Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church Now Open for Flood Victims; Here's Why They Waited

Billy Hallowell : Aug 29, 2017
Faithwire.com

UPDATE: News sources are reporting that Pastor Osteen's church is now open for evacuees. Said a Lakewood Church rep to TMZ: "Lakewood's doors are open now to anyone needing shelter. We are also coordinating with the city as a collection site for distributing supplies to area shelters. We are collecting diapers, baby formula, baby food and other supplies. Please bring these items to Lakewood Church, Circle Drive off Timmons St."

"We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need.  We are prepared to shelter people once the cities and county shelters reach capacity. Lakewood will be a value to the community in the aftermath of this storm in helping our fellow citizens rebuild their lives." -Joel Osteen

(Houston, TX)—[Faithwire.com] [Earlier] As Pastor Joel Osteen and his church face mounting criticism for not immediately hosting Houstonians fleeing their homes in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, representatives are speaking out to provide additional background and context. (Photo: Pastor Joel and Victoria Osteen/via CBN News)

Don Iloff, a spokesperson for Lakewood Church, told Faithwire late on Monday night that the house of worship has been in touch with city and county officials in recent days and has been planning outreach efforts.

But considering that the church's building—inside what was once the Compaq Center sports arena—is prone to flooding, Iloff said that Lakewood chose to instead focus its energies on the ways in which the church could serve as a food and resource distribution center, among other outreach efforts.

And considering that Houston officials had set up shelters throughout the city—including a massive location at the George R. Brown Convention Center just five miles from Lakewood—Iloff said that the church had planned to host people in the event that those locations were full or at capacity.

"We had warning with this storm, so they set up shelters around the city ... that convention center is 5 or 6 times bigger [than Lakewood]," he told Faithwire. "They set that up with everything from the cots, food, triage." (Photo: Lakewood Church/credit: Nick De La Torre, Staff/via Chron.com)

Iloff also noted that, while Lakewood was more than willing to make-do and house people, unlike the convention center, Lakewood has "no showers" and no kitchen, making the church more of an emergency shelter than anything else. Initially, the church waited to hear from city officials and planned to respond if needed.

Still, Iloff continuously affirmed that the bigger issue that impacted the decision to not immediately serve as a shelter centered on the building's history of flooding.

"The fact is that we knew that we could not put anyone on the bottom floor," he said, noting that the first floor is where the most space exists for housing flood victims. "We were very concerned about putting anyone on that bottom floor given the history."

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