Ten days after the arrival of Hurricane Helene, we are only beginning to comprehend the scope of the devastation. Bridges, roads, homes, businesses, and whole towns have been washed away by raging rivers. The number of deaths is rising with many folks still unaccounted for. Many places in western North Carolina are inaccessible due to washed out roads and downed trees. Power is slowly returning but still out in many areas and cell service is spotty. Ironically, clean water is a desperate need in these flooded areas. Montreat, home to the Montreat Conference Center and untold numbers of Presbyterians, has been badly damaged. We think of hurricanes hitting the coasts – and Helene did her damage on the coast of Florida – but her devastation moved well inland, as did some of the memorable hurricanes that hit our mountains and valley in years past. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is one of the organizations working to meet the needs of people in these communities. PDA coordinates with FEMA, national relief organizations, and local agencies to offer aid and assistance in these crises, wherever the disasters may strike. (Information about giving to PDA to help hurricane victims can be found on an insert in this newsletter) Some of you will recall that under Allen Hensley’s leadership we built a shower trailer to be used onsite in such damaged areas. Our support of PDA through our individual gifts and Outreach budget is just one of the ways in which we serve our neighbors in need. Through special offerings, Glorious Gifts, Four Cents Per Meal, and the $88,000 of Outreach monies in our General Fund budget, we reach out to neighbors near and far. As a Matthew 25 congregation, some of those funds support work to eradicate systemic poverty and address issues of structural racism. Other monies meet emergency needs of folks in our community and provide scholarships for children in our preschool. From Nigeria to Ethiopia to the Philippines to neighbors across these United States and down the street, Covenant is at work to fulfill our calling to love our neighbors in tangible ways. Our efforts are not limited to monies. Through hands-on work providing lunches at Trinity Soup Kitchen, food boxes to Hispanic neighbors, home repairs with Renewing Homes Augusta, projects with Boys &Girls Clubs, food collections for Verona Food Pantry and Shelburne Middle School, knitting prayer shawls, making applesauce for Valley Mission, and pulling weeds at the Jones Garden we share our gifts with our community. By opening our building to community groups for meetings, play practices, prayer breakfasts, concerts, mission groups, and soccer practices, we serve our community. Our General Fund provides the means by which we do all these things and more, for each and every one of them is ministry. In sharing these resources, we serve our brothers and sisters all, and in serving them, we serve Christ. That is what we do, because that is what we are called to do – generously, joyfully, lovingly – serve!
— John Peterson
