Church Disaster Relief: Serving Others in Times of Crisis
Church disaster relief became a powerful expression of Christian community when severe flooding struck Central Pennsylvania. Eric Miller describes how local congregations and Christian organizations responded with food, shelter, financial assistance, cleanup work, and practical compassion.
- Disaster gave Bloomsburg Christian Church an opportunity to serve its community in practical and sacrificial ways.
- Churches and Christian relief organizations worked together to provide meals, financial help, housing, and essential supplies.
- Miller connects Christian freedom with the responsibility to seek the good of others and live as “salt” and “light.”
By Eric Miller
It was the week before my two-year anniversary as a minister and we were finally leaving for a much-needed vacation at the beach in Cape May, New Jersey. As my wife, Tammy, 3-year-old daughter, Emma, and I drove down the Atlantic City Expressway a road sign caught my eye. It was just your average, run-of-the-mill speed limit sign indicating the current maximum speed was 65. However, beneath that large, bold number were these words: “Conditions Permitting.”
I thought about those two words as I drove the next 30 miles. God seemed to want me to glean a message from them.
Just who decides when conditions permit you to go 65?
Would you and I, driving two separate vehicles, in the same weather, agree that conditions permitted us to go 65 mph?
More important, would traffic officers of the fine state of New Jersey (no sarcasm intended)—if they observed us going 65 on that road—agree that conditions permitted us to drive that fast?
Vacation Ended
In just 30 hours, “conditions permitting” took on new weight.
It was 6 pm the next day. After some time on the beach, at the pool, and after dinner, what will go down in the lore of the Miller household as “The Call” occurred.
My wife’s cell phone rang. It was a woman in our congregation named Michelle who often watched our house and dog when we were away. She called to inform us a band of thunderstorms stalled across Pennsylvania was currently liquifying the mountain in front of our home and relocating it in our basement. Worse yet, she was taking our dog and leaving because the local news said the authorities would be evacuating our neighborhood the next morning at 8. It appeared Fishing Creek (or, as we refer to it, the boundary line at the end of our back yard) would experience its worst flooding ever.
Our vacation was over. We hustled back to the hotel, packed our things, and were on the road at 8 pm. As I began to drive I affirmed my commitment to the principle that, short of lava flowing across the road, conditions were going to permit me to go the maximum speed allowed all of the way home.
Fortunately, there was no lava. We arrived home a little past midnight.
Members of the congregation had already emptied most of our downstairs, which was good because the water was rising much faster than anticipated. Water that was several feet from our home when we pulled in reached the back porch as we loaded the last pickup truck two hours later. Forty-five minutes after that, as I threw (literally) the last of our belongings up the steps, the water crossed the threshold of both the back and front doors.
As I waded out of the house at 3 am toward higher ground, I had no idea these conditions were about to permit me to see Bloomsburg Christian Church and the Christian church/church of Christ brotherhood at their finest in the tough days and weeks ahead.
The Right Conditions
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote the following, “‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own
