Jack Brown, pastor of our Grace Brethren church in the Boston area, had earlier requested prayer for his congregation and others in his area who are so affected by the flooding and recent rains. Tom Avey and the FGBC are investigating whether some disaster-relief funds may be available to help. To donate to this fund, go to http://www.gbnam.org/special-donations/disaster-relief-fund.htm Here is Jack’s followup report:
“Thanks so much for getting folks praying. It was such a blessing to receive e-mails from brothers and sisters in the Fellowship. I know the folks at NSBC were encouraged.
”We are starting to get a better handle on the damages–overall we fared pretty well (PTL)! Folks 40 miles north of us who live along the Merrimack River have had some pretty horrendous situations. Let me share with you some things on a local level.
”The two worst situations involved a handicapped woman from our church who lives in public housing. She is out of her home until June 1. Housing is taking care of the cleanup. This lady is being housed with another lady from the church.
”The other situation involved the Keogh family. They live alongside the Ipswich River, which became a part of their basement. Up until today there seemed to be very little recession of the river, but now this morning the river has begin to flow out of their basement.
”The town has given them open use of the dump through Memorial Day weekend (next week) to bring all their trash from the flood. So, we will need to move quickly and I think we can organize enough folks from our church to get the job done.
”We probably had another 8-10 people with two-plus feet of water in their basements. So pumping out and drying out is in order and then we have to see what is salvageable.
”People will need to replace hot water heaters, major repairs to furnaces, washers and dryers, etc. One family has already spent over $500 for furnace repairs (they have the ability) but some of the other folks do not.
”Also, perhaps we can help some of our neighbors who don’t know the Lord.
”In Gloucester there was one street where just about every home had to be evacuated and water rose into the actual living areas of these houses. I’m sure they are weeks and maybe months from getting back into their houses.
”Thanks so much for offers of assistance. Just keep praying and we’ll do what we can do. New Englanders are a hardy bunch of people. They say this is the worst flooding here in 70-plus years.”
