Friends of the American Republic,

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I have been saddened by the prevailing attitude that the job of cleaning up the mess and restoring people's lives is the responsbility and duty of President Bush and various government entities. This is not the spirit of the Founders. As people in communities throughout the countryside seek to honor God by quickly providing the right help where it is needed in a timely fashion, they protect the Republic from the crippling socialist attitude that demands bread and shelter from the government.

Franklin Graham's challenge reflects the words of the Constitution Party platform on Welfare:

God, who endows us with life, liberty, property, and the right to pursue happiness, also exhorts individuals to care for the needy, the sick, the homeless, the aged, and those who are otherwise unable to care for themselves...

The message of Christian charity is fundamentally at odds with the concept of welfare maintenance as a right. In many cases, welfare provisions by the Federal government are not only misdirected, but morally destructive. It is the intended purpose of civil government to safeguard life, liberty and property - not to redistribute wealth. Such redistribution is contrary to the Biblical command against theft.

We encourage individuals, families, churches, civic groups and other private organizations, to fulfill their personal responsibility to help those in need.

Ricardo Davis
State Chairman

Shelter from the Storm
Franklin Graham
September 6, 2005
http://samaritanspurse.org/MP_Article.asp?ArticleID=43

People left homeless by Hurricane Katrina are desperate for help. As survivors search for hope, churches and denominations have unprecedented opportunities to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ.

Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham challenged Christians to open the doors of churches to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in a September 1 interview on national television.

"In looking at this problem, I think the churches of America can step up to the plate. If every church in the Southeast took in 10 families, this would put a big dent in this problem," Mr Graham said.

"There needs to be a challenge now to our churches. I know individual churches have done this. But this needs to be organized by the denominations themselves, where there would be a collective effort all across the Southeast of all the denominations to take in families.

"If we don't do this, we are going to have a great, great problem. And I think the churches can do it. I think they'd be willing to do it. But I don't think anybody has challenged them to do it."

In the days following the hurricane, God has placed it on the hearts of thousands of Christians to find creative ways to get their churches involved in ministry to people who are now living in shelters across the Southeast. Many churches have the leadership, facilities, resources, and compassion to take in some of these families, serving them in ways that the government never can.

As Samaritan’s Purse works to meet the overwhelming needs of the hurricane survivors, we recognize that churches have a vital role. We also acknowledge that individual churches will need the support and leadership of their denominations to undertake such an extraordinary ministry.

We encourage church members who are moved with compassion for the hurricane survivors to talk to pastors, deacons, elders, and others in leadership about how their denomination can step forward and help meet this challenge.

In this way, we believe that God can use the aftermath of this disaster to energize churches, strengthen the Body of Christ, and touch the hearts of thousands of hurting people.