How Can I Help?

While many people continue to travel to the Gulf Coast to help churches and families rebuild their lives, it’s not possible for everyone for a variety of reasons. But there are things that anyone can do to help the cause. Following are some ideas of how you may be able to get involved:

1. Pray for those who lost their homes and the volunteers.
   “Prayers are bigger than you might think,” says the Rev. Phil Blom, a pastor from Neenah, Wisconsin, who has been serving in the New Orleans area since January of 2006. “But with the prayers, let someone know you are praying. It’s part of the spiritual recovery of the area.”

   Blom says you can easily contact any of the Lutheran churches in the area. Send a note or an e-mail. “It doesn’t need to have a gift with it; in many cases it’s just encouraging to know that someone out there is still praying,” he says.

2. Sponsor church or community members to work in the Gulf Coast.
   “Sponsor workers to come down here,” says the Rev. Ed Brashier, chaplain/director of Camp Restore in New Orleans. “When people come down to help, they take time off from jobs and either use vacation time or unpaid leave. They also have to pay their travel and other expenses. It can be a real sacrifice.”

   Camp Restore, a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) camp, is open to volunteers helping to rebuild the community.

3. “Adopt” a family and help them get back into their home.
   Kathy Wendling, recovery assistance coordinator for the Southern District of the LCMS, is working with a pilot program that connects churches across the country with local families. A church can literally help the family get back into their home.

“It could be doing fund-raisers, providing gift cards to home building retail stores or providing for furniture or appliance needs,” says Wendling. “Some churches may even send crews down to help.

“I don’t want people to think that the people here are just waiting for them to come down and help. But they are excited when someone comes in and joins them in the work they are doing. Lots of people are contracting their own homes and just need some extra hands.”

4. Make a donation to the rebuilding effort. Connect with Lutheran Disaster Relief and the work they are doing.
   Whether it’s a collection your church takes up, a fund-raiser sponsored by your local Thrivent Financial for Lutherans chapter, or something you do individually, every donation counts.

   If you don’t know where to turn to help, Lutheran Disaster Relief (LDR), a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the LCMS, is just one of many organizations actively helping families return to their homes in the Gulf Coast. Following a major domestic disaster, LDR seeks to minister holistically to the unmet needs of those affected, regardless of faith or creed.

   Learn more about the work LDR is doing at www.ldr.org.

   Blom also recommends choosing a church to support. With only about 50 percent of the people back in the region, “some congregations are having a difficult time supporting their pastors,” he says.

   Contact your Lutheran church body to find out what they are doing to help and see where you can join in.