Volunteer Focus

Due to a lack of trained staff in Vermont, we are sending volunteers to other organizations to volunteer.

We are collaborating with some churches in our district to provide pastoral care as the disaster unfolds in areas south of Rutland. 

Please pray for Vermont, especially the faith based organizations that have limited funding, but are striving to show the love of God.

BINGHAMTON / OWEGO NY

Volunteers are needed for Binghamton and Owego, NY for mud outs and general clean up.

We will be there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this week (16 to 18th) Meals and housing is provided. Just bring yourselves, compassion, and a willingness to serve.




Mature Pastors and other lay leaders and mature Christians with CPE, or Disaster Experience are needed to provide pastoral care as well. One to two week deployments. Meals and housing provided. Email me for more details. jamie@hesedhope.org


Please contact me at jamie@hesedhope.org; www.hesedhope.org

If you can't give of your time or are limited in helping due toe health reasons, financial Donations are always appreciated and help to get other people in the field. You can donated via paypay on our web page. www.hesedhope.org 

Volunteers and Chaplains Needed for State Wide and Local Clean Up in VT and NY

We are collaborating with VOAD and other state and local organizations to develop teams of volunteers for "Mud Out".

We need volunteers willing to donate a day, or several days to help home owners clean up their homes. Older youth groups and adults are welcome.

We also need pastoral care providers, chaplains and especially those with CISM and disaster experience for deployments lasting one week or more if possible.

We will find local housing and meals.

Last, we need churches throughout NY and VT who will house and provide meals for volunteers in the communities near them who were hit by Irene. 

The safest and most effective way to help, is by joining up with an established organization like ours. 

People are often prevented from going into sights that are not part of a recognized organization, and most importantly, they should be. During disasters many volunteers are injured because they become a liability to the rescue operation due to a lack of knowledge or experience. Even the most skilled of us end up injured at times, as we learned on our recent disaster with two injuries. Disaster sights and disasters are unpredictable.

At this time, VT still has many roads closed and even a small rain fall can cause the already existing situations to become hazardous again, stranding volunteers who them become victims of the disaster.

We are in constant contact with state and local authorities to stay abreast of road and weather hazards, as well as where we are most needed.

Please sign up with Hesed Hope for Mud Out and other volunteer opportunies by writing to me at:
jamie@hesedhope.org

 And visit our web page at: www.hesedhope.org

What Exactly Do We Do???? - Sheep Needed for Hurrican Irene, Signed Jesus

 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"...‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 

[ 'For my home was destroyed and you took me in, my belongings were gone and you provided for me, I was in pain, and you visited me to show your love and compassion.']"

“Then the righteous will answer him, ['Lord, when was your home destroyed and I took you in, your belongings gone and I provided for you, in pain and I visited you to show my love and compassion?’]"

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did  for one of the least of  these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."...

                                                                                                                                  Matthew 25:31 -40

WHAT DO WE DO?

We are a small developing ministry building crisis and disaster response teams; training and equipping the church to be effective ministers of love and compassion. Sheep.

We are similar to Billy Grahams Rapid Response Team (of who we are also members, but now called to build more teams).  BGEA works alongside Samaritan's Purse. BGEA does the spiritual care- SP the practical helps. We do both on a much smaller scale (so far) as we build our trained spiritual care teams, and provide help anywhere we are needed. We also train others to provide effectively for local crisis response, when we are not needed for disasters. (Visit our web page)

What we do not have, is an international budget nor salaries. We  do not have a professional  photographer, nor the man- power to always have pictures to show the work we are doing - like right now. We also have the sensitivity to respect the privacy of who we are working with, so pictures are not always a priority.

100% of donations go to deployments - we do not even reimburse ourselves for many expenses, fully committed to this ministry. I (Jamie) am acting director, and ordained and endorsed as a chaplain - do not take any pay, working more than full time. None of our board members of staff are paid.

The majority of donations from large corporations like Walmart, now go directly to the Red Cross, making the task of grants and fundraising difficult, and time consuming, for small scale operations and other NGO's. (You will no longer see Teen Challenge outside Walmart.)

Our volunteers must self-deploy - simply because they love Jesus, and desire to share His love and compassion with others - we are able to provide housing, most meals, and usually on-sight transportation for our volunteers.

We are not all professionals - though we have a mixture of professionals and "lay" persons. We are recruiting teams that include mental health, chaplains, R.N.'s, fire and rescue - peers of all types, men and women.

We had truly hoped to get more people interested in training before a disaster hit - especially locally, but everything happens in His time.

Now is the time. The secular world is responding in droves. This is our opportunity - the church - to show the sacrificial love of Jesus - in action. 

We need financial donations for expenses, material donations of cleaning supplies, and  MATURE CHRISTIAN VOLUNTEERS. 

We will be driving trucks down to Schenectady to pick up donations from Convoy of Hope, tomorrow morning - renting a truck if we do not have one provided. 

We have a team in VT hiking into the hills to minister to people cut off, at the invitation of the Red Cross.  (Perhaps pictures and stories will follow tonight) 

We are in contact with non-government and government officials. 

We are in this for the long haul. We COVET your prayers for the victims of this disaster in NY and VT, safety of our volunteers, and provision for this work to continue. 

Please stay tuned to this blog for daily reports and needs. Please post your availability, or contact me with your contact information at: jamie@hesedhope.org 

In His Loving Service,

Jamie and Dave and Hesed Hope Staff

www.hesedhope.org