PDA national response team hears plea for volunteers to come and help
by Paul Seebeck | Presbyterian News Service
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – Cleanup continues in the aftermath of devastating flooding in the Gulf Region two weeks ago. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is on the ground providing assistance to the Presbytery of South Louisiana, working together with local and national partners to meet immediate and long terms needs.
You can see the devastation caused by the flooding. Reminders of loss—lives turned upside down—are visible along the road and in front of the houses in neighborhoods most impacted by the flood waters from the Amite River that crested at 46 and half feet.
“The plea I hear from pastors and folks I talk to is the need for volunteers,” says PDA national response member Al Thompson. “So many homes were devastated. They need people to stand with them right now.”
Rubble taken from the church sits outside Faith Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Paul Seebeck)
The Presbytery of South Louisiana received over a foot of water in its building. Next door, Faith Presbyterian Church had more than two feet, as did a building on the property used by the Spanish Church of God.
“It’s hard,” says the church’s pastor Eduardo Medina, repeatedly. “But Faith Presbyterian Church has been helping our Spanish congregation. We’re working together to have it clean. Putting everything outside.”
The Spanish congregation worships at Faith, so they have also been helping to clean out the Presbyterian church sanctuary.
The National Response Team from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has been here for almost a week working with local and national partners to help meet the needs of those most impacted by the flood.
“Not only is PDA here in a physical way, but spiritually too,” says Ron Sutto, General Presbyter of the Presbytery of South Louisiana. “They’re bringing in folks who are trained to counsel, to pastor to those in shelters and beyond, which is extremely important.”
PDA’s Al Thompson says one of the first things he heard at church on Sunday, from a University Presbyterian Church congregant, where he worshipped, was, “I knew PDA would come, we’re so thankful you’re here.”
University Presbyterian Church is providing shelter for a small number of people, including women who gave birth to children born during the storm, whose homes were devastated.
“We make a difference in people lives,” says Thompson. “Presbyterian Disaster Assistance will be here as long as we need to be here to help… Until the work, which could last for several years, or the funding has run out.”
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Financial support allows PDA to respond to disasters as they unfold and to continue the recovery work long after many organizations have left.
To help those suffering in Baton Rouge and along the Gulf Coast, click here or text “PDA” to 20222 to donate $10.
For more information about PDA’s Gulf Flooding response go here.
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