Free Republic

Later this morning I will be leaving California to travel to Mississippi to help with the hurricane relief effort through Samaritan's Purse. Ten people from our church will be going into southern Mississippi to help with cleanup and relief services for the next ten days, but I am a member of the advance team. I will be driving non-stop for the next few days with a friend. We are carrying the tools and supplies needed and will be meeting the rest of the group at the Jackson airport after we arrive. I know that there are many God-fearing Freepers out...

A massive interfaith effort is under way to feed Hurricane Katrina evacuees at large-scale shelters in Houston, including the George R. Brown Convention Center. The plan is not final. But organizers expect religious groups to raise an initial $4.4 million for 30 days of food and to supply 720 volunteers a day to provide and serve three hot meals to many thousands seeking shelter in Houston. "I do not view this as a faith community issue," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, which will participate in the effort and other relief projects. "This is...

Rod Ryan never thought he'd allow a dog in the house, but this week, he's got three dogs and a cat. Not to mention eight human visitors holed up in his four-bedroom home. Ryan, morning radio jock at KTBZ-FM (94.5) found common ground with untold numbers of Houstonians this week when he opened his home to friends from New Orleans. People donate money for disasters half a world away, but when it happens so close to home, the reaction is more intimate. Houston shares more than geography with New Orleans and Mississippi — family and religious ties, a love of...

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- World Vision, a Christian relief agency with operations in some of the world's riskiest areas, has pulled out of Iraq after the shooting death of one of its Iraqi workers. "It's just too dangerous," spokesman Dean Owen said Friday...