It is simply a microscopically small effort in the grand scheme of what is being done, and what must be done, but today Vision Forum begins our mission to offer some relief and assistance to those friends of our ministry who have been devastated by the fury of Katrina.
Gathering until well after midnight last night, the men of Vision Forum strategized about the most effective means for getting thousands of dollars in supplies to friends in the body of Christ desperately in need of help. Our task included numerous calls (for information gathering purposes) to friends and family of those in Louisiana without food, water, and supplies.
In the providence of God, Vision Forum has been blessed with a number of friends in the aviation business including military helicopter pilots and airline pilots. During the course of the evening, we talked with some of them inquiring for information on how we could get clearance to fly a helicopter into the disaster zone where our friends live. We discovered that, given the martial law status and national guard presence, we would have to wade through a great deal of red tape to get clearance for a flight, so we abandoned that plan in favor of a caravan of four-wheel-drive diesel trucks. After getting official reports and eye-witness testimonies about some of the major road routes, we determined that it will be possible to reach our destinations. Next it was determined that one of the diesel trucks would simply be a fuel car. (We need to carry at least 750 gallons between us to get down, help the people, and get back.)
The team leaves today. Please pray for them. Vision Forum’s Mission Katrina involves the following:
- An initial search, reconnaissance, and supply delivery trip into parts of the disaster zone where there are identified Christian families in need of help. The information gathered on this trip will help us in preparing follow-up supply caravans to be sent into the zone in the days to come.
- Support for sister ministries which are on location and ministering to those in need of help. Specifically, I want to encourage you to support, for example, the work of Operation Save America which is trucking in shipments to more than three hundred indigent families at a Christian conference retreat center.
- Help place indigent families in need in temporary housing arrangements with other families in San Antonio.
- Special resource allocation from Vision Forum Ministries’ Life and Liberty Relief Fund.
Please pray for the first wave of efforts which begin today. Pray for the safety and success of our team of men. Please pray also for the safety and blessing of God on the “household of faith” suffering with everyone else in the wake of the worst physical disaster in our country in a century.