Good News - September 2018

mighty waters rise they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me and surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:6,7) - to be pre-prayed is to be prepared. And, this year we replaced our old roof that was leaking. Gita Santangelo, Community Prayer Partner If we were five days away from hurricane warnings, in the past, I would pack up my car, grab my little buddy (Charlie the cat), and we would head north. These days, I buy a bunch of fruit, and hunker down. No more hurricane inspired road trips for me. Gregg D. Sjoquist, President/CEO, The Wasie Foundation Last year I learned the hard way that evacuating via car is NOT the best strat- egy. Next time around I’ll be bunkering down after boarding up the house and help- ing our neighbors! John Novoa, Financial Associate, Southeast Region Thrivent Financial ® I am an eternal optimist, so usually five days out I am still very hope-filled, and I am sure that the hurricane will head out to sea. My preparations begin in the three day. We keep our water and toilet paper stocked up year round. (It gives my hus- band a sense of security.) So I am one of the hundreds at the store stocking up on food items (which includes lots of pop tarts). We try to make sure our church team and members especially our singles, students and seniors have a safe place to go. Our team works in small groups to make sure everyone is covered . Julie Mullins, Pastor, Christ Fellowship I have been in South Florida for over thirty years and have experienced so many hurricanes! Each time we are notified of an impending storm my husband and I, first of all, will pray! We pray and believe for the best, but we use wisdom and prepare. We want to make sure that our children and family also prepare and make arrangements to stay in contact, depending on the circumstances. Dr. Mary Drabik, President, South Florida Bible College & Theological Seminary Our normal procedure for hurricane preparedness is to wait until the absolute last minute and then scramble to get everything crowded into the garage! The only thing we really do in advance is call friends who are alone or who live near the beaches and offer them safer space in the western suburbs! Nancy McDonald, President/CEO, Hope Women’s Centers If I were five days away from hurricane warnings, my normal preparedness pro- cedure would be to have cash on hand, fill up all vehicles with gasoline, purchase nonperishable food, bottled water, batteries for flashlights and radio and stock up on medications and vitamins. I would also close storm shutters on windows and doors and pray that God would cause the hurricane to subside and dissipate into the Sea. O’Neal Dozier, Pastor, Worldwide Christian Center Having lived through such a wide variety of different category hurricanes, we have several automatic things that we do as a family. 1. Pray, 2. Make sure we have cash available, 3. Make sure there are plenty of canned goods, 4. Bottle up drinking water, 5. Remove loose items from the yard. 6. Purchase fresh batteries & put flashlights, candles and radio in one central area, 8. Fill up cars and generator (and back up containers) with fuel, 9. Make sure rela- tives, friends and neighbors are prepared During Irma we did not lose power, but the extra fuel kept one of our church families going until there power was restored. Patricia Colangelo, EdS, Director of Operations – Florida, Trinity International University If Hurricane Irma last year is any indication, my preparedness procedure will consist of feverishly driving to every Publix and Walgreens in town for several days looking for the last remaining gallons of overpriced water, and watching my Insta- gram feed filled with many of my friends leaving town for a 1-2 week “evacucation.” Rick Hunter, Director, The CityChurch Project Pray; Buy batteries & water and food; Fill up my bathtub with water; Prepare refrigerator and freezer and clean it out; Make arrangements for hurricane shutters to be put up; Find out if anyone needs a place to stay; Freeze several bottles of water. Robyn Wilke , South Florida Branch Director, Jews for Jesus Having ridden out almost all hurricanes in South Florida since the 1950’s, I just start watching the “cone” closer and making sure I have all my shutter boards in the garage. Romney C. Rogers, Managing Partner, Rogers, Morris & Ziegler LLP First, want to make sure we have supplies like water, flashlights, generator, propane gas and food that can be cooked, Secondly, that my children and church Daryl Nelson Deborah Cusick Fred Scarbrough George Moraitis Germaine Smith-Baugh Gita Santangelo Gregg D. Sjoquist John Novoa Julie Mullins Dr. Mary Drabik Nancy McDonald O’Neal Dozier Wants to Know… Patricia Colangelo Rick Hunter Robyn Wilke Romney C. Rogers