Monday Ministerial Musings
By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2023 Blog #7
February 13, 2023
Donations for Turkey
My life is not perfect but compared to how most people live in the world I have a pretty privileged life. Whenever I find myself complaining over stupid things I look at the news from the world. I usually see reports on people suffering in ways that I have never experienced, nor do I want to ever experience.
Last week I did not have to seek out the news. The news found me. My social media and news alerts all sent me notices of the massive earthquake that struck the nation of Turkey. The first reports I read told me that there were 2,000 people died in the quake. The early reports I read did not reveal how many people were injured or left homeless.
As later reports came out I learned that 25,000 people died in the quake. In addition, 80,000 people have been injured and 2 million are now homeless refugees. These numbers can overwhelm any nation. Turkey has been overwhelmed and refugee camps are struggling to shelter and feed the massive amount of refugees.
To put this in context, the town of Bergenfield is 28,000, just a bit more than the amount of the deceased in Turkey. The total population of Bergen and Hudson counties is about 1.5 million people. The amount of Turkish refugees exceeds the population of our county and the county to our south. Can you image these two counties needing to evacuate and needing to be housed in tents? Is there any doubt why the Turks are overwhelmed trying to care for the living and burying the dead?
And so it is that I, as someone who lives in peace and prosperity, feels obligated to contribute to our Reformed Church in America Fund in order to fund these refugee camps and to help alleviate the suffering. I will be praying for these refuges, those who have been injured and those who are morning these deaths, but that is not enough. I need to “put my money where my mouth is.” This weekend I made a contribution to relief in Turkey. I ask that anyone who is reading this blog to also contribute.
It is easy to contribute. Simply click on the following weblink to make your contribution:
#ReformedChurchInAmerica #PastorMarkAuthor
#BergenCounty #BergenfieldNJ
#RefugeeRelief #Mission
#Generosity #WorldMissions
To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/
Pastor Mark Author 