Author: Tolaver

September 12th, 2011

Effects of Hurricane Irene

The hype and buzz had been building for days! TV, radio, and internet heralded the reality inching its way towards our shores: “Hurricane Irene is coming straight towards New England!” The intensity of these alarms were almost to the point of fever pitch. And yet, CT. is not a state that has been entirely immune to natural disasters in one form or another; they have faced them before. Therefore, what we saw in the Hill community was nothing short of a remake of what the world saw during the days of Noah and the flood.
Heading only 4 blocks North, towards her mother’s house, one of our parishioners saw extreme contrasts. In route, she saw several churches, with members in the streets, praying, singing, and proclaiming the judgment of God coming to the city via a hurricane.; they were calling their neighbors to repentance. Their words were driven by a belief that what was occurring was actually an apocalyptic or ‘end of days’ event, much like the days of Noah. In this instance, they saw themselves as being parallel to Noah and his family.
However, by far, the majority of the Hill residents were not looking at this event as something that was calling them to repentance. Instead, caught up in the apocalyptic fervor, this event was a throwing open-wide of the gate of complete ‘narcissism.’ One person stated that they had never seen more parties in the Hill community, than when the dark clouds and wind began to settle in to the area.’ I don’t point this out to state that this event was an actual judgment from God via the hurricane; however, these neighbors did interpret it that way, and despite their understanding, their hearts were only further hardened to rebel against the kingship of God. Their attitude simply became, ’well, if this is the end, then we might as well have as much fun as possible.’
For a brief moment, some of us actually wondered if this was what it must have felt like for Noah and his family as they were building the Ark. ‘Do they not understand what this means? What if they are wrong? ‘ And maybe more humbling, ‘why is it that we have been shown God’s judgment and provision for our salvation?’ For a moment, we were given precious insight into the spiritual state of our community; that our neighborhood has been gripped by the oppressive and destructive tentacles of sin and Satan. To be completely honest, our hearts were broken for our neighbors; we were forced to see the depth of blind despair that lives in a good portion of our neighborhood.
Even so, heading into the 3rd year of our church plant, we are humbled by how God has been saving a people for Himself and motivating them to build His vehicle of salvation , the Church, via the gospel and the Holy Spirit, to save those whom the Lord has called to be united to Him! The early days of our first soccer camp and bible study has grown into much, much more. We now have a men’s and women’s bible study, weekly Word and Sacrament worship, new members and covenant children, Jr. & Sr. High education, mentoring, and the development and delegation of core leadership from the Hill community. Nonetheless, as our ‘storm’ illustration points out, this work of the Lord is but a small portion of our overall community.
Much more needs to occur to see the devil’s playground turned into the kingdom of God! As of two months ago, New Haven was labeled as the 4th most violent city in America (per capita), with 25 murders registered in 2011. Regardless, God has and will continue to open eyes and restore lives via the Gospel, before the real day of the Lord comes to the earth. With this truth in mind, we are praying and seeking to implement some the following strategies for 2011-2012:
Community Outreach: evangelism, service, camps, bible clubs,etc.
Leadership Dev.
Increasing partnerships with churches and para-church organ.
Expanding Mentoring and Co-Op programs.
Thank you for making these efforts and steps of faith possible!
Tolivar & Sam Wills

CPC in the Hill
www.cpcinthehill.weebly.com