GOES-16 captured this geocolor imagery of Hurricane Harvey on the verge of making landfall on the Texas coast on August 25, 2017. (Photo, caption courtesy of NOAA Satellites via Flickr: https://goo.gl/mbVDiw)

In Houston, 4,000 National Guard members were activated on Sunday for rescue efforts. The Coast Guard saved over 100 people from rooftops and carried out around 2,000 multi-person rescues.

And the storm still isn’t over. As of Monday morning, rains from Harvey still were labeled at tropical storm level as it heads towards Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Afterwards, Harvey is forecasted to swing back towards Houston and Galveston for one more rainy bout on the already battered towns later this week.

Saturday and Sunday were the two wettest days Houston has seen since 1930, according to CNN. Houston’s average rainfall each year is about 25 inches. In the last two days, they’ve gotten at least that much, with another 25 inches expected throughout the week.

Bob Laarman, Director of Disaster Response Services with World Renew, says their ministry is keeping an eye on the situation and will go down to Texas for relief projects in the aftermath.

Texas National Guard soldiers conduct rescue operations in flooded areas around Houston, Texas 27 August, 2017. (Caption courtesy of The National Guard. Photo by 1Lt. Zachary West, 100th MPAD via Flickr: https://goo.gl/viGdUh)

“We are certainly in partnership and communication with a lot of different organizations right now and there are some that are obviously the first responders…. There’s food on the way and water on the way and people are setting up shelters or beginning to. It’s even difficult now with the storm still ongoing and rain still falling,” Laarman explains.

“Our part…will come some months down the road when we send in people to do needs assessment, find out what damage people had, what needs have already been met, and what still needs to be done. Then we partner with local organizations in those areas to send volunteers, and we send volunteers for months and sometimes even years — and I expect, in this case, it will be years from now we’ll still be there repairing homes with volunteers.”

Local officials say as rains and floods continue this week, at least 30,000 people may be displaced and around 450,000 will be forced to seek disaster assistance.

Texas National Guard soldiers respond to the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey (Caption courtesy of The National Guard. Photos by Ssg. Tim Pruitt via Flickr: https://goo.gl/EgWCVG)

“The heartbreak continues I would say when we go in there six months, nine months, a year later and people are still not in their homes,” says Laarman. “The joy of this work is to partner with local communities and partner with the people and help them rebuild their homes. They have new homes, their lives get re-established, but their hope gets re-established, and that’s the part that brings tears to your eyes.”

World Renew carries out disaster response in times like these out of obedience to Christ, and the people notice. But first, they need to build up trust.

“Our volunteers go full of desire to show God’s love and to help, but it’s not uncommon for them to be met with suspicion. The people are wondering why these people are coming from across the country to help them; they must have some hidden agenda. And people have been taken advantage of. In storms like this, bad people come out to take advantage of people and take their money. So they’re often leery.

“But it can take days if not a couple weeks to work with people to restore their homes, and by the time we’re done, they realize that our volunteers are there because of the love of God and they’re able to share their testimony over the days working on the home,” says Laarman.

“The people really do get a chance to see why we’re there and how great our God is and how we want to serve Him by doing this.”

Texas National Guard soldiers conduct rescue operations in flooded areas around Houston, Texas 27 August, 2017. (Caption courtesy of The National Guard. Photos by 1Lt. Zachary West, 100th MPAD via Flickr: https://goo.gl/W91yns)

Texas needs the aid of the Church right now. There are a few ways you can help today. “Obviously, all this takes money. So donations to World Renew are always welcome. But then also, we need volunteers to go out and do the work, do the needs assessments, and do the reconstruction.”

Click here to check out volunteer opportunities with World Renew, or you can also give online to Hurrican Harvey relief efforts through their ministry here.

And, of course, Laarman says we should never underestimate the impact of our prayers. “We know the power of prayer and invoking the presence of God in the midst of a storm is part of what we do as believers. So continue to do that.”

Causing an estimated $81 billion (2005 USD) in damage, Katrina
was the sixth-strongest recorded Atlantic hurricane, according to the National
Hurricane Center.

Before the storm even struck, as it gained force in the Gulf
of Mexico, the North American Mission Board assembled team and readied
themselves to aid in relief.

NAMB's Mickey Caison explained their response after the
storm hit: "For the next sixth months, we were heavily involved in
responding in the disaster response capacity: almost 200,000 volunteer days,
more than 500 mobile units, 15 million meals prepared, and somewhere around
18,000 homes we actually worked on."

In addition to physical relief, NAMB sent chaplains to
partner with local churches and ministries, as they administered spiritual and
emotional counseling.

Even after those months, they continued to help with
reconstruction and have had teams there up until recently, as they now readjust
their efforts and plan on empowering residence to continue the work.

Thus, even five years later, recovery is far from complete.
Caison said: "There's still a great many needs: a number of churches
closed, a number of schools and businesses closed. Those have not rebuilt
because the population is not there to support it at this point… The
spiritual needs are still there; great needs of the love and support that comes
out of the Gospel."

Though tremendous strides have been made in physical
recovery and many trusted in Christ after their world was turned upside down, anniversaries
and the threat of other hurricanes once again destroying homes and
livelihoods racks the nerves.

Especially in light of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, many
emotional wounds have been reopened, reminding victims of "the
pain that came in Katrina, when people lost business or lost homes, things like
that. There is a high emotional stress that is going on down in that
area."

Therefore, the Gulf coast still has a long road of recovery
ahead of them.

Caison said, because of this, believers need to continue to
diligently pray: "The need for prayer is always. Especially as believers,
we do not want that to be our last resort. That needs to be our starting
place."

Pray for continued healing in the lives of those affected by
Hurricane Katrina. Pray that even in the midst of the uncertainty the oil
spill and hurricane season produced, individuals will lean on God and entrust
their futures to Him.

Call NAMB at 1 (800)634-2462 if you would like to donate
your resources or time to their continued assistance in Louisiana and
Mississippi. Or you can visit their Web site at namb.net.