Ministry & The Gulf Coast

As I read the continual news and updates from the oil castastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, today I am profoundly aware of those who live in the wake of this mess. Several of our young people have gone to Mission on the Bay on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to spend a week cleaning and repairing property and homes.  This is the work that still remains from Hurricane Katrina. Residents of the Coast and New Orleans have spent the last five years putting their lives back together, or at least attempting to do so. In many cases with the help of volunteers who spend their time, like our young people sharing in their daily struggle to live as normally as possible. Now, these very same lives, these very same residents will be most affected, if not already, by the oil in the Gulf. I am grateful for the witness and ministry of our young people and the ministry of so many who have traveled to help rebuild lives. I pray that in this time of new anxiety, they may offer hope to a people who too often find hope fleeting.  When you have a moment, stop and pray for the residents of the Coast and New Orleans, and give thanks for those who ministry to them. Lastly, it is easy to castigate BP and the government for their actions or inactions. We do not know all the facts, nor do I expect we will know all the facts. However, let us pray for any complicity that we have in the sufferings of others. Let us pray that greed, the collective desire to have more and to have it now, whatever it may be, give ground to generosity and to the common good.

Peace,

John+

Comments

[Pat]

Just thinking what a great job you're doing here. You've really gone above and beyond what one would expect of a blog. (Don't get a big head as I have only responded to maybe two other blogs - ever! ha ha) But, I think I know "what's up."