FAITH IN ACTION

In September 2009, a flood struck Douglas County, Georgia which claimed 9 lives, caused millions of dollars in property damage, and prompted a Presidential disaster declaration.  Now that the emergency response is over, the long-term recovery must begin. 

The Douglas Disaster Recovery Coalition (DDRC) includes the United Way, the Salvation Army, the United Methodist Church, Faith in Action, and many other groups committed to helping flood victims where FEMA, insurance, and other assistance has been insufficient.

Affected by the flood and in need?  Contact DDRC  We are building case files to assign to volunteers for one-on-one work with families or individuals in need.  If you or someone you know is seeking assistance for unmet needs associated with the Flood of 2009, please call the Needs Assessment Line at 678-623-2859  We will also update this page in a few days with information regarding locations of walk-in centers, including days and hours of operations.

Do you want to volunteer to assist flood victims? Contact DDRC  We are accepting volunteers to serve as case managers for flood victims and to assist in performing recovery work such as clean-up and reconstruction of damaged homes.   DDRC also accepts monetary donations to assist flood victims and can provide a 501(c)(3) donation letter.  If you want to help your community recover from the Flood of 2009, call us at 678-623-2859 or email us at gafaithinaction@aol.com

“On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence,” as Keats said, the servants of Seven Bridges To Recovery minister to homeless men and women, www.7bridgestorecovery.org bringing the life saving gospel of Jesus Christ to the streets and under the bridges of Atlanta.  7 Bridges ministry teams go out on three evenings and Saturday afternoons weekly to bring food, clothes, blankets, hygiene kits, hope, and a work of front-line rescue to the homeless, with placement into recovery programs followed by next step resources.

One of FIA’s core missions is to serve other Christ-serving ministries.  A few days ago, Faith In Action was offered an abundance of winter coats, and immediately we thought of our friends at Project One who serve our Douglasville’s homeless men, and our friend Bob McGinniss at Seven Bridges.   After Project Ones was blessed, an SUV load of winter coats went to Atlanta.  We prayed over the coats and I asked Bob what the donation would mean to his ministry.  He paused and responded simply: “A homeless man will not freeze to death tonight.”

If you google the phrase “homeless man freezes to death,” you will get 153,000 hits.  It is so very cold, dark, and lonely under the bridges of America.  And yet because of these good people, Jesus will not freeze to death tonight.  Our Lord lived as a man, and felt everything we feel, from hunger in the desert, to the loneliness of Gethsemane, and the agony of the Cross.  He is even cold, and under a bridge, but He will not freeze tonight, because He has a coat.  Jesus told us he was that man being served by Angie, Chris and Bob:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me . . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  Matthew 25:37-40

Kim is a single mom with a 6 year-old son who lives in a Douglasville trailer park, and moved here from North Carolina to be with her boyfriend but they split up.  She works as a front cashier for a local restaurant but they cut her hours.  The “welfare” that she receives consists entirely of food stamps, and she can no longer afford to pay a local rental company for her refrigerator and furniture which cost $400.00 a month.  With nowhere to turn, she called Faith In Action and left a desperate message: “I have prayed so hard.  They are coming to get my refrigerator and furniture this weekend.  Please help me.”

Tina Boggs of First UMC coordinated an FIA team consisting of Mark Trow, Church at Chapel Hill, Jack Clay, Ephesus Baptist Church, Paul Zachos, First UMC, and Beau McClain which over the course of two November 2009 weekends supplied a refrigerator, washer, dryer, two beds and linens, dressers, television, dinette set, side tables, a sofa and loveseat.  An unexpected blessing was meeting Kim’s next door neighbor Briana who needed a dryer, refrigerator, and living room set which FIA also provided.

An empty trailer was filled by the full heart of God, whose love for His children is boundless, for it is written: “I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son Jesus,” John 17:23