We pray for D.J. and all who put the lives of others ahead of their own.

We pray for Darrell, whose New Orleans home and church were each destroyed. His congregation has scattered, but he has answered a new call to lead United Methodists in rebuilding and regathering the churches of New Orleans.

We pray for Darrell and all whose vision and organization will lead toward recovery and healing.

We pray for Carrie, a church youth director who now coordinates housing for relief and recovery workers even though she no longer has a home of her own.

We pray for Carrie and all who put the needs of community ahead of their own.

We pray for Jimmy, a pastor in Florida, who led a team from his congregation to Mississippi to offer assistance.

We pray for Jimmy and all those from far away who left their homes to help others.

We pray for Challais and Ward and Tonya, three San Diego County residents with a deep concern for disaster recovery, who traveled to Mississippi and Louisiana in search of opportunities to offer on-going help in this disaster and others.

We pray for Challais and Ward and Tonya and all in this area who are moved to find new and greater ways to share their service.

We pray for Gary and Susan, who, even though their Louisiana home was damaged, share themselves with others, saying “we only had a tree fall on our roof, and we know we’re blessed.”

We pray for Gary and Susan and all who serve others because they see further than their own circumstance.

We pray for Mina and Joe, who offer hospitality and home cooking to work crews throughout the country, transforming their small church into a long-term recovery center.

We pray for Mina and Joe and all who willingly change their lives and mission without questioning God’s call.

We pray for Molly and Christian and Karen, three United Methodists who felt an urgency to answer God's call to people in need and found hope and affirmation of God's glory in the actions and stories of everyone working to restore both neighborhoods and communities of faith.

We pray for Molly and Christian and Karen and all people of faith who seek to serve.

We pray for Mark, who traveled from Ohio to clear trees even though he only has full use of one arm and can no longer use a chainsaw. He found ways to serve just as he is.

We pray for Mark and all those who have the courage to see past limitations and offer helpful service.

We pray for Roxie who sees God’s blessings even through the destruction, offering to share her new tent “home” in hospitality to strangers and proclaiming God’s wonder to all who will hear.

We pray for Roxie and all who find hope among the horror.

We pray for the congregation of First Church in Slidell, where the sanctuary and other buildings took in five feet of water and where almost one in every two member families lost their homes. Yet, they have always been a church in mission and their goal is to quickly return to that call.

We pray for First Church Slidell and for all congregations who look beyond the needs of their sanctuaries to the greater need of the most vulnerable in their communities.

We pray for Malcolm, who faithfully continues to serve as a church caretaker, clearing the sanctuary of upended pews and mud-covered carpet as others in the congregation attend to their own critical needs elsewhere. We give thanks for those who seek to serve Christ’s church.

We pray for Malcolm and all who generously tend the needs of our churches.

We pray for the poor who had needs before the storm and have greater needs now. We pray for the poor of the Gulf Coast as well as the poor in San Diego and throughout the world.

We pray that our sense of urgency to offer aid will continue beyond immediate relief into meaningful and life-sustaining support and opportunity.

May God’s presence be known to all who suffer devastation, and may each of us strive to bring hope to all creation through our prayers, our proclamations and our service.

Amen