Friday Evening Update...

Katrina

Rita

Wilma

At this posting, there remains one full month in the 2005 Hurricane Season. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma have each had a devastating effect on the United States of America.

Alamo City Christian Fellowship is committed as a congregation to see God's glory displayed in the midst of such tragedy.

To that end, we encourage everyone to continue participating in the Relief Effort by volunteering and by contributing financially to reputable Christian organizations.

Even though news media outlets have moved to cover other legitimate stories, the ongoing needs of evacuees in our city are astronomical.

One of the best ways to keep informed is by visiting the City of San Antonio Hurricane Relief webpage at www.sanantonio.gov.

The website has a very informative UPDATE CENTER containing information like:

• Daily Update
• Generosity overwhelming for shelters
• Relief efforts suspend donations of materials
• Local Hotel Tax Rebate Offered to Evacuees
• Hurricane Katrina Health Information
• Mayor establishes San Antonio Hurricane Relief Fund
• San Antonio Public Library Offers Library Cards to Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
  

You can visit the site by clicking here.

There is also a permanent link to the San Antonio Hurricane Relief website over at the right-hand column of this blog.

There are also specific ways in place where Alamo City folks can continue assisting evacuees here in San Antonio:

First, volunteers are needed to transport San Antonio's newest friends to and from available housing locations. (Some restrictions apply.)

Second, Alamo City families and other caring groups are needed to “adopt” our newest families. They will need help with furniture, kitchen supplies, clothes, and all things necessary to function in our community.

Ruben and Sandra Fechner, faithful Alamo City members and founders of BridgeBuilders, San Antonio, continue collecting names and coordinating these particular Alamo City volunteers.

Ruben and/or Sandra may be reached by email rff@satx.rr.com or by phone at (210)822-5538, (210) 602-8305 (cell) or (210) 650-5335.

You may also sign up to volunteer by calling the Alamo City church office (210) 654-7880.

Thank you for continuing to pray and participate.

Sunday Morning Update...

WILMA

[ Source: FoxNews.com ]

"Landfall along the southwest coast of Florida will occur during the mid-to-late morning hours on Monday..."

Read updates here.

Please pray for the rescue and relief efforts now underway on the Yucatan Peninsula as Wilma heads into the southern Gulf of Mexico. Pray also for the residents of the Florida Peninsula as Wilma heads toward the United States.

Thank you for continuing to pray and participate.

Thursday Evening Update...

WILMA

Hurricane Wilma
Photo taken on
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
from the International Space Station
[ Source: NASA ]

• Three Nations Prepare for Wilma
  
  Read the article here.


• Katrina/Rita Shelter Update...
  
  As of this evening, less than 500 evacuees remain in San Antonio shelters.
  

Alamo City...

Please continue to pray.

Please continue to participate.

Wednesday Morning Update...

WILMA

[ Photo Source: NOAA ]

"...Hurricane Wilma grew into the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, based on barometric pressure."

Source: www.fownews.com

Read the entire article here.

Please continue to pray.

Saturday Morning Update...


The City of San Antonio has set up a Hurricane Relief page on the www.sanantonio.gov website.

It has a very informative UPDATE CENTER containing information like:

• Daily Update
• Generosity overwhelming for shelters
• Relief efforts suspend donations of materials
• Local Hotel Tax Rebate Offered to Evacuees
• Hurricane Katrina Health Information
• Mayor establishes San Antonio Hurricane Relief Fund
• San Antonio Public Library Offers Library Cards to Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

You can visit the site by clicking here.

There is also a permanent link to the San Antonio Hurricane Relief website over at the right-hand column of this blog.

Thank you for praying and participating.

Thursday Afternoon Update...

The following information was e-mailed to Alamo City this afternoon:

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:: Edited for Space ::
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Community Integration of Displaced Families
(A Clinical/Cultural/Spiritual Approach to the Traumatic Intervention to the Communities after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita)

Maranatha Bible Church
7855 East Loop 1604 North
San Antonio, Texas

October 18-19, 2005

The trauma of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have placed in the City of San Antonio new neighbors with a slightly different cultural background and a unique set of needs. Current estimates suggest that well over 2,500 families have (are) settled in our city with over 8,000 new residents. Not only do our new friends have a unique culture to be assimilated but also we may have the opportunity to impact the economic wellness of many.

This summit presents an opportunity for care givers, leaders, and educators of our great city to sit beside the task of this mass integration and prepare a well reflected response.

The summit will unfold in two dimensions:

• First - is to examine our task from a clinical reflection…
  (What in the world just happened?)


• Second – is to brainstorm a practical response…
  (What in the world are we going to do about it?)
  

It is our sincere hope that after the summit many in our community will have had a chance to reframe this trauma from one of pain, loss and destruction to one of opportunity, challenge and growth. By using careful reflection we as a community can find an optimistic reality in the midst of this pessimistic situation.

