Conference letter about Hurricane Ian
As you are aware, the state of Florida has been devastated by Hurricane Ian. We want to provide you with some updates from our partners at UMCOR. While authorities have not yet given the all-clear to enter affected areas, UMCOR and its local partners have been hard at work preparing for storm response and recovery.
As always, we use the principles for responding:
- Stay – we do not self-deploy to an active disaster area.
- Pray – Here is a link to some prayers you might want to use personally or in corporate worship.
- Give.
There are a variety of ways to give. You can financially support the work of US Disaster Response at UMCOR through the Advance (#901670). Your local church can take a special offering and send that to UMCOR through the conference treasurer’s office using line 780 on the apportionment remittance form.
There is a need for cleaning supply kits. Churches interested in providing cleaning kits can find information about kit components and assembly instructions here. We are working with four United Methodist Churches around Oklahoma where you will be able to drop off cleaning kits once assembled, including:
- Boston Avenue in Tulsa
- Elk City UMC
- The Oklahoma Conference Ministry Center in Oklahoma City.
- A fourth location is being confirmed; watch for that information coming very soon.
In addition, if you are trained in Early Response to Disasters as a part of our network, Dana Parker will be in touch with you regarding the needs in the Florida area. She is in constant contact with all of our partners.
Please join us in prayer for those in the Southeastern U.S. who are now in the path of Hurricane Ian and continued prayers for those left in the wake of its devastation. UMCOR will be posting updates on Facebook and Twitter in the coming days.
Grace and peace,
Rev. Derrek Belase, executive director of connectional ministry
Lori Foster, associate director of connectional ministry
Dana Parker, disaster response coordinator
Karen Distefano, conference secretary of Global Ministries