September 26, 2017
“Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:8-9
Dear Church Family
This week I would like to give you an update on where we have been with our recent mission work, where we are now, and where we will be going in the future. Right after the storm had passed our congregation immediately went to work to do things like clean out people’s homes and to serve wherever they were needed across our community. At our church we fed 60 first responders from our community on that Wednesday at lunch, and the next day we fed another 100. That day was also the beginning of our program to house out-of-town first responders on our property while they did the work of rescuing people in our area. Across four nights we held anywhere from 70 to 200 first responders each night, and we were able to feed them during that time as well. During that time we had some amazing leaders who stepped up to take control of our mission work and somewhere around 80 volunteers gave their time in order to serve those who were serving our community. After the first responders had moved on to other areas we then began hosting work teams from other United Methodist churches. These teams have helped a number of people in our area with cleanup of their homes and they have truly shown us the power of the United Methodist connection at work.
Currently we have received more than $9,000 in donations to our Missions fund at FUMC, Port Neches. We will use these donations to cover our expenses from feeding the first responders and work teams, but most of these donations will be used for future plans for our congregation’s outreach work. It is our hope to use part of these funds to equip a new missions room in our church which will hold the cots, air mattresses, pillows, and other supplies which we have received for our work. That way we can be prepared for future storms, and we will also be prepared to aid other communities when they deal with disasters like the one we have gone through. We will also use part of the missions fund for home repair projects for people in our community who are in need. A team from our congregation is being formed which will build wheelchair ramps and will do other projects as needed for members of our congregation and for others who could use a helping hand. Look for more information about this team in coming weeks.
It is our plan to continue to host cleanup teams for the next several weeks as they come available. Eventually those teams will also begin the process of rebuilding in our area and we will host those teams as well. This may last for several months and may even stretch into a few years as the need presents itself. Ultimately it is our goal to continue being the hands, feet, and heart of God in our community as we work together to rebuild. We will be stronger in the end as we give, serve, and love as God has called us, and we will be able to make God’s presence known through the actions of people like you. I can tell you that a lot of people across our state and across our nation are praying for us and are stepping up to help in many different ways. In turn, let us do what we can to serve and let us also consider doing tangible acts of care for those affected by other hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes across the world. Speak out for those who cannot speak…this is our call from the Lord.
Pastor Michael


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September 20, 2017
​This morning we once again lift up the people of Puerto Rico in prayer as they suffer from another hurricane.  We also lift up the first responders from Puerto Rico who spent time in our community immediately after Harvey battered our region.  Please pray for all those affected by Hurricane Maria and find ways to help wherever you can.

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Septmeber 6, 2017

FUMC, Port Neches Family:
We will be hosting a team of United Methodists from the North District (Tyler/Longview/Marshall) this evening. This team will be going to homes and churches in our area that took on water due to the storm last week in order to clean them out and prepare them for rebuilding. They will be staying with us for four nights and we are being asked to feed them breakfast and dinner while they stay with us. I will take care of breakfast on Thursday, September 7th, but I am looking for small teams to prepare the other meals during the team's stay with us. Right now we are only planning on eight visitors, but to be safe we likely need to prepare food for about a dozen people. If you are able to provide a meal or multiple meals then please contact me as soon as you can. I will get you on a schedule so that we can do as much as possible to care for these wonderful people who are serving our community. I truly appreciate all that our church has done over the last two weeks and I know that we can continue to make a loving difference in our community with your help.
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Thank you,
Rev. Michael Peschke
832-594-8933
pastor@fumcportneches.org

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September 5, 2017
Dear First United Methodist Church, Port Neches Family:

Words cannot do justice to speak to what we have seen and experienced as a community over the last week. Even as I write this to you there are places all around us that are still under water and there are people who are still losing their lives because of this tragedy. I know that several of our members took on water in their homes and are now trying to clean up and rebuild, and there are many of you who have gone through more than you ever wanted to go through in your lives. And yet, through it all there have been more signs of God's presence and God's love than I have ever seen before.

Many of you probably heard or experienced the work that was done at our church over several days to feed and house first responders as they worked on rescuing and caring for our community. In individual units we fed and housed somewhere around 850 people across a six-day period. Y'all did an amazing job through numerous acts of service and love, and I am incredibly proud to be the pastor of a church like ours. Although our time of housing first responders is now over, there are many more chances ahead for our church to continue to care for others over the next several days, weeks, and months.
First, we are looking for people to come to the church tomorrow (Wednesday, September 6th) at 10:30 AM to help our Mother's Day Out teachers get their rooms back in order. We used the Children's Building to house many of our first responders and now we need to get chairs, tables, and toys back in their places before MDO restarts next week. If you can come by the church to help for a little while we would truly appreciate it.

Second, we will be hosting a number of out-of-town teams from other churches as they come to our community to help clean up and rebuild. We have the space and plenty of beds for them, but we will need people to provide meals and also people to provide showers for these servants. Expect another message soon with more details, but if you are interested in helping then please contact me.

Third, we have flood buckets available at the church if you know of someone who is still trying to clean up their home. A "flood bucket" is literally a 5-gallon bucket full of cleaning supplies, rags, gloves, and masks which can be used for cleanup after floods. If you need one of these buckets come by the church office during our regular operating hours or contact me.
Fourth, the Wesley Foundation at Lamar University is trying to help their students get back on their feet, especially after the delayed opening of school, and so we have been asked to provide a dinner for the Wesley Foundation on September 21st. We need to provide food for around 100 people that afternoon at 4:30, so if you are interested in helping with that project then please let me know. We also need a leader for that project, so if you're willing and able then I'd love to hear from you.

Finally, I just want to remind you that we have one worship service this Sunday, September 10th, at 10:00 AM. This combined worship service was originally planned to coincide with our church's birthday (celebrated on September 11th), but the scope of things has changed to being a time for us to come together as one church family to support each other and praise our Lord together. We will have Sunday School at 9:00 that morning, but the planned lunch for after church has been cancelled. There might be some work to do at the church that afternoon so if you're able plan on sticking around after worship and I'll give you a place to serve.

​This church family is awesome and over a few days y'all proved that you are an integral part of our community. Give yourselves a pat on the back because you deserve it. If you are currently in need because of the storm then please let me (or the church office) know so that we can try to assist you. Especially if you need help cleaning up and making repairs then let us know and we'll do our best to find people who can help. We are in this together for the long haul and I know that our church and community will come out stronger in the end.
Thank you,
Pastor Michael