wfn.org | ABCUSA: Prayers, Relief Assistance Urged for Katrina Victims

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Rich.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 8/31/05)--American
Baptists are being urged to pray for and assist the victims of Hurricane
Katrina, which left a trail of devastation Monday as it hammered Gulf
Coast states with 140 mile-per-hour winds.

An initial One Great Hour of Sharing emergency grant of $10,000 has been
sent to Church World Service, which will provide Gift of the Heart Kits,
seed grants to long-term recovery organizations, and other assistance.

American Baptists can respond immediately to emergency relief needs by
contributing online to the "Give Now" option available on either
www.abcusamissions.org or www.abc-usa.org.  Churches so doing will
receive credit for OGHS giving.  Contributions also may be made through
normal channels using the Monthly Report of Mission Giving.  All
contributions should be marked "OGHS-Hurricane Katrina."

Hardest hit were coastal areas of Mississippi, Alabama and western
Florida.  Storm surges destroyed an estimated 90% of the buildings along
the coast in Biloxi and Gulfport.  New Orleans, while not hit as
directly, is now dealing with the collapse of its levee system that has
resulted in 80% of that city being covered in water.

More than 100 lives have been lost, and the toll is expected to rise.
Approximately five million people along the Gulf Coast have lost
electric power.

The Rev. Dr. Walter Parrish II, executive minister of the American
Baptist Churches of the South, reported today that six of the region's
churches-three in Baton Rouge, two in New Orleans and one in Mobile-have
been severely damaged by the storm.

Updates on the situation, and the response of American Baptists to it,
will be forthcoming.

K/2005ABNS/05ABN93

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA
x2077 / (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org