The Covenant Brethren Church has taken another step in our partnership with Samaritan’s Purse to aid in responding to disasters. The Executive Board has named Brenda Harvey and Mark Teets as our new national disaster coordinators.

This means that in the future, when you have questions about what disaster response opportunities are available and where, you can contact one of these two to get that information.

Mark has been on previous disaster deployments with Samaritan’s Purse. He can answer questions about how things work when you are on deployment. Brenda can help schedule your team with Samaritans Purse, coordinate with other teams that may be coming from other churches, help get you registered and notify you of upcoming opportunities.

You can participate in different ways. You may go alone and be paired up with a team when you arrive. Alternatively, you can travel as a complete team from your church, or with other small groups from other churches. At the job sites, Samaritans Purse normally likes groups of ten or more. If your group is under that number you may have other individuals paired with you.

Mark and Brenda will be the ones able to streamline your participation with Samaritan’s Purse and make it a low stress activity. You will receive the blessing of sharing the Gospel through service and interaction with the families you serve without the stress of all the logistical planning. This will work for a youth group as well as adults. These will all be domestic trips at this point, but the opportunities abound and the blessings are great.

To contact Brenda Harvey, you can email her at brendalharvey1@gmail.com or call her at 301-616-1367.

To reach Mark, you can email him at mteets@snoweycreekdorset.com or call 304-698-7197.

Whether you have one person or a dozen people in your church who want to serve on a disaster response team, give Brenda or Mark a call, or drop them an email and let them help your dream become a reality. There are many ways to serve other than running a chainsaw or swinging a hammer. They need people to sweep, pull nails, answer phones, serve as chaplains (once trained), and even people to do laundry. There is a job for you, just call.

Craig Howard – CBC Publications Committee