Please pray for Aaron Hoglund, a member of this congregation, as he travels to Bayou La Batre, Alabama, March 16-22, with other members of a service group from Xavier High School in Brooklyn, where Aaron is a senior. This is their second trip to Bayou La Batre, a town built on the Gulf fishing industry, where half of the houses and a third of the fishing fleet were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Aaron and his friends will be helping to re-build homes and businesses. They have taken a collective vow of living simply while on their mission: spending money is limited to essentials, and cameras are not allowed. We pray “journey mercies” for Aaron and the whole group, and give thanks as he lives out his faith in service to those who have suffered so profoundly.
ELCA Disaster Response is still working to assist the recovery effort in the wake of Katrina. Your prayers and gifts are needed and welcomed. You may give through your congregation (memo “LDR/Katrina”), or give a credit card donation by phone or online at www.elca.org/disaster. When designating your gift for a specific disaster, 100 percent of that gift is used for immediate relief and long-term recovery efforts following that disaster. Should a response become fully funded, additional designated gifts will be applied to a similar domestic or international response.