Obadiah

Obadiah is our study for August 19. It is very short. Give it a read and leave me any comments that you come up with.

AMOS

This Sunday in worship, we consider the prophet Amos. Hold on! It is an intense prophecy!
The worship bulletin is here.

Katrina Relief by the Church

Check out this article in USA Today about different Christian groups that worked for Katrina relief. The United Methodist Church did pretty good.

The faithful lend a helping hand

Although officials say it's difficult to know the exact number of people who have volunteered in the Hurricane Katrina recovery, they estimate that more than 655,000 have served in Louisiana and Mississippi since the storm. Many faith-based groups have helped residents return to their homes.

Religious charities	Total volunteers	Homes improved*
Adventist Community Services	2,200	150
American Baptist Men	600	12
Baptist Builders	374	10
Brethren Disaster Ministries	1,608	352
Catholic Charities USA	15,481	2,550
Christian Disaster Response	238	35
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee	2,972	255
Church of Scientology	1,000	N/A **
Convoy of Hope (Christian)	16,962	2,828
Episcopal Relief & Development	18,303	2,471
Friends Disaster Service	1,550	96
Habitat for Humanity (Christian)	71,412	2,896
Islamic Relief	122	22
International Aid (Christian)	1,250	N/A **
Lutheran Disaster Response	26,585	8,242
Medical Teams International (Christian)	437	428
Mennonite Disaster Service (includes Amish volunteers)	9,000	750
Nazarene Disaster Response	15,000	200
Nechama (Jewish)	600	200
Operation Blessing	7,598	1,348
Presbyterian Church U.S.A.	29,345	3,380
Salvation Army	15,232	N/A **
Samaritan's Purse	12,026	5,000
Society of St. Vincent de Paul	4,000	N/A
Southern Baptist Convention	175,378	5,136
Tzu Chi Foundation (Buddhist)	1,319	N/A **
United Church of Christ National Disaster Ministries	4,985	792
United Methodist Committee on Relief	56,656	15,643
Volunteers of America	14,000	430
Totals	506,233	53,226

Source: USA TODAY research

* Improvement may include gutting, repairing or rebuilding. ** These groups have provided services other than rebuilding houses, such as providing food, water, clothes and other needs.

Vacation is ALMOST Here!

Tomorrow begins a SHORT vacation (back home Saturday). We are going to the Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix for a few days of relaxation.