Friday FAX
August 31, 2005
A News and Information Service for Leaders in North America


FROM THE EDITOR - For continual updates, contact the North American
Division website at www.nadadventist.org. Photos and news from various
areas are being posted there as we receive them.

Please pass this church bulletin announcement to your churches
as soon as possible so it may be included in all church bulletins by
this Sabbath.



HURRICANE KATRINA - UPDATE #2


CHURCH BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT - This announcement calls people to action
to donate to ACS for all types of disasters, including Hurricane
Katrina.

If you have any questions, please contact Jerrica Thurman,
communication coordinator for ACS, at 301-680-6438.

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From: Adventist Community Services Disaster Response National
Headquarters
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904

In hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes - whenever and wherever
disaster strikes - Adventist Community Services Disaster Response is
committed to helping communities in crises.

For more than 100 years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has
provided emergency relief through Adventist Community Service Disaster
Response.

Working in more than 200 cities across North America, ACS
Disaster Response operates in partnership with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and is a member of National Voluntary Organizations
Active in Disasters.

ACS Disaster Response helps disaster victims through emergency
distribution of relief supplies, donation management and warehouse
operations and crisis response centers.

ACS Disaster Response deploys its volunteers to disastrous areas
to distribute non-perishable food, clothing, bedding, fresh water,
toiletries, and other necessary supplies

For more information about an ACS Disaster Response Center near
you or to donate, please visit www.communityservices.org or call (877)
ACS-2702.
------------------------------

CHURCH HURRICANE COVERAGE - The North American Division website will
carry up-to-date information on the Church's response to Hurricane
Katrina. If you have information on how your territory is responding to
this disaster, please send it to george.johnson@nad.adventist.org so
that he can post it to the site. In this information, he will be linking
back to your organization's website and asks that you link back to the
NAD site as well, when you are telling people where to find out about
the latest information.

Contact:
http://www.nadadventist.org/article/articleview/611/1/13/ for
Hurricane Katrina updates.

WATCH YOUR RADIO - LifeTalk Radio now has streaming video so that now
you can watch (and hear) their new daily call-in program, "Steve
Gallimore Live." It will feature topics currently in the news that
are of religious interest. The Bible will be used to answer callers'
questions.

The program on Thursday will feature Southern Union Adventist
University President Gordon Bietz, and will discuss, "How Christians
should relate to a tragedy as we think of the great calamity in the Gulf
states." It will begin at 2:00 p.m., EDT.

Contact: www.lifetalk.net to watch/listen via the Internet.
LifeTalk is also available on a 3ABN or ATN satellite dish, on cable in
some areas, or on 70 radio stations that air the program.

AMERICAN RED CROSS URGENT FAMILY ALERT - Please make this information
and list of suggestions, taken from the American Red Cross Website
available to your members. (Contact
www.redcross.org/pressrelease/0,1077,0_314_4494,00.html for the
release in its entirety.)

Thousands of Americans are worried about their loved ones in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Red Cross does not have information
on the well being of any individuals. They have the same problems with
communication as the general public. They cannot enter areas until they
are deemed safe by public officials. Their phone lines are overwhelmed
with calls. They say that medical and government officials will contact
families in serious cases if necessary, and the best way to help them
assist those affected by the storm is to remain patient and help keep
their phone lines open for emergencies only.

For situations such as Hurricane Katrina, "it's important to
go back to communication basics to ensure that your family and friends
know you are safe:

* Call an out of town contact to let them know you are safe.
* Ask them to spread the word to your family and friends.
* Make sure your contact lives far enough away that they are not
affected by the same storm.
* Rest assured that emergency responders are working as quickly as
possible and are doing all that they can to help those affected.
* Remember that storms mean power outages and downed phone lines.
Please keep trying and be patient.
* Phone lines are often overwhelmed after a disaster. Try sending an
email if you can-sometimes email works when phones don't.



***

Managing Editor - Lynetta Murdoch
lynetta.murdoch@nad.adventist.org
Fax 301-680-6464
*