Hurricane Laura did come ashore along the Texas/Louisiana border on Thursday, August 27, with strong winds, storm surge, and heavy rains. We are thankful to report that our Moravian brothers and sisters in the Port Arthur, TX area were not seriously affected by the storm as they were on the west side of it and far enough removed from the heaviest winds. Western Louisiana did take the brunt of the storm, and many areas were heavily damaged. We are monitoring the situation and are in touch with our ecumenical partners who do have congregations in the most affected areas, and we will lend assistance as we can. Before making landfall in the US, Laura traveled over Cuba and did significant damage there. Through Brother Joe Jarvis of the Armando Rusindo Mission Foundation, we understand that several of our Moravian Churches and their members received significant water and wind damage and that the farm that helps to support their ministry lost most of its crop of bananas, onions, and corn. This will put them in a difficult position for the rest of this year on top of the hardships caused by Covid-19.
The Moravian Disaster Response fund will be used to help those who have been impacted by this storm as it continues to be used to help meet needs related to the global Covid-19 pandemic. To date, we have expended over $60,000 in aid both here in North America and our Provincial mission partners for Covid-19 relief. Anything that you can give will help to save lives and extend aid to those being impacted by these natural disasters. Please go to www.moravianmission.org and follow the links to give.
MDR Update – August 31, 2020
