Helping CSU Students Affected by Hurricane Harvey

Published September 12, 2017

Online Student Helps Fellow Students He’s Never Met

Thomas Mather was far from path of Hurricane Harvey in his home in Birchardville, Pennsylvania. However, this CSU Master of Arts in Biblical Apologetics student knew he needed to do something.

He’s no stranger to helping, as he’s traveled to aid other regions in crisis. “God has given me a sense that we need to support our family wherever they are,” he says, “We could not go to Texas this time, so we decided financial help would be our best approach.”

He heard about fellow CSU online students who were affected by the hurricane and subsequent flooding and felt extreme sorrow for their loss. In addition to prayer, he decided to do something to financially help the students, and he thought other CSU family members would want to join together and do the same thing. To that end Mather set up a Go Fund Me page and shared it with the online student body.

One Student’s Story

Hurricane Harvey struck in the middle of Allen Williams’ seventh semester at CSU. The former football player (pictured above amid damage in and surrounding his home) is retired from the medical information technology field and ministers to young people through The Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is pursuing a degree in theology as he serves as an associate minister at a church in Houston, Texas.

He explains the devastation, “Me, my wife and my parents lost all of our possessions, but by God’s grace, our lives were spared. 54 inches of water and mud rose inside our homes. By Christ being the center of our everything, we were able to stay focused and prayerful that He would never leave us nor forsake us. This is our fourth hurricane that we’ve endured, but nothing ever of this magnitude.”

While his earthly possessions were submerged in nearly five feet of murky water, Williams was able to save a seven-inch tablet, on which he is completing all of his class work. With such extreme loss, he can only guess at the monetary cost of replacing everything. Yet even facing such loss, he turns attention away from himself and has compassion on his parents who lost over 45 years of personal possessions, including items from across the globe collected during his father’s two decades of service in the U.S. Air Force and Marines.

As he begins a tedious clean-up process, his certainty of God’s goodness gives Williams a constant hope. “We are graciously thankful for all the prayers from our CSU family and continue to lift all of you up. I am praying that our testimony will be a leaning post for someone whose faith is struggling and will be a fulfillment of Christ’s will in our daily walk sharing His goodness and love.”

When Williams heard how his fellow CSU students were coming together in prayer and giving financially to help him and other members of the CSU family rebuild their lives, he responded, “God will truly get the glory, for He is constantly in our mouths and on our tongues.”

Beginnings of Restoration

Doug Coriell, another Master of Arts in Biblical Apologetics student, lives in Pearland, Texas, which was hit hard by the flooding. Although many neighbors were driven from their homes, the water only reached into Coriell’s driveway, and his home was spared. “The Lord has been very gracious to us, and we are extremely humbled and thankful,” he says. Coriell’s church has helped its members start the process of restoring flooded homes, with one person designated as chaplain to console and pray with the families. “I believe that God is sovereign, and so the storm did not take Him by surprise. Whatever His purposes are, to some degree, they must involve the manner in which the church and God’s people have reacted, and will react in the days to come,” claims Coriell.

Called to Respond

Mather, who began the giving campaign for his fellow students, has been in an online class with a few of them, but he has never met any of the people he is raising funds for. “I am sensing a closeness with the online students that I never expected,” he explains. “The men and women in our classes are some of the most well-thought people and have genuine concern for churched and unchurched alike; I cannot wait to meet them in person.”

“The William’s have had such great loss and are trusting God for so much, we need to support them in any way we can,” he continues.

Coriell echoes, “Our task is to show the love of God during the months ahead. It is an opportunity for the church to extend the love of Christ into the communities. Our prayer must be that God is ultimately glorified through this and that many people come to faith in Christ as a result.”

Helping CSU Family

To help CSU students devastated by Hurricane Harvey, please donate to Mather’s cause here.