Baptist church raises $1 million for Hurricane Katrina relief

Fountain Baptist Church in Summit, N.J., recently reached the goal of raising $1 million for Hurricane Katrina relief, six months before the scheduled two-year deadline. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University says that is the second largest donation by an individual church ever.

"I salute Fountain Baptist for their awesome accomplishment," said the Rev. A. Roy Medley, general secretary for American Baptist Churches USA. "Their track record of generosity is well-known, and we celebrate all that God is doing for and through them."

The Rev. J. Michael Sanders, pastor of Fountain Baptist, said that the money went for job training, housing and aid to churches impacted by the storm.

"After a while, people often forget certain things and people lose their commitment, their excitement or concern," Sanders said.

To combat this tendency, Fountain Baptist set its own deadline in May 2006 to raise $1 million for ongoing hurricane relief within two years. They surpassed even their own expectations and did so in just 18 months.

Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall, National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA has been working to bring hope and healing to the Gulf Coast, from an immediate release of funds to Church World Service Emergency Response Programs to recent home building projects in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Recovery, however, will take years.

Funds and volunteers are still critical. Victoria Goff, National Ministries' national coordinator of Volunteer Ministries, reports a need for volunteers both in Mississippi and Louisiana. Also, plans are underway for a 2008 Blitz Build in Baton Rouge to construct five homes from April 28 to May 17.

Patrice Edwards, a Fountain Baptist Church member, said, "There's still a lot of work that has to be done in that area. It's not like we met a goal and that's it."

Fountain Baptist is dually aligned with the American Baptist Churches and the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention.

This story is provided by Worldwide Faith News.