The Summit is sponsored by the San Antonio Baptist Association of Churches and is free to the public.

To register for The Summit, please go to www.sanantoniobaptist.org to resister online.

For questions, please contact Gary Patterson at (210) 710-0998 or at the San Antonio Baptist Association office (210) 525-5544.

*******************************

Rather than contacting the Alamo City office for additional details regarding this event, please utilize the numbers listed above for further information.

*******************************

IMPORTANT:

There are already specific ways in place where Alamo City folks can continue assisting evacuees here in San Antonio:

First, volunteers are needed to transport San Antonio’s newest friends to and from available housing locations. (Some restrictions apply.)

Second, Alamo City families and other caring groups are needed to “adopt” our newest families. They will need help with furniture, kitchen supplies, clothes, and all things necessary to function in our community.

Ruben and Sandra Fechner, faithful Alamo City members and founders of BridgeBuilders, San Antonio, are collecting names and coordinating these particular Alamo City volunteers.

Ruben and/or Saundra may be reached by email rff@satx.rr.com or by phone at (210)822-5538, (210) 602-8305 (cell) or (210) 650-5335.

You may also sign up to volunteer by calling the Alamo City church office (210) 654-7880.

Thank you for continuing to pray and participate.

Thursday Morning Update...

FEMA is reporting that around 22,000 Katrina evacuees still remain in shelters around the country. There is a self-emposed deadline of this weekend for getting all evacuees out of the shelters and into housing.

Click here to read the article.

Please continue to pray and participate.

Thank you.

Tuesday Morning Update...

This e-mail report came to us this morning from Susie Roye of Blood-n-Fire, San Antonio:


October 11, 2005

There is still so much going on in regards to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.........

• Mark has been in Bridge City, Texas for two weeks now, with our Mobile Kitchen, 3 large smoker pits, heading up a team comprised of BnF Teams from Indiana and Minnesota, 4 college students from California and of course some Texans. They have averaged 2000 meals a day, mostly being served to area residents. These people are living in their storm damaged homes with no power or water, and are thriving on the hot, fresh meals we are able to provide. This past week our daughter Ashley was able to join him, as well as Robert Reyes from our BnF Core Team. A friend named "Angel" has provided her R.V. for our team to live in on site in Bridge City.


• Locally in San Antonio, through your generosity, we have had the privilege of providing household items for the many evacuees that have left the shelter to make a new life in apartments across the city that the government is providing for them.


• We have also been busy providing transportation to and from job interviews for some. When needed we have been able to purchase suitable clothing and shoes for their job interviews. We bought a pair of business shoes so one lady could look more professional for her interview. Antother example: we met LaRhonda, mother of 5, in the shelter several weeks ago and found out she worked for the New Orleans Times Picayune Newspaper. We simply emailed the San Antonio Express News on her behalf, took her to interview, and today was her first day on the job, working in distribution!


• Thanks to Hasbro Toy Company, we have been able to initiate a program we've named "Toys 2 Take Home". As families leave the shelters to go to their apartments, we are able to give the children new Hasbro toys and games to take to their new homes!
  

Life goes on, and so does the News cycle.........but the needs are still here...
....people are still trying to put their lives back together.
We can still use more volunteers during the week.........just let us know if you are interested.
Thanks again for your generosity that has allowed us to go and do and help where we can.

Bless you all ~

Mark & Susie Roye

Mark & Susie Roye
Blood-n-Fire, San Antonio
21519 Tenore
San Antonio, TX 78259
www.bloodnfiresanantonio.org

Please e-mail your stories, pictures, reports, etc. to worship@alamocity.org

Please continue to pray and participate.

Monday Evening Update...

Our San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat are coming together for victims of Katrina by playing a special pre-season game in Florida tonight.

[ Source: www.spurs.com ]

Way to go, Spurs!

Details about the additional Katrina & Rita evacuees coming to San Antonio are very difficult to come by. For the past week, there have been virtually no stories carried in the local or state media outlets.

Alamo City - Just because the news media has moved on to other legitimate stories* does not mean that we will not continue to be made aware of very serious needs that exist. There are many Katrina and Rita evacuees that are still in San Antonio.

* Please pray for the survivors of the recent earthquake in South Asia. At this posting, it is being reported that an estimated 20,000 people have been killed. That number is expected to rise. Pakistan was especially hard hit. Additionally, servere flooding in Central America has taken the lives of hundreds of people.

Please continue to pray and participate.

Thank you.

Wednesday Afternoon Update...

IMPORTANT NEWS

Please continue to pray and participate.

We will update this site as changes occur.

Wednesday Morning Update...

• More Evacuees?
  
  It was reported last week that San Antonio would be receiving as many as 12,000 new evacuees.
  
