Word is received from Church of the Brethren congregations in Rita’s path.

Word has been received from two of the three Church of the Brethren congregations that were in the path of Hurricane Rita, and whose members lived in areas of Louisiana and Texas under mandatory evacuation orders. The Roanoke (La.) Church of the Brethren considers itself “amazingly blessed” to have been in an area with little destruction from the storm, pastor James Balmer told Roy Winter, director of Emergency Response for the General Board. Similarly, the Falfurrias (Texas) Church of the Brethren sent word to district minister Joan Lowry that they are all fine. Hurricane Rita went north of the Falfurrias area.

No district or denominational staff have yet heard from members of Lake Charles (La.) Community Church of the Brethren. The town of Lake Charles is still closed, Winter said, and no access is allowed. “We don’t know anything, which is frustrating,” he said. As far as anyone knows, he said, all of the Brethren in Lake Charles evacuated before the hurricane hit.

Pastor Balmer and his family were able to return to Roanoke, which is 25 miles east of Lake Charles, on Sunday evening. The small town of about 300 people suffered only minor damage, with many large trees down but none having hit homes. But the disaster is enormous if one travels just five miles in any direction from Roanoke, the Balmers reported to an Emergency Response volunteer.

“Roanoke is certainly amidst the destruction, but amazingly most of it missed the homes,” said Winter. “Powerlines, etc., are all down and maybe out for weeks.” Emergency Response/Service Ministries is working on sending generators to help the Roanoke and Lake Charles congregations. “While generators are difficult to come by, the Western Plains District, specifically Wichita First Church of the Brethren and McPherson Church of the Brethren have been able to locate generators that will be shipped to Louisiana later this week,” reported Winter. Emergency Response also is beginning planning for a partnership with the church to look at meeting needs in the area.

Source: 9/28/2005 Newsline
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