Prayer & OGHS Donations Sought
for Winter Emergencies

 

 

American Baptist Home Mission Societies is urging all concerned citizens to pray for residents of Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, who are under declarations of emergency because of conditions resulting from severe winter storms beginning Feb. 8. In all three states, many residents have been left without heat, power, and safe drinking water for weeks. Deaths have resulted from freezing temperatures.

ABHMS staff have been closely monitoring the situation and communicating with regional executive ministers and other partners in all three states, expressing concern and support for them. The Rev. Dr. Alberto Martinez, pastor of Iglesia Christiana Hispana Americana in Orange, Texas, was without electricity for more than 36 hours. The Rev. Dr. Gregg Hemmen, executive minister of American Baptist Churches of the Central Region, says that Oklahoma has been experiencing rolling blackouts. The Rev. Dr. Chum Awi, pastor of Chin Baptist Church, Lewisville, Texas, hosted three families at his house because of power outages. Likewise, other Chin families with electricity were hosting those experiencing power outages.

In addition to prayer, American Baptists can show support by making donations to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS). Donations can be made online, via your church, or with a check payable to ABCOPAD and mailed to

Mrs. Caryl J. Casey
407 Madison Avenue
Hatboro PA 19040-3296

Please write “ABCOPAD Disaster Relief” on the memo line of your check.

One hundred percent of your OGHS donations are allocated to the Cold Wave Disaster Relief efforts; no donated funds are retained by ABCOPAD or the American Baptist Home Mission Societies for administrative costs.

One Great Hour of Sharing is administered by the World Relief Committee of the Board of General Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA. The committee facilitates American Baptist emergency relief, disaster rehabilitation, refugee work and development assistance by establishing policy guidelines and overseeing distribution of the annual One Great Hour of Sharing offering received by churches.

Along with this opportunity to give to OGHS, you can also give to our ABCOPAD Disaster Relief Fund (online or by check). This fund is used to help individual and mission teams serve in disaster relief areas. While ABCOPAD will NOT be organizing mission teams during the pandemic, if you would like to assist in the disaster relief effort, ABCOPAD has often partnered with Samaritan's Purse, Praying Pelican Mission, and the Fuller Center. You can visit any of these organizations website to join a disaster relief team. The ABCOPAD Disaster Relief Fund can be used for scholarships to offset the cost of for an individual or team seeking to serve.