Christian Radio Hurricane Harvey Relief Effort
Christian radio stations and ministries are invited to join a 3:30 p.m. ET conference call to discuss ways to cooperate on Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The call will be hosted on the conferencing service Zoom using this link: https://zoom.us/j/900432268. (Depending on your browser, software may need to be downloaded beforehand at www.zoom.us)
“The devastation and loss of life caused by this storm are gut wrenching,” Brian Sanders, Executive VP of Positive Alternative Radio said.
He explained that PAR had just begun to cooperate with other broadcasters and ministries on an outreach project called “ENCW – Easy Never Changed the World,” set to officially launch at Momentum, the Christian Music Broadcaster’s conference next week. The goal of the #ENCW project is to impact 1 billion lives in 5 years. Already, more than 60 radio stations and ministries have signed up as partners, agreeing to cooperate, share ideas and work toward the goal.
“It became pretty clear to us that if we want to change the world, Texas is the perfect place to start,” Sanders said. “So, we’ve organized the conference call for all of our partners in the #ENCW Project, but now we’re opening it up to any station or ministry that wants to share ideas.”
The call will focus on what stations and organizations are doing to help and how their efforts could be combined or coordinated to maximize impact. “Even just listing the work that is being done on a station’s website will help provide a centralized point so efforts can be bathed in prayer” – Sanders explained.
For its part, PAR is centering its response around the relief work of a trusted partner, God’s Pit Crew. A Christian relief agency and 501c3 based in Danville, Virginia, God’s Pit Crew provides emergency relief kits filled with water, food, personal care items and cleaning supplies immediately after disasters. The kits come in 5-gallon, sealed containers called “Blessing Buckets.” Each one is hand-packed by believers with a Bible and notes of encouragement.
“We’ve seen God use Blessing Buckets in amazing ways,” Sanders said. “Two trucks full of the buckets, plus bottled water are already in Texas, working their way in to the most devastated areas of Houston.”
PAR will share about God’s Pit Crew this week on its five stations, their websites and social media platforms. Sanders quickly acknowledged that there are other relief agencies already at work, and that getting behind GPC’s work is just one idea.
“On the call, we want to hear what other stations and organizations are doing. This is open-ended. If anyone wants to join us in working with God’s Pit Crew, we can make that happen. But if they are doing something on their own, that’s great, too. The #ENCW Project can help by facilitating prayer, and perhaps in providing graphics or other support to make the work more impactful.”
