Sandy
Response
Update...
Grace to
you and
peace
from God
our
Father
and the
Lord
Jesus
Christ.
In the
past
months
since
Hurricane
Sandy,
our
synod
has
received
support
from
congregations
within
our
synod
and from
beyond.
From
quilts
and gift
cards,
to
financial
donations,
to
messages
of
prayer
and hope
from as
far as
the
Netherlands,
the
church
community
in its
multiple
expressions
has
reached
out in
support
of one
another.
Now that
much of
the
immediate
response
work has
happened,
we are
in a
transitional
time
between
immediate
disaster
response
work and
long
term
recovery
work. In
these
next
weeks,
it is
important
for
people
who have
been
directly
impacted
by Sandy
to fill
out FEMA
forms.
Even if
you are
denied
financial
assistance,
other
forms in
the
future
will ask
if you
applied
for aid
through
FEMA. It
is
crucial
for
families,
business,
and
congregations,
to fill
out
these
forms.
Links to
these
resources
can be
found at
http://www.state.nj.us/
In order
for long
term
recovery
work to
begin,
Long
Term
Recovery
Groups
(LTRGs)
have
been
meeting
in
several
counties
in NJ.
Lutheran
Disaster
Response
(LDR) is
represented
at the
table
along
with
other
church
recovery
groups,
FEMA,
local
government
officials,
and
other
community
leaders.
These
groups
are
laying
the
groundwork,
organizing,
and
providing
training
for long
term
recovery.
This
work is
slow
going
right
now as
necessary
infrastructure
is
created.
However,
this
deliberate
work is
critical
for the
vitality
and
success
of long
term
recovery
work.
Pastor
Lisa
Barnes
(Lutheran
Social
Ministries-NJ)
continues
to be
the
point
person
for
disaster
response
in
communities
in our
synod.
Pastor
Becky
Resch
(Abiding
Presence,
Ewing
and
LDR-NJ
Synod
Coordinator)
will be
working
with the
synod
and
congregations.
LDR will
also be
hiring
an
additional
full-time
person
to
coordinate
volunteers
for long
term
recovery
work.
In the
meantime,
if you
are
interested
in
volunteering
to
serve,
please
fill out
the form
found at
http://www.lsmnj.org/programs-services/community-outreach-services/ldr-volunteer-registration-form/.
This
database
of
information
will
help in
planning
for
hospitality
and
volunteer
work in
long
term
recovery.
Several
congregations
are
discerning
their
ability
to house
volunteers.
If you
have
other
specific
skills
as
congregations
and
communities
that
would be
helpful
in long
term
recovery
work,
please
contact
Pastor
Barnes
or
Pastor
Resch.
Additionally,
if you
see any
areas in
your
community
that are
not
connected
with
assistance,
please
contact
your
local
LTRG or
Pastor
Barnes
or
Pastor
Resch.
We are
at a
point in
disaster
recovery
where
frustrations
increase
and
impatience
hinders
us. We
continue
to pray
boldly
and with
hope.
O God,
where
hearts
are
fearful
and
constricted,
grant
courage
and
hope.
Where
anxiety
is
infectious
and
widening,
grant
peace
and
reassurance.
Where
impossibilities
close
every
door and
window,
grant
imagination
and
resistance.
Where
distrust
twists
our
thinking,
grant
healing
and
illumination.
Where
spirits
are
daunted
and
weakened,
grant
soaring
wings
and
strengthened
dreams.
All
these
things
we ask
in the
name of
Jesus
Christ,
our
Savior
and
Lord.
Amen.
(ELW
p.76)
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