Tammany Oaks Relief Article

This article was posted today on World Net Daily. This is an excellent "About Us" piece for the Tammany Oaks led effort. It describes the activities, the volunteer experience, and the successes that have been realized.

Of particular interest is the volume of support this mission has provided:

• Fed 3000 families.
• Distributed millions of dollars of supplies.
• Provided 500 volunteers; the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars in free labor.

This makes it so easy for us to educate our family, friends, coworkers, and churches about this project. Can all of you loyal readers and members of our effort from Columbus take a few minutes to forward this article on to these people in your life?

Recommended Reading

OK, I have to confess, I haven't read these articles yet myself, but the beginning of the cover article of the current issue of Time that you can get on the web site without paying for access had me cheering. 'bout time the mainstream media started covering this more. Starting to feel like we are the only ones broadcasting the desperate situation that is going unabated. You can find more info here.

Warning: the following is preachy and begging and may turn you off if you don't understand my sincerity. Please take this as a heartfelt plea on behalf of people who are depending on us.

As a nationwide effort, we have fed thousands of people through our efforts. We have cleaned out hundreds of houses. We have been Christ's own tools to touch the hearts of souls who need so much to know that they are not forgotten and that we care. Yet with all we have accomplished, there is so much more still to do.

Some of our Columbus volunteers have made repeat trips on their own and some have committed to full time mission work in the area as a result of their involvement, but as a group, we have not contributed to the effort for nearly two months. On December 3, due to the loss of some volunteers this week, we have 5 people planning to go down. I'm afraid, like the national media and most others out of the area, that even our group is getting complacent.

Please, do not let the enemy assure you that the situation we have been working to overcome is less than dire.

The need is no less than our first month where we sent 160 people and 100,000 pounds of supplies into the area. In some respects, the need has only grown. I'm afraid the breath we stopped to take after the 4th consecutive week of volunteer teams has been mistaken for completion of our task.

We are committed to keep organizing this effort from here, and the organizers in Louisiana are committed to keep serving as well.

• The church in Mandeville is purchasing a building to use as a relief center.
• They continue to receive quite a bit of donated supplies and appliances.
• They are organizing efforts with other churches in the area.
• They continue to accept requests for help from the entire area around lake Pontchartrain and other areas east and west effected by the hurricanes.

Volunteers are still the #1 need. The tornado damage in Evansville Indiana recently was taken care of over 5 days by 600 volunteers a day from the area who were not effected by the storm. The damaged area in Louisiana and Mississippi is not like that. Everyone in the area is hurt. They cannot help eachother as everyone has been a victim of the storm's devastation to some degree. Volunteers from outside the area are the only hope for hundreds of thousands of families to get their lives back.

Even if you can't go personally, you can help regain our lost momentum. Some are making repeat trips. While this helps considerably, we all have families to support and jobs that depend on us. What our effort really needs is greater recruiting. We need to get more church congregations involved. You can help do this by working with leadership at your church or other churches that are not involved in a hurricane relief effort currently. You can work through your friends who are members of un-involved churches. If you have volunteered, you can tell friends and fellow parishioners of your experience... and the need... and the solace you were able to provide to people who's lives have been interrupted. You can reach out to coworkers and become a resource they know to go to for hurricane relief related questions and help they wish to provide.

We will help you if you ask. We have appeal DVDs published for volunteers and donations. We can help you build a talk. We will also speak in person to a group if you are uncomfortable doing so personally.

I have found 2 people in the last week, now scheduled for the January 14 trip who have been looking for a way to help since the storm. There are many out there who just need to know that our group exists.

Your testimony is powerful and will lead others to this work if you allow God to use you in this way. I pray that you will all respond by redoubling your personal efforts to bring attention to the continued need and be conduits for new volunteers.

John McGuire