  Here are two links that provide a few more details:
  
  S.A. Prepares for More Hurricane Evacuees
  Plan for New Evacuees Gets Clearer



• Continued Opportunities for Alamo City Volunteers
  
  There are at least three specific ways that Alamo City people can continue volunteering to assist evacuees here in San Antonio:
  
  First, volunteers are needed to transport San Antonio’s newest friends to and from available housing locations. (Some restrictions will apply.)
  
  Second, Alamo City families and other caring groups are needed to “adopt” our newest families. They will need help with furniture, kitchen supplies, clothes, and all things necessary to function in our community.
  
  Ruben and Sandra Fechner, faithful Alamo City members and founders of BridgeBuilders, San Antonio, are collecting names and coordinating these particular Alamo City volunteers.
  
  Ruben and/or Saundra may be reached by email rff@satx.rr.com or by phone at (210)822-5538, (210) 602-8305 (cell) or (210) 650-5335.
  
  You may also sign up to volunteer by calling the Alamo City church office (210) 654-7880.
  
  Third, Alamo City folks are encouraged to continue volunteering in the area shelters. In order to gain access to shelters as a volunteer you will need to register as a Red Cross Volunteer.
  
  If you have not registered as a Red Cross Volunteer, please contact the San Antonio Area Chapter of the Red Cross at 3642 E. Houston Street from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday or call the Volunteer Call Center at (210) 582-1988.
  
  If you have registered, please continue to volunteer. The residents in the shelters need you and the expressed love of the Lord Jesus.
  
  If you are registered with the Red Cross as a Hurricane Relief Chaplain (and have completed the required Chaplain's Training Course), please continue to visit the San Antonio area shelters. We believe that each shelter still has an on-site "Chaplain's Office" that can advise you as to specific needs.



• PLEASE e-mail your Hurricane Katrina & Rita photos, stories and information to worship@alamocity.org. They provide such great encouragement to everyone!
  
  Thank you for continuing to pray and participate.

Tuesday Afternoon Update...

We just received the following e-mail from Mike Curry, a dear friend of Alamo City, who lives up in Conway, Arkansas:

This is a long read but the most insightful I have come across regarding hurricane damage and help needed. My source is a former youth worker who now lives in Baton Rouge.

Pray!!

By grace, your brother,
Mike Curry
Eph. 6:19-20

[ Please click here to read the article that Mike is talking about. ]

Thank you for praying and participating.

Tuesday Morning Update...

Below are some images sent to us from Susie Roye of Blood-n-Fire, San Antonio. Mark Roye and several Blood-n-Fire volunteers are in Bridge City, TX this week feeding hundreds of relief workers and displaced people due to Hurricane Rita.





Please continue to pray and participate.

Alamo City - your prayers are being answered, your volunteer efforts are having an eternal impact and your financial contributions are so appreciated in this ongoing (and massive) relief effort.

Thank you.

Sunday Evening Update...

"WINDSOR PARK WORSHIP"

The Windsor Park Mall Shelter continues to house just under 200 residents and, once again, we had a wonderful time of worship on the Windsor Park Mall parking lot. Unlike past Windsor Park Worship services, very few evacuees attended.

We were told that most of the resident evacuees may have been packing in preparation to be moved to Kelly USA tomorrow.

NOTE: As of this post, the report of the proposed move of residents is assumed to be correct. We have no information about any planned closure of the Windsor Park Mall Shelter at this time.

Please continue to check this site often for Alamo City updates.

Sunday Morning Update...

• As of this morning, we understand that there are less than 200 residents at the Windsor Park Mall Shelter. And it is unclear whether or not any of the anticipated 12,000 evacuees expected in San Antonio will be received at Windsor Park.
  
  Alamo City, our calling continues to be...

JESUS.
...to passionately pursue His Presence, His Likeness,
His Work and His Will in everything,
among all peoples, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, with His glory in view...


• TONIGHT! @ The Windsor Park Mall Shelter

"WINDSOR PARK WORSHIP"

• 5:30 p.m. - Volunteers meet at Alamo City to load up chairs, sound system, etc.
  
• 6:00 p.m. - Volunteers and participants arrive at the north-west corner parking lot of Windsor Park Mall (Walzem and IH 35 North... by the IHOP, TSO and Discount Tire) to set up chairs, sound system, etc.
  
• 6:30 p.m. - Outdoor Service begins!
• 7:30 p.m.(ish) - Volunteers take down and load chairs, sound system, etc. and return to Alamo City.
  

IMPORTANT:

• Please pick up any trash. Where possible, let's leave the Windsor Park Mall parking lot in better shape than we found it.
• Alamo City: Please minister to the residents who attend from the shelter in pairs or small groups, not individually.
  Please watch your children - after all, it is a "parking lot."
  Please do not remain on the Windsor Park Mall parking lot alone after the service is over.
  

Thank you for continuing to pray and participate!

Lord willing, we'll see you there!