Prayers for the Gulf Coast

I'm still incredibly busy at work, so my postings are (as usual) sporadic at best, but I had to get a quick note up regarding the situation on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. By now, everyone has heard the story. The worst of the hurricane missed New Orleans (although it was still hit incredibly hard), but after the strongest part of the storm has passed by, some of the levees broke, flooding and ravaging the city.

It looks like much of the Gulf Coast is devastated, with potentially thousands of lives lost, and many, many thousands of lives completely disrupted - homes and belongings destroyed, jobs lost, possibly rampant disease outbreaks. A couple of towns along the Louisiana/Mississippi coast are essentially completely destroyed, with hardly a single intact building still standing.

I've linked to these relief agencies before as responsible organizations that will handle your donation wisely. Now seems like an especially good time to make a donation to World Vision or World Concern. I know people personally that have worked for both of these Christian relief agencies and can attest that they will get help to those most in need. Both agencies have incredible experience getting help to those in need under the most terrible conditions. As an example, my wife's cousin and her husband worked for World Concern in Bangladesh and lived there for many years. They dealt directly with the aftermath of typhoons that hit there - a country with little of the ability to handle disasters that the U.S. has. My point here is that both World Concern and World Vision are agencies that know how to get help to those most in need, in the most disastrous conditions. They are worthy recipients of your donations.

Beyond that, let me suggest that we set aside some time to pray for those impacted by the hurricane and its aftermath. Pray for the engineers and workers that will repair the levees - that the work will go more smoothly and quickly than expected. Pray that the region remains free of disease. Pray for rescue workers - that they will be safe. Pray that those in need will find food and shelter quickly. Pray that the economy of the whole area will get back to normal as soon as possible.

A natural disaster like this reminds me how small and dependent on God I am. We need His blessing. Pray for His blessing on the whole Gulf Coast today.

P.S. Dr. Reynolds (aka Instapundit) as well as several other bloggers on heavily visited sites are linking to lots of places where you can make donations for hurricane relief.

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