana, was affected by Hurricane Laura. 

One of the many reasons that churches and individuals support UBA is because we provide timely information about the greatest needs and point to vetted channels through which we can make a difference together. 

LEST WE FORGET

Our friends in Lake Charles specifically need our help.  You probably remember from our shared experience after Hurricane Harvey. At this point in the disaster recovery process, the news cycle has moved on, the first wave of volunteers have tired out, and yet there is so much more work to be done. This sense of seclusion is even more palpable in Lake Charles, where power and water are just now being restored to sections of the city and where the disparity between served and underserved neighborhoods is becoming clear. 

Many UBA churches have been active in Louisiana from the moment the storm passed, and if I tried to list them all, I would surely leave someone out. Suffice it to say that semi-trucks full of supplies, caravans of volunteers, and tens of thousands in donations have all been sent from UBA churches! Thank you!!

UBA is helping to lead a coalition of associations from Houston to Lake Charles to assist with the needs in the areas affected by Hurricane Laura. As UBA's Executive Director, Ispeak at least twice a week and sometimes daily with my counterparts in the Golden Triangle Baptist Network (Jim Turnbo, Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange) and the Carey Baptist Association (Bruce Baker, Lake Charles). 

Though there is still much work to be done in Orange, Texas, it is a lower-priority work than in Lake Charles and even the churches in Orange are focusing their attention on the cities closest to the Texas-Louisiana state line. UBA is focused on helping churches across the Lake Charles metropolitan area—specifically in the underserved areas and by raising awareness of churches and pastors that may be so busy meeting the needs of their communities that they are not getting the help they need themselves. 

Here are four ways your church can be involved: 

1. CHURCHES NEED LONG-TERM FRIENDS

Lake Charles churches need Houston churches to be their friends. That means not just to supply some funds but also to send teams to help recover and rebuild. Or perhaps they need partners to offer advice and help them think through future decisions. Some churches will have to make decisions about relocating, staffing, or rebuilding priorities and will need experts from areas not inundated by the storm. 

2. ADOPT-A-PASTOR

More than a third of the Lake Charles association churches have pastors whose homes were severely damaged by the storm. These pastors and staff may need rental assistance or help meeting their deductibles, salary assistance since their entire congregation was affected by the storm, or help replacing libraries and other household items. 

3. VOLUNTEER CREWS

Whether your church organizes day trips from Houston self-sufficiently or sends walk-up volunteers to work with Samaritan’s Purse (who can handle up to 150 volunteers a day), Lake Charles is desperate for volunteers willing to serve. If your church would like to put together trips, there are churches in Orange and Port Arthur that will host volunteer teams and a new location in Lake Charles where volunteers can stay (see below). See Houston Responds' volunteer page for more information. 

4. OPERATION HOPE: NORTH LAKE CHARLES RECOVERY

This is a new initiative started in the last week through the Carey Baptist Association that will feed, house, and direct volunteers to do work in the heart of underserved communities around Lake Charles.

Supplies have been sent to this distribution site for a couple of weeks now, but the recent short-term partnership of lodging in a school with a shower and laundry capability is going to really help the area.   

To get involved with or learn more about any of these initiatives, please contact me directly. 

Funding for these initiatives can be directed to either of these locations:

• UBA (designate for disaster relief)- everything will be sent to the Carey Baptist Association (Lake Charles, LA)

• Carey Baptist Association (click the “Donate” button on the disaster relief page) 

There are a lot of things in the news these days. When Harvey was in the news, you couldn’t read a story or click a link without reading about how churches were helping churches get through that rough period. We’re the body of Christ, and if not for 140 miles, we’d be hoping for their help once again. Let’s remind our Cajun neighbors that we’re in this together, and we’re #BetterTogether. 

Josh Ellis is Executive Director of Union Baptist Association. He has a PhD in Leadership Studies and has served on the UBA staff since 2005. With both practical and scholarly knowledge, he leads the association into innovative collaboration for the sake of strategic gospel advancement.

Photo by Austin Kehmeier on Unsplash