Journey’s new building is flood relief central
Just a few hours after the floodwaters began to rise in mid-September, Journey Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado mobilized its members to meet the most pressing needs of the community. The town was deluged with six inches of rain in less than 12 hours; as the rain continued and the water rose over the next few days, the city’s poorest population was hit the hardest.
Journey’s lead pastor, Arron Chambers, said the church provided clean restrooms, water, food, and basic necessities that residents needed right away. Within 24 hours, the church had also set up an extensive clothing distribution center that was even taking online orders for clothing needs in the community. Over the next 10 days, the church collected more than 56,000 pounds of clothing and clothed more than 4,000 people.
“When God put an unfortunate opportunity to serve in front of us, we responded,” Chambers said. “We didn’t hesitate to use the building God had just given us a few months before to serve our community.”
Journey’s short-term relief efforts have wrapped up now, but the church’s long-term goal is to purchase permanent housing in the form of refurbished mobile homes for 30 to 60 families over the next few months. “Our members saw what God did to get us into this building,” said Chambers. “Now they’ve recognized that God gave it to us because He knew we’d need it for the flood. We couldn’t have helped in the way we did — at the level we did — if we hadn’t had been in this place.”
Read more in Arron Chambers’ blog:
http://mylordandmyblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/do-you-have-a-yes-in-your-spirit/