A solidarity visit to Hawaii by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and other representatives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) generated goodwill and helpful information for future humanitarian assistance. But most of all, it cultivated empathy and compassion for the people impacted by wildfires on Maui, where a historic blaze killed nearly 100 people and destroyed about 2,000 buildings in August.
After a deadly shooting at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro, Arkansas, David Gill and others pined for a way to aid students in their emotional and spiritual recovery. He began delving into the idea of holding a healing camp at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center, where he worked a few hours away.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has been keeping a close watch on Hurricane Idalia, which pummeled Florida and other areas Wednesday, bringing strong winds, rain and dangerous storm surge.
A community in Upcountry Maui that endured a wildfire at the same time as Lahaina is receiving a helping hand from concerned Presbyterians who are answering the call to donate to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is working with the Presbytery of the Pacific following this week’s fires that killed at least 55 people in Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Earlier this week fires also burned brush on the Big Island of Hawaii, but those fires have been largely controlled.
Five months after Hurricane Ian destroyed a seaside Florida church, its members will gather beside the storm-ravaged building on Sunday, Feb. 19, for a service that’s being called a Celebration of Healing and Hope.
It has been over a month since Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. But for those living in the wake of the storm, the challenges continue.
On the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s devastation to Puerto Rico, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance personnel on Tuesday were describing a different scene despite the record rainfall that Fiona brought to the island over the weekend before turning toward the Dominican Republic and smaller islands in the Caribbean.
If you live in an area with safe, clean drinking water, it’s easy to forget how integral that water is to daily life — until you hear about a place like Jackson, Mississippi, where residents are in the grips of an intractable water crisis that has captured international attention and left them under a boil water advisory for weeks.
Days and weeks after summer flooding ravaged various presbyteries this summer, the extent of the damage continues to be assessed. But the known effects have been significant, from displacing school children and pastors to damaging church basements and parishioners’ homes.
