Dear family and friends of Hillsdale,
The scope and timeline of Hillsdale’s construction team and departure has radically changed….Please Pray!
We have been asked to send two teams that will do nothing but demolition with the first team scheduled to fly out of Tampa on a private plane as early as Monday…this Labor Day Monday.
The second team may depart as early as Thursday, September 7…both teams will focus on demolition within the churches and houses in the community [meaning construction tools and materials are not required until weeks later when everything has dried out].
The reason for the change is that waters are receding from two of the churches and mold will become an issue immediately. The first two teams will be cutting out dry wall up to the flood line and hauling out wet furniture, carpet, cabinets, etc..
We hope to send a third team in a few weeks that will focus on construction…purchasing materials, traveling to the churches in the Houston area and putting up dry wall.
We had not foreseen moving up the timeline and are facing an immediate need of providing our mission relief teams funds for their expenses in the flood zone.
I will be encouraging our church family to give this Sunday to support the expenses of the teams, their travel and meals (our second team will be facing a minimum of a 20 hour road trip). This is an evolving situation and we will give an update in the 10:30 AM service.
Please pray for safety…as the waters recede there is raw sewage and contamination from dead animals, etc.
If you are interested in giving online, please go to Hillsdale’s webpage (www.HillsdaleBaptist.org), go to the Donations button at the top of the page…beside “Other” write Hurricane Harvey and indicate the amount you are giving (of course, gifts are tax-deductible through the church).
If you want to be a member of one of our relief teams, please contact Pastor Jarrett at jjarrett@hillsdalebaptist.org.
With the heart of a shepherd,
Pastor Travis D. Smith