Hurricane Ike Puts Houston on High Alert; Churches Rush Aid to Cuba

In what has been a turbulent couple of weeks of hurricane season, Hurricane Ike is tracking toward the Gulf Coast of Texas and could make landfall with Category 4 intensity. In response, churches – especially in Houston – are praying and preparing.

Members of Windsor United Methodist Church in Houston have become big proponents of the Severe Weather Prayer since Hurricane Rita threatened the city in 2005. The church said they prayed adamantly that hurricanes Edouard and Gustav would miss the city – and they did. Now they’re hoping that the power of prayer will cause Ike to veer away from the fourth-most-populous city in the country.

Unfortunately, Ike already tore through Cuba, essentially hitting the entire island and causing massive flooding. Gustav had hit Cuba less than a week earlier, bringing with it winds of more than 200 miles per hour that damaged more than 130,000 homes. In the town of Las Tunas, which was one of places hit hardest by Ike, a church stands intact while most homes have been destroyed. People from all over the area are flocking to the church for their basic needs.

Disaster relief teams from the Southern Baptist Convention are heading for Cuba Sept. 15 to meet with Baptist leaders there about how to aid victims and help with the cleanup. Representatives of the convention have been in Haiti – where the storms wreaked havoc on crops and food sources – for the past two weeks, serving rice to the hungry.

Sources:

KHOU, Houston: Houstonians try to pray away Ike

Baptist Press News: Gustav, Ike ravage Cuba; Baptists launch relief

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