1. Our history:

Pastor Xu Zhongyi, chairman of the Houston Chinese Pastoral Association (HCCMF), invited the chairman of the Christian Light Salt Association (LSA), Elder Yuan Changli and the CEO, Dr. Sun Hongbin, to discuss the establishment of the Disaster Relief Center (DRC) in March 2016. Its purpose is that with the joint efforts of HCCMF and LSA, churches and Christians take care of and mitigate the impact of disasters on their communities and neighbors in a timely manner. After gathering information, drafting the Guangyan Society Disaster Relief Center Protocol and submitting it for presentation to LSA and HCCMF, we received some positive feedback and support, but were hesitant to take action.

When Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017, many Christian churches in Greater Houston voluntarily established the Houston Response Association to respond to the immediate need to relieve the physical and spiritual burden of the affected neighbors with disaster relief. It has formed 20 or more coalitions in Greater Houston, Texas, and beyond, taking care of anywhere from 500 to 1,000 Christian churches. After attending the Houston Response Conference discussion session on October 11, 2018, our three co-founders of LSA-DRC immediately realized that the Houston Response Conference is God's best partner in disaster relief.

After the recommendation of Pastor Xu, the Council of Guangyan Society decided to invite Brother Lin Zongzhi as the disaster relief director in a resolution on 2019/1/27, and continue to work hard on the basis of the agreement in September 2016. Until the illness of Brother Lim Zongzhi in March 2020, he had been diligently and wisely organizing, coordinating, and developing a plan that demonstrated a feasible plan, and rested in the Lord's arms in May after a brief battle with cancer. Under the urgent need of frequent natural and man-made disasters, Elder Yuan Changli took over the responsibility of disaster relief coordination again and again, proposed a plan to set up a disaster relief center, and established a Hurricane Laura emergency team at the pastoral prayer meeting with Pastor Zheng Zhongzhen and others (2020/8/27) Conduct practical exercises under the leadership and appointment.

Thanks to Praise the Lord for your leadership, we finally formed an army during the epidemic - a DRC team composed of representatives of 12 churches/units and 6 consultants, and a team-building kick-off meeting was held on 2020/10/11. Before the start of the hurricane season on June 1 each year, we commit to meeting at least once a month with four functional division teams for training and planning. President Yuan coordinated the commitment to attend the Zoom meeting of the Houston Responder League team, and various communications at any time. We thank Pastor HR Jeff Hughes for his zealous and selfless efforts to help the Guangyan Society Disaster Relief Center grow and prepare for the coming disaster.

In response to each disaster, the DRC is committed to reminding people of the impending disaster by preparing in advance, providing checklists, communicating, collaborating and coordinating rescue operations in disasters, and providing disaster survivors with love and compassion care, cleaning and repairs, as well as efforts to follow up on longer term recovery. The Guangyan Society Disaster Relief Center worked closely with the Houston Response Society, the Red Cross and the county government for disaster relief.

Again - our purpose is to love God and our neighbors, especially those in need. Thank God!

2. Our mission:

• Shawston Chinese Christians and the church have gathered spiritual, human and material resources to set up a disaster relief center based on Jesus Christ's salvation and compassion for the world. Actively prepare, equip, organize training, and communicate on weekdays, hoping to provide practical assistance and spiritual comfort to the victims and their families of major disasters during and after the disaster in a timely manner, so as to save people, relieve disasters, and assist in reconstruction.

Specifically, the Disaster Relief Center aims to:
1). Improve the awareness of future disasters and the level of disaster prevention.
2). Support disaster relief and post-disaster recovery efforts.

3. Our vision:

It is to establish 5 regional alliances throughout the Greater Houston area, and cooperate with 40 Chinese churches to carry out disaster relief response; and work with each disaster-stricken neighbor in the community to rebuild their homes to achieve full recovery.

4. Our scope:

1). Categories of disasters include, but are not limited to, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods.
2). The geographic area mainly covers the Houston metropolitan area.