(FAYETTEVILLE, NC – SEPTEMBER 18: Members of the New York Urban Search and Rescue Task Force One help evacuate people from their homes on September 18, 2018 in Fayetteville, North Carolina.)
The Christian community across the Carolinas are rallying together to help provide relief for those impacted by Hurricane Florence since last week.
The hurricane that ravished through North Carolina and South Carolina last week resulted in countless people evacuating their homes. However, churches in the area have been serving the community with food, shelter and spiritual support.
Pastor Michael Fletcher from Manna Church in Fayetteville, N.C. has opened his church’s doors as a shelter where those who were displaced could receive food, showers and a place to sleep, according to The New York Times. In another part of North Carolina, Temple Church senior pastor Jim Pennington paddled around in a kayak to help pull 30 people out of the waters that flooded the town of New Bern, N.C.
“It’s easy to say, ‘I love God,’ but put on your boots, get your hands dirty,” Pennington told the Times.
In Dillon, S.C., Hamer Church of God Rev. Stan Rankin posted a Facebook message for people who are in need of food. He teamed up with his friend and fellow minister Reverend Scott Shirley to fill a rental truck with food items, tarps, doors and paper products for those in need.
“Talking to the people they have no bread there a lot of items people just don’t have,” Rankin told Fox Carolina reports. “A lot of people need to cover their houses and structures.”
Elevation Church, the multi-campus megachurch located throughout the Carolinas, has an outreach ministry that announced the tangible steps it has taken to help those affected by the hurricane.
“This year, through your consistent giving, we’ve invested $125,000 to our outreach partner, Convoy of Hope, to help support relief efforts in disasters like Hurricane Florence. On top of that, during LOVE week, you helped pack 4 semi-trucks full of supplies (roughly 90,000 hygiene kits, 11,000 snack packs, and 1,400 flood buckets) that will be distributed to those affected by the storm,” an Instagram message from Elevation Outreach states. “As the storm rages, we have opened our doors to Convoy of Hope who is prepositioning supplies at our Matthews Campus. We are in communication with various churches on the coast to determine immediate and post-storm needs.”
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)