Christians are staying alert and waiting for the next "course of action" as the Hurricane subsides, after coming ashore in southern Florida early Monday and forecasters warning that the Hurricane is heading towards the Canadian Maritime.
Slamming Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and killing at least 17 people across the Caribbean, the storm crashed into Florida as a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds at 6:30 a.m. EDT, fed by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Wilma flooded low-lying Florida Keys, and then traveled mainland south towards Naples, speeding across the Everglades to the populous Miami-Fort Lauderdale area on the Atlantic Coast, destroying cars and flipping mobile homes.
Christians are staying alert to see how they can help where they can, not knowing the effect the Hurricane will have, on the local churches.
Paul Chan, general secretary of Chinese Christian Mission (CCM), an organization that works with other churches in spreading the gospel, said that "normally in these situations, we would contact them and wait for them to see what their course of action is."
Meanwhile some Christians are still collecting funds for Hurricane Katrina.
Christians from the Light and Salt Association (L&SA), a Chinese Christian organization founded under the teaching in Mt 5 that says Christians need to be the "light and salt of the world," has been working with churches in Houston and local Christian associations to see how the money should be used.
Michael Leng, a volunteer at the Light and Salt Association, said that right now their focus is still on Katrina, but he said that their organization will evaluate where the funds should go and how it should be used.
For the funds they collect, 50 percent goes to American organizations, he said, "we don't limit it to Chinese Christians," while the other half goes to "Christians and their Chinese organizations."
He added, "Right now, the churches have been damaged greatly and there is a great need for this fund."
According to the Associated Press, some of the damage caused by the Wilma includes a power outage to over 6 million people in Florida, with the insurance industry estimating the losses to range from $2 to $9 billion dollars, as well as property damage to high-rise buildings and homes.
The hurricane season is expected to end in late November, and so far three of the most intense Atlantic storms have been recorded, such as Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in August and killed over 1,000 people, Rita, which hit the Texas-Louisiana border a few weeks ago, and now Wilma.
