After facing days of backlash, Texas televangelist Joel Osteen has responded to the bevy of online criticism over not opening the massive Lakewood Church to flood victims displaced by Tropical Storm Harvey.
The Houston megachurch announced late Tuesday morning it had begun receiving people and collecting supplies.
Osteen told ABC News on Monday the Houston megachurch “will continue to be a distribution center for those in need” and had been “prepared to house people once shelters reach capacity.”
Osteen had faced intense backlash after tweeting prayers for Harvey victims while Lakewood Church – the former home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets that seats 16,000 people – remained empty for days.
Lakewood is receiving people who need shelter. We are also receiving supplies such as baby food, baby formula and other shelter needs.
— Lakewood Church (@lakewoodchurch) August 29, 2017
A spokesman on Monday disputed to CNN the criticisms that had been levied against the church.
"We have never closed our doors. We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need," Lakewood Church spokesman Donald Iloff told CNN.
Yet a Facebook post on Sunday had said the megachurch was "inaccessible due to severe flooding" and directed residents to other Houston shelters, which have been taking in thousands of displaced victims.
Iloff told CNN that at least three people who had sought help from the church were redirected to Houston's George Brown Convention Center, which has accepted roughly 7,000 people.
The church provided photos that showed standing water in parts of the building, which Iloff said Monday had begun to recede.
Seriously quite sickening when people spread negative news without knowing the situation. This is the situation of our church @lakewoodch pic.twitter.com/0KKBmu6hW8
— Lynne G. Caine (@heyitslynneg) August 28, 2017
Social media users had fired back at the church, offering up their own photos and videos that showed a relatively dry church parking lot.