After dealing Louisiana a severe blow, Hurricane Ida weakened as it moved inland but still managed to wreak havoc on portions of the Northeast United States, leading to fatalities and property damage.
Watching the news as the United States military pulled out of Afghanistan after a near-20-year war, bringing with it thousands of Afghan refugees, members of First Presbyterian Church in New Haven, Connecticut, knew they wanted to help.
“Welcoming the Stranger,” a webinar series from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Migration Roundtable, returns at noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, Sept. 22, with an episode focused on family detention.
On Tuesday, Richard Williams, Interim General Presbyter of the Presbytery of South Louisiana, was assessing damage from Hurricane Ida and delivering supplies when he came upon the Pointe-au-Chien Tribe southwest of New Orleans.
As they are wont to do, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has sought out the voices of Louisiana residents impacted by Hurricane Ida. The result was Thursday’s half-hour Facebook Live panel discussion hosted by Darla Carter, communications associate for the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and featuring the Rev. Jim Kirk, PDA’s Associate for National Disaster; Richard Williams, interim general presbyter for the Presbytery of South Louisiana; the Rev. Barry Chance, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Hammond, Louisiana, and Chip Chiphe, a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Scotlandville in Baton Rouge.
Two-and-a-half weeks after a 7.2- magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) partners in the country are working to meet basic needs and looking to the future, supported by gifts from Presbyterians across the country.
Monday’s remarkable edition of “Between Two Pulpits,” the weekly webinar put on by Special Offerings’ Bryce Wiebe and Lauren Rogers, paired the Rev. Jim Kirk, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s Associate for National Response, and the Rev. Jennifer Burns Lewis, visioning and connecting leader for the Presbytery of Wabash Valley in Northern Indiana.
As news comes in of the devastating effects of Hurricane Ida in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is organizing a response that will help sustain life and restore hope in the coming days.
On Tuesday, The New York Times ran the headline “Two Americas: One Parched, One Soaked” over a map that showed a marked increase in rainfall over the eastern United States in the last 30 years, and decreasing precipitation over the West during the same period.
