Hilltop Rescue & Relief (Hosted by Clear Lake Church of Christ)

(From the Hilltop Rescue website)

HURRICANE IKE UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

After MUCH discussion and prayer, Hilltop leadership has decided to partner with the Maplewood church of Christ in Sulphur, Louisiana and with the Clear Lake church of Christ in Houston, Texas. We will be working two volunteer camps at the same time. Both churches are eager and excited to reach out to those in need in their communities. We have never run volunteer camps in two locations before. We will need every willing pair of hands we can get. If you are interested in helping with this relief effort, you can do any or all of the following:

Sign up to volunteer on the Hilltop Rescue website. We will be ready to receive volunteers at the Houston camp on Sunday, September 21. The Sulphur camp will be ready for volunteers on Monday, September 22. Get your tetanus shot updated. Make sure you have a pair of work boots--steel toed ones if you think it is at all possible you might work on a chain saw crew. There may be a lot of tree work this time. If you have another skill to share which does not involve mucking or tree work--for example, cooking or ministry--please note it in the comments section on the volunteer form.

Pray. Pray for all those affected by this storm, both the victims and the first responders. They will all have trauma with which they will have to cope. Pray that our disaster relief effort is effective. Pray for the safety of all disaster relief volunteers--safety as they work and as they travel.
Send money. We have received enough funds this past week to allow us to pay for gas to get our equipment to the camp site and to set up camp. We may run out of money to pay for food after a few weeks, but are stepping out in faith that God will provide. He always has.

Tell your friends, your co-workers, your church, your clubs. Ask them to go to our website or that of any organization reaching out to those hurt by Hurricane Ike and see what they can do. The financial crisis our country is currently facing has pushed much of the coverage of the storm's aftermath off of the news. We cannot forget that these are our neighbors and THEY NEED OUR HELP.

Check back. Updates will be posted frequently.

Cordell (Corky) Cowar, Vol. Coord./Team Leader: wireman180@yahoo.com 310-294-1609

===========================================================================

(From the church website)

HURRICANE IKE UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 23, 2008

After MUCH discussion and prayer, the Clear Lake Church of Christ leadership has decided to partner with the Hilltop Rescue & Relief. We are busy making adjustments to our building to welcome a coordination team on Thursday and workers on Sunday. You can learn more about Hilltop Rescue by visiting their website. (http://www.hilltoprescue.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx)

"Teach us, Lord, to be devoted to your people, to your word, to your covenant meal and to prayer"
Adapted from Acts 2:42

Volunteers Needed
On Saturday, September 27, 2008, a group of our teens will be going with Jeremy and Donna to Galveston to help the Broadway Church of Christ in Galveston that was hit extremely hard by the storm. They are in desperate need of volunteers to come help clean up the mess.

If you can help, meet at our church building at 7:45 a.m. so that we can leave by 8:00 a.m. We will need to be self-sufficient when we are down there. We will be taking food and water and hope to find port-a-potties for our restroom needs. We will be providing some N-95 masks that all participants must wear for protection from mold, and we will be providing some latex gloves. If you have access to N-95 masks or latex gloves, please bring them.

Rubber boots are suggested, but if you don’t have those, please plan to wear shoes you will probably never need again because you will most likely trash them afterwards.