Brock's Plea

The following is straight from the heart of Brock:

Hurricane Rita hit close to home. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina has barely set in when Rita hit. As many of you know, I am from Louisiana (now living in Nashville). Let me tell you, the devastation is incomprehensible. As I write this, my home town is without water, power, and almost no communication. My family is all safe. My parents evacuated to Texas and my extended family stayed to ride it out. Rita hit them dead on. There is damage to my parents' house and trees down. The neighbors weren't so lucky. They had trees in their house. Some of my friends had to evacuate from the Sabine pass area in Texas. They can't go home yet. They aren't sure if it is okay or not.

If you saw the news, you might have seen a water tower with the words "Holly Beach" written on it. If you noticed, there was nothing else near it. That area was completely lost and wiped off the map. I have some good friends who lived in Holly Beach. They had a ministry they operated from their house right there on the beach. They have ministered to thousands of people over the years. As the storm approached they packed up and left. They decided to stay with a family from my father's church (my father is a pastor). That night, they heard a crashing sound and woke up to find a tree laying near the bed they were in. They were almost killed. The next morning, they found the trailer with all of their belongings crushed by another tree. They lost everything. Their house was gone and now all of their stuff. They only escaped with their lives. These people are devastated. They are good people who have devoted their lives to helping others. Now, they are the ones in need.

The depth of this storm will be enormous and long term. What I want to do is show you how you can help. What many people don't think about is how days lost cripple the local economy in such difficult ways. For example, think of a young business who needs everyday of business to make enough to pay the bills, or think of a young and small church who depends on every Sunday taking up the tithes and offerings. If the power is out for two or three weeks, then services are cancelled and the budget takes a blow. When they do return to normal services, many people have lost income and have no extra money to give. If a family gets paid less than usual, then their tithe is less. The domino effect is substantial.

I have talked to some pastors who have been effected by Hurricane Rita and they are in a long term mess with no light at the end of the tunnel. My father is a pastor in southwest Louisiana where the hurricane hit the hardest. His entire parish is without power. No one knows when they will get it. The devastation is everywhere. No one is running to their rescue. The media is not covering more than just a few areas. What about all of the rural areas that have experienced total losses? There aren't celebrities there getting their picture taken as they pass out water. It is almost as if these areas are ignored.

I am calling for you, my friends, every person who reads this to help me as we help those people in need, specifically pastors. Those who give the most sometimes need help themselves. I am asking you to give money. Make checks payable to Unity Baptist Church, (memo line Rita) we will be making donations to pastors who are in need. Send the checks to:
Unity Baptist Church/Rita Relief
PO Box 1342
DeRidder, LA 70634.
100% of the money will go straight to those in need. We need you to respond quickly to this. As we speak, there are pastors that we know who are spending their own money to buy ice, gas, and supplies for those in their communities who are in need. The government can't fix this. The churches should step up to the plate so God gets the glory. I am calling on you to act now.

Also if you know of a church who needs a pastor or youth pastor contact us. We will connect pastors from the LA and TX regions to churches who need staff. If your church wants to send volunteers to help with the clean up and rebuilding process contact us. Thank you for the prayer and support. Lets serve God by serving people. Lets help pastors now.