September 27, 2024
As Hurricane Helene continues its journey into the southeastern United States, the Virginia Conference Missional and Community Engagement Office and Disaster Response Coordinator are closely monitoring the storm as it makes landfall this weekend. We are on stand by and will be awaiting word from our partners across the United Methodist connection as to what they will need in the coming days following the storm. Once we have word of what that need is, we will be in communication with the Virginia Annual Conference about how we can best support and respond as the affected communities assess, triage, and begin their work of rebuilding.
You may be asking yourself or your community, what can you do? Here are some of the best ways that we can respond as the VAUMC right now:
First, please do not self deploy people or materials. John Wesley’s three rules begin first with “Do no harm.” And sometimes, even in our best of intentions, we can cause harm when we self deploy without an invitation. Our Disaster Response process is based in an invitational model of mission where we await an invitation from the coordinators in the affected areas first before we do anything. This allows for the work to be coordinated locally, first, and for the community affected to best assess what needs to be done as well as assess the capacity it has to welcome volunteers from outside of the area.
Second, you can give financially to the work of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). 100% of everything that is given to UMCOR goes directly to the communities most affected by disasters, and can be one of the most effective first responses we can offer because it is flexible in how it can be used and can have the highest amount of impact in the communities who are most affected. To give directly to these efforts, you can give online using this link: https://advance.umcmission.org/p-620-umcor-us-disaster-response-and-recovery.aspx or, you can give through your local church and designate your gift for UMCOR US Disaster Response.
Third, you and your community are invited to be in prayer for those who will be impacted. You are welcome to use this prayer below, or offer specific prayers in the comments section.
Merciful God,
We come to you in a posture of prayer, feeling the depth of our powerlessness as the winds rage on and the waters continue to rise.
We lift up to you our friends and neighbors in the southeast; for those who might experience incredible loss and displacement. Lord, have mercy.
For our first responders, emergency personnel, and all who are helping to ensure safety and survival of those affected. Christ, have mercy.
For the communities where resources are scarce who will be disproportionately affected by the hurricane. Lord, have mercy.
Hear our prayer.
Come, Lord Jesus, be present in and among our friends and neighbors who are facing the unimaginable. As you calmed the waters with the sound of your voice and your presence, so too, may your presence be a place of refuge and calm amidst the storm. Help us live into our prayers when the invitation arises, that we might embody Christ in our communities near and far in the work of rebuilding, restoration, and reconciliation. Amen.