Thank you to everyone who was a good steward of God’s grace, serving each other with whatever gift we have been given! (1Peter 4:10)
Debris removal at Zion UMC in North Las Vegas was extremely productive and cleanup has been completed, showing United Methodist connectional support in action! Through the hearts, minds, and hands of many servants who came to help with the initial cleanup process, the first phase is now completed. As the transition into the rebuilding process continues, there may be a request for volunteers to assist in the coming months.
Zion UMC hosted, trained and provided lunches for approximately two hundred servants who removed debris from the ashes in the Las Vegas heat of June and July 2017. University UMC in Las Vegas housed and fed out of town volunteers every night of operations. Many other UMC churches throughout the Desert Southwest, Cal-Pac, and Rocky Mountain Annual Conferences assisted with a large part of the cleanup process. People from at least four other denominations across the Southwest also stepped up to provide monetary donations, manual labor, and prayers during this time. Every person and church community served a crucial role and we are truly blessed by the loving response.
The Desert Southwest Conference is extremely grateful for the servant hearts and connectional ability to help in the midst of a tragedy, like the fire at Zion UMC. The Disaster Response Committee will continue to assist with healing after disasters in our own Desert Southwest Conference and around the country. The Early Response Team for the Disaster Response Team, a branch of UMCOR, responds numerous times throughout the year to help reduce property damage costs and provide healing with a caring presence. In the past two years, our teams have responded to major floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and forest fires in six states, saving residential owners millions of dollars!
In the coming months, the Disaster Response Committee will be holding training sessions for anyone willing to serve in various roles during a local or national level response. If you or your church would like to schedule a training, please contact Polly Turner at polly@ix.netcom.com and click here to access the “Hosting an ERT Training Event” PDF.
Fred Heggestad
Disaster Response Coordinator
Desert Southwest Conference
The United Methodist Church
Hurricane Harvey Response
Since the publishing of this letter, Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas area. The ERT team prepared a letter to share with the churches of our Conference. Click here to download and read the letter.
