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Florida Church Offers Help to Hurricane Victims
VERO BEACH, FL (September 2, 2005) - Having experienced the devastation
wrought by two hurricanes last year, the members of First Covenant
Church in Vero Beach already have offered their assistance to help with
rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"If you don't feel the compassion after what you've been through, you
haven't been awake," says Pastor Tristan Hohler. "You know what they're
going through."
First Covenant benefited from the generosity of Covenanters around the
United States, Hohler says. "We had churches from California, Minnesota,
Michigan - all across the country - help us."
Kurt Miericke, superintendent of the Southeast Conference of the
Evangelical Covenant Church, says he hopes to gather a team of Covenant
leaders to tour the storm-ravaged areas in the next several weeks to
begin assessing damage and making contacts to help with future assistance.
Hohler says that his church has begun laying plans to send work crews to
help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He says that crews will
likely have to wait several months before going to hurricane ravaged
areas, as logistics make early assistance with physical labor impractical.
"It takes a while to get things cleared up," he says. "People aren't
ready to tackle (rebuilding). Also, there's no place to put people up."
In the aftermath of the Florida hurricanes, "hotels and motels were
filled for months and months," he says.
Construction is made difficult by the magnitude of work that needs to be
done. "The building materials don't come in right away. Home Depot and
Lowes wouldn't have what people needed."
Many people in the area still are recovering emotionally from last
year's hurricanes, Hohler says. "This has retriggered old feelings. It
hurts." They will be able to celebrate September 18, however, when the
congregation dedicates its building. Miericke will speak at the special
service.
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