A couple of days ago, I got a call from David Banning.  He asked me if I would be willing to write a hymn for the Dowlen Rd. church in Beaumont expressing their thanksgiving for the help they received from brethren elsewhere during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.  This is what I came up with:

Lord, we come in celebration
Of Your people everywhere,
Of their love and dedication
Sent in answer to our prayer.
Dark the storm and dark our sorrow,
Great, the outcry of our need,
Yet their love defined tomorrow
By each gracious word and deed.

Though in You we all were brothers,
Still we served You far apart,
Never knowing one another,
Never joining heart to heart.
Then our plea for help resounded
Where our feet had never trod,
And their zeal for us abounded,
Forming fellowship in God.

Now in thanks we sing Your glory;
Now in hope we bow to pray,
Finding comfort in the story
Of Your help from far away.
May we imitate their caring
When another is distressed:
Free and generous in sharing,
Blessing as we have been blessed.