THE DOORS OF LAKEWOOD CHURCH ARE NOW OPEN TO DISPLACED HARVEY VICTIMS

VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HARVEY MAY NOW TAKE REFUGE AT LAKEWOOD CHURCH
The sanctuary at Lakewood church.
Jesus has been referred to as a "shelter in the time of storm" in many a song. What better place to take refuge from a storm than at a church where Christs' spirit abides? Most churches stand ready to respond in the time of need when there's a natural disaster. When it comes to shelter they are usually first responders as people tend to assume the church will be available to serve them with open arms. Unfortunately, flood victims in Houston, TX and surrounding areas would have made a false assumption had they showed up at Pastor Joel Osteen's 16,000+ seat Megachurch, Lakewood.

The doors of the largest church in America were not open to those displaced from possibly one of the worst flood disaster in U. S. history according to the Weather Channel by last Saturday, a day after Hurricane Harvey clawed a path of angry waters throughout Southern Texas. Of the 56 storm shelters the Red Cross opened Lakewood was not listed as one of them. On Saturday when their tweet went out on Saturday, all Joel and Victoria Olsteen wrote was that they were praying for Houston. Nothing else. Perhaps they needed time to prepare. To gather staff, volunteers, purchase more insurance, pick up supplies, etc. Becoming a storm shelter is a big responsibility that could come with bigger liability and diving in with no real plan or sense of direction is a valid concern. By Sunday, in an attempt to show the condition of the property as their reason for not helping, Mr. Olsteen had posted a photo that had a showed water outside of the building in the parking garage and posted a statement on the church Web site that said the church was "unaccessible." Several people posted videos showing the area was relatively unaffected.

In his defense Olsteen said he had been working with Franklin Graham's organization Samaritan's Purse. The Twitterverse was not satisfied with their response. The online criticism went viral, which some say shamed the couple into doing something -- doing the right thing. By Tuesday Olsteen said in a statement that they would always be supportive of Houstonians and announced they will be a site for flood victims. Lakewood Church is located at 3700 Southwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77027.

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