Milford Hurricane Katrina relief team enroute to Louisiana

MILFORD - This Saturday morning five members of the First Presbyterian Church of Milford, will be starting on a journey to storm-struck areas of Louisiana. Mary Dellert, Roberta Navarro, C.J. Phillips, Bob Ridley, and Team Leader Mike Dickerson will be traveling to New Orleans for “a week of ministry as a part of Jesus’ work in serving that community and building up His Church in that place,”.said church Pastor Ben Willis. A truck-load of needed items is being shipped ahead of them by Global Aid, a Lancaster, PA ministry offering trucks and warehouse space. This shipment follows one previously sent by the church to New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Mandeville, LA. The team will also be taking a check in the amount of $5,000 for delivery to the Canal Street Presbyterian Church in New Orleans. In total, more than $20,000 has been contributed through the church by generous individuals and companies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and given directly to the poorest of the poor in the Gulf Coast area. During their week the Relief Team will be delivering the crafts and “White Gift” Christmas gift certificates church members have made and purchased to Pastor Ron Cruice of the New Covenant Church to give to the needy of Slidell and LaCombe, LA, on behalf of their Christian friends here. Although they have yet to receive specific work assignments for their week there, the Team members are expecting to clean out houses that have not been touched since the hurricane: hauling furniture, breaking out walls, shoveling, carrying. They have been advised that many structures are too dangerous to enter, many traffic signals are not working, streets remain filled with debris, and that the primary protection remains the National Guard. Mary, Roberta, C.J., Bob, and Mike will be staying in a house provided by the Woodland Presbyterian Church and will be returning late on Sunday, Dec. 18. “They ask that you pray for them daily, not only for their safety in primitive working conditions, but for God to equip them with compassion and the ability to listen to and comfort those who have lost everything,” said Willis.