Members of Iglesia de Jesuscristo (which essentially means Christchurch) have been contributing to the relief effort in Valencia, following the disastrous flooding recently seen in the city.
Over 200 people have died after the Eastern Spanish city and its surrounding area was hammered with a year’s worth of rain fall in just eight hours. Julian Milson (pictured with his wife Nicky), who works with Crosslinks, revealed that church members from the Spanish Reformed episcopal congregation have gone with thousands of others into affected areas by bus to assist with the humanitarian effort and cleanup. Milson said that volunteers have been ‘put to good use’, but that the organisation of assistance on the ground has been ‘patchy’.
Collection points and targeted aid
Support across the city has taken various forms. Collection points have been set up across Valencia for food, water, clothing and even household items, although in many cases, the items most cherished are cleaning products and alcohol gel.
Milson spoke of how some church members have supported friends with ‘more specific, targeted needs’, and of how the church held an online prayer meeting the night after the worst of the flooding, as well as a two-minute silence during their next Sunday service.
He told en: ‘There is a sense of shared trauma and helplessness in the city. The trauma is heightened in those who have visited the affected areas. We have no-one from our church family who lives outside the city (in the flooded area) but we all know people who do live there.
‘Our general mood is very subdued and we are simply relying on our heavenly Father to give us the strength and encouragement we need to continue to serve Him faithfully at this difficult time for our city.’
