Church At Addis helps Jackson amidst water crisis

The Church At Addis saw an opportunity to help a community in need and went to work.

With the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi spanning several weeks, the church began collecting water and looking for ways to help the people in Jackson.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency in late August, saying the water crisis in Jackson had no end in sight. The Jackson residents have faced a water crisis since then that included no running water because of problems at the city’s main facility, the O.B. Curtis Water Plant, following flooding of the Pearl River.

“When I saw the news that Jackson was having a water supply issue, my first thought was what can we do to help,?” said Mark Younger, the missions pastor and volunteer coordinator at Church at Addis. “I know that’s the heart of a lot of the people in our church. That’s the heart of God. Christians would help Christians. If we would serve each other and lift each other up and God would get the glory in the end.”

Over eight days, the church gathered enough pallets of water to fill half an 18-wheeler. Younger said the process started with asking church members to bring cases of water. They used money from the church’s disaster relief fund and also asked members to donate.

The church purchased water pallets from Kentwood and Coca-Cola.

Younger was part of the team that delivered the water to New Horizon Church, that’s located in a former shopping center in Jackson on Sept. 14.

“I briefly met with the pastor, but I met with a lot of the volunteers,” he said. “I talked to a lot of the people who were there helping us unload the truck and just a bunch of solid men and women. When we pulled into the shopping center, there were probably about 50 cars lined up to get cases of water and just to be blessed by the church that’s there.”

Reeves announced on Sept. 15 that a boil-water advisory has been lifted for Jackson. Reeves said clean water has been restored in the city.

Younger said as of Sept. 15, they were still collecting water, donations and other supplies for Jackson. The best way to donate is to visit https://churchataddis.com/give/. Select disaster relief in the drop-down box.