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UPDATE:

Osteen now says he’s never closed his doors to those in need. The megachurch pastor told ABC News in a statement that he would open Lakewood Church once other shelters reached capacity and shared pics of the flooding outside and inside the church. That may be soon, as Houston’s Convention Center is 2,000 people over capacity.

(A Twitter user, hours earlier, showed photos of the church that seemed to show it undamaged by the flooding that has devastated the city.)

ORIGINAL STORY: 

In 2005, Joel Osteen famously bought the former Compaq Center in Houston to house his ginormous Lakewood Church, which seats over 16,000.

As Hurricane Harvey flooding continues to displace thousands, folks on Twitter can’t understand why the famous televangelist hasn’t opened the church doors to offer assistance or temporary housing.

So far, Osteen has tweeted a message of support: “Victoria & I are praying for everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey. Please join us as we pray for the safety of our Texas friends & family.”

Twitter has taken notice.

But many Twitter users noted that Lakewood Church was closed “due to flooding” but streets near the megachurch were not impacted by the flooding, at least as far as Twitter users who took photos near it were concerned.

It does appear that Lakewood may now open as a shelter. There have been pictures of air mattresses being placed inside, though no official announcement has yet been made. Yet some folks think that’s hypocritical as well.

Osteen did post this update on his Instagram, but no word yet if or when Lakewood is going to open up.

 

 

PHOTO: ToBe Daniel   Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

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