god-of-small-things

Second Baptist Church in Houston is organizing a volunteer effort to feed the 25,000 refugees from New Orleans now staying at the AstroDome. Christianity Today reports on a meeting that Second Baptist held with Houston religious leaders. According to CT, the meeting included "Christians from mainline, evangelical, and Pentecostal denominations, plus those from other faiths, including Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Bah'ai, and Unitarians." I hope there were Catholics there as well-the piece isn't clear.

A few more factoids from the piece:


  • Many of the refugees are expected to relocate permanently, as they "nothing to go back to."
  • Each of three daily meal-line shifts will need 240 volunteers., and the monthly cost for meals will be $4 million.
  • The refugees will be in the Dome for as long as 6 month.


And two money quotes, both from a suprising source—2nd Baptist Pastor Ed Young:

  • "All those sermons and passions you've generated, now's the time to put up or shut up for every faith or religious community here. Are you willing to coordinate and cooperate with other people and other denominations? If you're not, sit down."
  • Young quoted Gandhi: "'God dares not appear before a hungry man except in the form of bread and water.' We all have our religious agendas. You know mine. The first place to start is food and water," Young said.

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