Anyone with a heart has been floored by the crisis in the Texas Hill Country. The natural response is to start collecting supplies, renting trucks, and start driving. However, as I mentioned on Sunday morning, this tends to generate a large number of responses that make work more difficult.

Funding those who are already prepared and trained to help becomes the best, straightforward way to make an impact. We consistently partner with Texans on Mission. It’s an organization supported by churches across Texas to wade into disasters with trained teams and the right supplies. Several people in our church have been trained to work in disaster relief teams. They provide shower trailers, “mud-out” teams that help homeowners begin to clean up, chain saw teams that deal with all the timber and brushpiles that accompany flooding, chaplains to deal with the emotional and spiritual toll, and feeding stations that provide immediate food relief to those who no longer have places to cook or the groceries to prepare.

They serve alongside other groups like the Salvation Army disaster relief teams. Because they see multiple disasters every year, they know what needs to happen in the first days of those disasters. Miraculously, these different agencies park their “territoriality” at the gate and jump in to support each other and bring relief to those who are suffering.

If you would like to support this effort, simply indicate on your contribution, “Texans on Mission,” or you can make a direct online donation here. If you want to be part of these front-line teams in the future, they conduct training weekends throughout the year. You get to choose what role fits you best, and you’ll be ready for the next wave of need.

Most of all, you can pray for these teams already on the ground, partnering with 1st responders, churches, and local residents as they take one step at a time to grieve, to sort through problems, and to heal over the months to come.