Hurricane Ike Volunteers Needed in Abilene

Posted on behalf of Abilene Community Resource Center …

URGENTLY LOOKING FOR HELP!

Our 2-1-1 Texas center, at 400 Oak Street, Abilene, is in the middle of handling Hurricane Ike calls.  Special Needs Evacuations are beginning today!  We are getting lots of calls for transportation assistance registry, and general information regarding evacuation.

We are currently taking calls in Abilene 7AM to 11PM, now through the weekend.  We have a great need for Spanish speakers.  We are looking for people to work 4-hour shifts: 7A – 11A; 11A – 3P; 3P to 7P; and 7P to 11P.

If you, or someone you know, could take calls for a few hours, anytime during this “window”, we will train and guide you to be successful.  We are looking for people who can remain calm while talking with people who may be in a highly agitated state.  Provide a comforting voice and sound information is your task.  You will have plenty of support in having “good” information.

Please call  676-7065 x 1 with the day(s) and time(s) that you could volunteer.

Did I mention, we’ll provide all the training you’ll need…and refreshments too!  I hope that you will seriously consider this request to volunteer yourself or recruit volunteers who can help with this very important work.

Mary Cooksey, CRS, CIRS
Community Resource Center Director

2-1-1 Texas A Call for Help
Community Resource Center

400 Oak, 2^nd Floor
Abilene, TX 79602
tel 325.676.7065 x1
fax 325.676.7084
mary@unitedwayabilene.org
www.acallforhelp.info

Being Prepared: Practical Expressions of Grace

The other day while out driving, I had to wait through a stoplight at a busy intersection. In my city, such intersections are often chosen by homeless persons a place to ask for money. They wait by the side of the highway for cars to stop at the light, and when people cannot go anywhere else, they walk by with a sign asking for food, money, or some kind of help. This time was no different. As I looked at the corner, there was a man with a sign. What is he really going to do with the money, I wondered. I told myself I was in a hurry, I didn’t want to roll the window down and let a stranger reach his hand inside my car, and so I sat there trying not to make eye contact.

Maybe you’ve experienced something similar. Phil Ware, pulpit minister at Southern Hills church, writes about his own encounter. Phil’s post, however, has some interesting suggestions about how to be better prepared, in attitude and in practicality, to give practical expressions of God’s grace:

1) Pray for these people whom you have met and will meet in the future. Ask them their names and pray for them by name. See each one as a person, not a group or a label.

2) Carry some gift cards from a local fast food place that you can give. Can’t afford gift cards? Are you willing to fast a meal a week in exchange for helping someone else?

3) Make care packages that you carry in your car for such an occasion. See the suggestions on what to include.

I want to help, but I want to be responsible in who and how I help. Maybe some practical suggestions such as these can move me to action instead of making excuses to do nothing.

What about you? Do you have ideas about what to include in a care package? Have you ever done something like this personally or through an organized effort? Leave your comments below this post.

What does poverty look like?

Shan talks in her post about labels we apply to people, suggesting that if we see individuals in a new light then we will see new ministry opportunities God puts before us. That caused me to consider how we view people in preconceived ways. Sometimes I think we imagine who we want to help, and we form a mental image of what they will look like. Mention a ministry designed to help the homeless or the poor, and instantly I see someone dressed in ragged clothes, unkempt in appearance, and not able to have the basics of food and shelter.

I wonder if there are other types of poverty that are harder to recognize.

The Bible talks about those who are “poor in spirit” and those who hunger and thirst for God. There are people who are rich on the outside with things of this world but who are poor in relationships and who thirst for Christian friendships. These people can be found down the hall in our dorms, sitting next to us in the pew at church, and maybe even in our own mirror. As several churches have observed, loneliness is on the rise. Even within the body of Christ, we can have difficulty finding deep, lasting connections.

I wonder if my stereotype of what poverty looks like causes me to overlook these harder-to-see folks and to ignore the opportunity to reach out. A smile, an invitation to sit together, a remembered name, and some extended conversation beyond the usual small talk can go a long way to being that cool cup of water that Jesus says is with the power of each of us to give.

Maybe ministry doesn’t doesn’t always mean service projects and formal ministries and organized groups to people in other parts of town. Maybe a ministry opportunity is sitting right next door.