PPM Disaster Response: Hurricane Ida

Pastor Ikem's motto is Let's Go! We're so thankful for teams willing to do just that. We had our first team down in South Louisiana this weekend. They loaded up a trailer of supplies, drove 7 hours, and did whatever the Church needed of them. 

We'd love to have more teams serving alongside of Pastor Ikem and other churches like his in South Louisiana.

We are passionate about building up, encouraging, and assisting the local church and that is especially true during their times of greatest need.

Meet Pastor Ikem. For the past several years, he has pastored a church just outside of New Orleans in the small city of Donaldsonville. His community never fully recovered from the effects of Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago. Then came Hurricane Ida, a category 4 storm that severely impacted his community once again.

Today, his community sits without power. They’ve been told that they shouldn't expect electricity for at least three weeks. Gas and other basic supplies are running short. Members of his community are turning towards the local church for help.  

Pastor Ikem is ready to serve - and we know he's been called to do so. Pastor Ikem is ready and willing to turn his small church into a hub of recovery efforts for his town. He’s ready to provide water, meals, and other immediate needs people in his community may have. But he can’t do it alone. 

Our purpose and passion at PPM is to rally around pastors like Pastor Ikem. These pastors and churches are ingrained in their communities; they know the needs of their people, and the challenges they face.

We invite you to join us in this mission by giving or volunteering to serve. 

Give: We need your help to raise $25,000 to help Pastor Ikem provide meals, bottled water, and other necessities to families in need over the next several weeks. 

Serve: Come and serve alongside Pastor Ikem in Donaldsonville. Whether you can come for a day or even a few days, we are prepared to begin hosting volunteer groups of 10+ to assist in immediate relief efforts. We also know recovery is a long process and we will need groups later this fall and in 2022 to support the ongoing recovery efforts. 

Pastor Ikem is ready to get to work. As you donate to PPM, we will be using those resources to empower him so that he can be a light in the community - bringing food, encouragement, and hope. 

Can you help us? 

Yesterday evening, our disaster response team met up with local partner, Pastor Ikem, and his family in the town where they had evacuated to. They lead a church in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, a community just west of New Orleans that received a direct hit from Hurricane Ida. They have been in touch with friends and community members in the area and are headed back today. Pastor Ikam's church thankfully received minimal damage, but he is hearing reports of lots of destruction within his community. There is currently no power or water, and they are not expecting that to return for weeks.

Pastor Ikem and our disaster response team are headed to the affected areas today. Please be in prayer for him and his community, as well as all those who are responding to these urgent needs.

Please continue to pray for those in the midst of Hurricane Ida as it travels north through Louisiana and Mississippi. The storm is very slow-moving and continues to threaten the region with heavy rainfall, high winds, and the threat of tornadoes.

As our disaster response team makes its way to the area to meet with church partners and emergency response organizations, we will be posting updates about specific needs. However, we do know that there will be a certain base level of supplies needed in order to initiate a response. These items include bottled water, tarps, chainsaws, generators, gas canisters, gift cards, and more. It is our hope to generate funds to release to our partners right away to enable them to provide an immediate response to their communities.

To donate, click the "Donate" button at the top of this page or visit https://givebutter.com/hurricane-ida.

We have been in constant contact with our partners on the ground in Louisiana. As Hurricane Ida progressed quickly from a tropical storm to a category 4, the flooding has been much greater than expected. Our initial response team is currently en route to the affected area and will be providing more updates to come. We anticipate that we will be ready to begin receiving volunteers to help with the recovery efforts in the next few days.

If you are an individual interested in coming to serve with us in the next six weeks in the immediate aftermath of the storm, fill out the interest form on this page to be connected to a PPM staff member who can provide you with more information. For groups of 5 or more, view available group trip dates above.

Image source: Mickey Welsh, Montgomery Advertiser, USA Today Network

Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday and continues to batter inland areas of the Gulf Coast states. Many of our partners in southern Louisiana evacuated, but we are in contact with them and will be gathering information from them as they return in the coming days to assess the damage. We also hope to have part of our Disaster Response team on the ground in Louisiana in the next few days to uplift our partners and begin to make plans for teams to go and serve!

As the storm clears the coast and people begin to assess damage, please pray for those who may be stranded, those who aren't sure what they'll return to, and those who will be part of the long recovery ahead. Also, please pray for our partners and staff who are still in the path of the storm as places like Jackson, MS feel the impact of Ida throughout the day today.

Fundraising efforts continue in preparation for the rebuilding effort. If you feel called to give, you can donate by clicking the link above or text IDA to (202) 858-1233.

Image source: Devika Krishna Kumar - Reuters

Hurricane Ida is currently making landfall and reports are that it is retaining strength more than expected. This storm is slow and strong and likely to cause widespread damage across New Orleans and the surrounding areas.

Image source: NOAA

As of Sunday morning, this is the projected path and intensity of Hurricane Ida. Please be praying for all in its path. We will update as we hear from partners and connections in the area.

Image source: WRAL-TV