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“The ‘Big C’ Church was glowing.” This was Lt. Vinal Lee’s assessment of the Church’s relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Lt. Vinal Lee of the Salvation Army spent several weeks in Houston after the hurricane and saw first-hand what relief efforts were effective and what efforts were not. In this episode, we discuss three key lessons from his experience.
This hurricane season has been especially devastating, and many Christians rightly desire to help in relief efforts. But it is not enough to organize relief efforts. We need to be good at doing good. Here are three tips for ensuring that disaster relief isn’t a disaster.
#1 Do for the few what you cannot do for the many.
Every organization has limited resources to help. It is most effective to focus on helping a particular neighborhood or group of people rather than trying to solve the problems of an entire metroplex.
#2 Partner with organizations that can help you maximize your Gospel impact.
As stewards of church or ministry resources, we should focus on having the greatest impact in a disaster. This is often best done through a local church (see our former episode on efforts of Arise Baptist Church in Houston) or an organization on the ground that can connect resources to need. Lt. Lee recounts his horror at receiving an entire box truck of unsorted, used clothes. Though this may have given the donors a warm feeling, this mountain of clothes actually distracted workers from helping those in need.
#3 Focus on ministry and not publicity
Though it is important to share ministry stories, our focus should be on actually helping and not on receiving credit (sound familiar?; Matt. 6:2). As Lt. Lee states, people care “how well you’ve done, not how well you said what you’ve done.”
Lt. Lee observed “competing” churches working together in incredible ways, and he saw the “Big C” Church lead the way in disaster relief in Houston. So, let’s work on effectively “glowing” together in times of disaster.
You can connect with Vinal on Twitter @vinallee and with the Salvation Army Madison here.