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International Teams
Elgin Ministry Center
Katrina Disaster Relief Plan
September 7, 2005
GUIDED BY IT VALUES:
The Elgin Ministry Center team of International Teams believe God is calling us to respond to the great physical and spiritual needs created by the hurricane Katrina disaster. Our choice of means to respond is driven by our core values.
There are some things that are NOT areas of expertise for IT:
We are not primarily a relief and development agency. We have never been a large fund raising "machine". We have not engaged in recent years in large food distribution, Bible distribution, or disaster intervention programs. From time to time we have engaged in substantial short-term projects feeding refugees, clothing the poor, etc. But we are substantially a people-sending organization.
Though our "towers of expertise" do not lie within specific relief and development work, we are an organization that cares deeply, and loves powerfully. Therefore, our plan of action reflects some of our strengths, our core values, and recognizes that there are marvelous and substantial partner ministries across America that DO have expertise in areas of crisis intervention, relief and development, etc.
THE PLAN OF ACTION:
(click the links for details)
- 1-Year Plan
- Designating a "point person"
- Partnering with a specific church located in the affected area
- Housing for victims at IT's Elgin Ministry Center Apartments
- Sending Short-term work teams to the disaster area
- Further help in Elgin, IL
- Help from IT missionaries
- Assistance for IT missionaries Howard and Trudy Owens
- Future assistance to individuals
- Fund-raising
- Red Cross Training
CONCLUSION
We will be implementing our action plan over the next 72 hours. To accomplish the plan, we will need to pull together as a team and seek the assistance of partnering churches in Illinois and elsewhere. Our primary purpose is sending missionaries across the world. This very week we are welcoming 26 new missionaries into our fall training program. It will be a time of significant multiple stresses for us as we engage in these acts of service related to the hurricane disaster at the same time as we carry out our regular duties. But we do it with joy. We love living a life of service to others!
1-year plan. We will engage in a minimum term of Katrina Disaster Relief work for 1-year until Labor Day, 2006. In July, 2006 we will re-assess the potential for an additional service period. (back to top)
Designating a "point person". We have assembled a strategic planning team and are appointing a Director and decision maker to coordinate our efforts with partners who come alongside with us. (back to top)
Partnering with a specific church located in the affected area. We will locate a particular church in the disaster area that has been especially hard hit by the hurricane. We will partner significantly with that church in order to capitalize on their first hand knowledge of needs; long-term history in the community in which they serve; their future long-term involvement in re-building the community both physically and spiritually; and the ability to immediately and specifically impact families who are at great need and may fall outside normal channels of media and communications. Our choice of local church is driven by already established relationships and history in common.
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Housing for victims at IT's Elgin Ministry Center apartments. We will house one or more "extended families" in the apartments in our Elgin Ministry Center in Elgin , IL. This will give an opportunity for an extended family to live in wonderful accommodations where they have privacy, a full kitchen, two bathrooms, and significant amenities. Through partnerships with local churches in Illinois , we intend to fully outfit these families. We seek to restore not only their bare necessities, but ultimately a normal life. This will require:
- Preparing the apartments will all necessary personal items.
- Provide ongoing financial assistance for food, clothing, medical, counseling, etc.
- Provide opportunity for schooling in local schools through either scholarships or public school openings.
- Provide employment as possible for those seeking to work during their stay in Elgin.
- Provide personal transportation so that these families are not dependent on others for "rides". Provide multiple communication tools such as high speed online computer access (to continue to find out what is happening in their home area and with friends, etc. - as well as to accomplish schoolwork and other needs), television to keep up-to-date on news, cell phone and local lan line phone with a publishable number.
- Provide transportation for monthly (or whatever frequency is determined) return trips to their home area to reconnect with their church, friends and family, and to see what is happening to the recovery in their home area.
