HURRICANE FLORENCE UPDATES 

Monday, September 17, 2018

As the remnants of Hurricane Florence move north, our state moves in to recovery mode. Rivers continue to rise and many communities are still under threat. CBFNC has been attempting to communicate with churches in the affected regions over the weekend, to express care and concern, and churches in other parts of the start are asking how they can help. Here are our priorities today:

Pray - Please continue to pray for our neighbors in eastern North Carolina, not only those who have experienced loss, but those seeking to minister to them.

Serve - Right now, our mission partners, Baptists on Mission (NCBM), who specialize in disaster response, have set up operations in several locations.
They have the infrastructure to help those in need. They need volunteers.  Please visit their website for updates and opportunities.

Give - As with Hurricane Matthew, CBFNC will receive donations for Disaster Response. Such funds will be utilized to assist partner churches in the affected regions minister in their communities, to address short-term and longer-term needs.  Click here to donate.

Patience - We all are anxious to help now. But the effects of this storm, and recovery efforts, will go on for months to come. CBFNC is not a disaster response organization. We are a missional fellowship that cares for one another and our communities. We are committed to serve our churches and communities, especially the most neglected, in ways consistent with our unique capacities, for as long as it takes.

If your congregation was able to gather for worship this morning, be thankful. Many in our fellowship did not have that blessing. As we are able, CBFNC leaders have been seeking to communicate with church leaders whose communities have borne the brunt of Florence. The full extent of the damage will not be known for several days. Many roads, including portions of Interstates 40 and 95, are closed.

 As we have information about disaster recovery opportunities, we will share them, but that will take some time. Until then, let us continue to shower our brothers and sisters with our prayers.

The following prayer was offered by Rev. Amy McClure, Associate Pastor at First, Winston-Salem, in that congregation’s worship this morning, and speaks for all of us in CBFNC.

Present and Holy God,

We come before you this morning knowing that you hear our prayers at all times, so we offer up to you the things on our hearts and in our minds.

This morning our minds are flooded with thoughts for so many who have been affected by Hurricane Florence.  Even as we join together to come to you this morning in prayer, there are so many who are stranded in shelters, many who are soaking wet trying to wade through the water to get help, many senior adults who were unable to evacuate and are waiting to hear from family, and many who are not quite sure where the money will come from to do the necessary repairs to their damaged homes. For all of those people, we pray. 

We pray for our sister churches on the coast who are working diligently to help their communities in this time of crisis. We pray you will keep them safe, give them strength and energy, and equip them with the resources needed to come alongside so many in their communities. 

We pray for the children who are scared and aren’t quite sure they still have their toys, their pets, and their sense of security. Put people in their path who can love them well and calm their anxiety and stress. 

For the first responders and emergency personnel both on the coast and here who are working tirelessly to make sure all are safe, we give thanks for their dedication and pray that you keep them safe. We pray for their families who spend those moments worrying about them while they are out and pray you will give them a peace that only you can provide…

With all of who we are, we give you thanks for Jesus, the one who came so that we may all have life and have it abundantly and the one who taught us to pray saying….”Our Father…”

- Larry Hovis, 
Executive Coordinator