Pray for continued support and outreach by the Christian community in Houston and Puerto Rico which have been devastated by the recent hurricanes.

“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purposes for me.” (Ps 57:1-2)

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Houston update:
“Hurricane Harvey didn’t just physically put Houston under water, it’s dragging a lot of homeowner’s mortgages under water too.

According to black knight, a mortgage and finance analyst, 40,200 mortgages in Southeast Texas are 90 days or more delinquent as a result of Hurricane Harvey. ’Some people can’t even be in their home right now, so not only are they responsible for a mortgage payment, but they may be paying rent on a temporary apartment or for a hotel room,’ said Mary Lawler, the Executive Director with Avenue Community Develop Corp.

Lenders generally gave homeowners a 90-day delay on their next payment.

‘So now people are seeing not just their regular mortgage payment is due, but also the back payment that had been delayed,’ Lawler said.

While they risk foreclosure, many may be waiting to see how much money will come from the government, and where it’s going to go, before they make any decisions.” (Excerpted from NewsFix, article by G. Trudeau)

Puerto Rico update:
“Hispanic leaders in the U.S. say Puerto Rican churches are on the brink of survival, reeling not only from physical damage and destruction in the wake of Hurricane Maria, but now an historic migration that threatens their ability to retain pastors and stay afloat financially.

‘It is a crisis moment for the church in Puerto Rico,’ said Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

‘It’s precarious to say the least,’ Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference, told CBN News, ‘we’ve never been down this road in Puerto Rico.’

Hurricane Maria is considered the worst natural disaster on record on the island and hundreds of thousands have fled since it hit last fall. Dr. Yarimar Bonilla, associate professor of Caribbean studies at Rutgers University, says 300,000 have left for Florida alone. The island was already suffering from a historic migratory wave before Maria, caused by the fiscal crisis. That flood of people plus the current wave fleeing after Maria could result in a 25 percent loss of the population by the end of the decade. . . . Pastors have been pouring into their communities every day since the hurricane hit, said Salguero, and many have no power or water in their own homes.

‘We have to pray for the pastors who are going the extra mile even though they themselves have had no luxury or benefits of comfort. They’re my heroes,’ said Salguero.“ (Excerpted from CBN News, article by Heather Sells.)