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Sending short-term work teams to the disaster area. We will organize short-term teams to travel to the partner church area and engage in work projects and building projects as directed and initiated by the local church and people in that area. We want to avoid the mistake of assuming what should be done from a distance. We also want to work beyond the large relief and development projects that will be taking place, and instead connect locally through our partner church with timely and specific needs related to the families and priorities that they know best.
- Short-term work teams have already been organized from Judson College and one local church in the Barrington area.
- Additional work teams plan to be organized from Azusa Pacific University , John Brown University , Nyack University , and additional partner local churches in the Elgin and Barrington area in Illinois.
- We seek to partner with multiple churches in the Elgin and Barrington area to continue to work over the long haul with the partner church in the disaster area. We are aware that tremendous outpouring of love and assistance will take place during the first weeks after this disaster. We are also aware that Americans tend to have a short-term memory in terms of these kinds of catastrophic events. Substantial help will be necessary over a long period of time. Therefore, we are engaging local churches in Illinois to continue offering assistance throughout the first 1-year period.
- There are already evacuees being settled in the Elgin area!
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Further help in Elgin. A number of churches have undertaken efforts to assist at the Elgin Mental Health Center on Route 31 in South Elgin. We want to encourage and assist local churches in partnering in this effort. We are especially concerned that churches continue to assist families who are living in very difficult conditions (and we are very grateful to the EMHC for opening its doors!) over many months. Imagine your family sleeping on cots in a less-than-private environment for months and months while they await word of what's happening down South to their homes. We are already planning opportunities for Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in December. (back to top)
Help from IT missionaries. We will welcome the involvement of other IT missionaries who wish to volunteer time. With 87 International Teams staff serving in the US , we know that some will have both the motivation and the time available to serve in the disaster area itself. We want to help to accommodate those wishing to volunteer themselves for service. We are suggesting that any who wish to serve in this immediate way make themselves known to us so that we can insert them into the critical early phases of our action plan. (back to top)
Assistance for Howard and Trudy Owens. Long time IT missionaries to France, the Ownes are currently living in Louisiana. Howard is completing his Doctoral degree in ministry. In fact, he sits for his oral defense in just 2 weeks. The Owens have apparently lost everything in this disaster. As dear friends to our ministry, and sweet and marvelous ministers for so many years in France, IT is committed to help them through this tragedy. We are therefore establishing the "Owens Assistance Fund" in order to raise charitable gifts to help this family. This is certainly an International Teams specific effort. We do not expect outside churches and individuals to participate unless they feel so moved - in which case we welcome any and all gifts! But within the IT family of missionaries and supporters, we will seek to raise assistance for the Owens. (back to top)
Future assistance to individuals. As of the date of this first draft plan, we realize there may be other individuals we will seek to assist as well. Other individuals yet unknown to us that we will seek to assist as well.
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Fund raising. We will immediately send a letter to our constituents indicating our initial plans. We want to be very honest that we do not see ourselves as a replacement for relief and development work which needs substantial financial gifts at this time. However, we will make known the limited, but significant ways in we ourselves will be helping.
During this time, it will be crucial to educate our supporters about the need to continue their regular support of missionary serving in other places across the world. With nearly 700 missionaries serving, we want to be careful not to see a significant drop in support such as we need in the months after September 11 World Trade Center tragedy. America answered the need for New York with an outpouring of support that was inspiring. Unfortunately, at the same time, many global sending agencies such as ours saw a significant dip in giving. (back to top)
Red Cross training. In the early stages of our response to the disaster, we wanted to offer our services to actually go down and assist in the disaster area. Our early contact with the Red Cross informed us that to actually volunteer with the Red Cross it is necessary to go through their excellent 2-day training intensive. Since this training is not immediately available, we will be inquiring with the Red Cross as to how IT could make available its excellent training facility in Elgin as a location for the Red Cross relief worker volunteer training program. We anticipate we may be able to hold this training in October to prepare more workers for volunteer service with the Red Cross. (back to top)
