Thank You, Disciples!

Thursday, June 8, A.D. 2006

WOC Directors, Amy Gopp and Johnny Wray, are traveling this week in Bosnia with eight Disciples seminarians to visit post-war relief, rehabilitation and reconciliation efforts Disciples are supporting there. Below are two moving notes from partners here in the U.S. with whom WOC/Disciples are responding to the many needs of hurricane survivors in the Gulf South.

Dear Week of Compassion,

On behalf of many congregations and communities recovering from the 2005 Hurricanes, Camp Noah would like to extend deep appreciation to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for the generous gift of $50,000 through Week of Compassion. Approximately 15 Camp Noah hosts (the majority in Mississippi) are receiving grants of $3000-$5000 to support their efforts. Because of these gifts, approximately 750 children and 150 youth will receive a week-long gift of healing, hope and fun that will have an impact for a lifetime!

Here is just one story that will be replicated many, many times over because of the Disciples:

Jack and Emily endured the flash flood of tropical storm Allison in Houston in 2002. Months after the storm, every time it would begin to rain or storm, Jack and Emily would run from their garage apartment into their grandmother's home and get under the bed. They were terrified.

Jack and Emily attended Camp Noah. It was there that they heard the meteorologist discuss the causes of severe weather, the warning system and the different types of clouds. They also made personal disaster preparedness boxes and talked about the things they could do to be ready and respond when there was a real storm threat. Jack and Emily were reminded that they were indeed unique and beloved children of God.

After Camp Noah, there was a severe storm. Jack and Emily's mother called back to report how differently her children were responding since attending the camp. Instead of running to their grandmother's house, they got out their preparedness boxes. They made sure their bunny's food was inside and the bunny was nearby. They reassured their mom and told her they had everything they needed and not to worry. When the lights went out, they pulled out their flashlights, played their games inside their boxes and even sang songs that they had learned at Camp Noah!

Jack and Emily experienced healing and have new confidence to face future storms (literally and figuratively). Camp Noah truly was a week-long gift that will have an impact for a lifetime. This gift of new life was made possible to them by the volunteers and contributions of the church.

God bless the Disciples and God bless Week of Compassion.
Please continue to pray for the children and their caregivers.

You all are a blessing!

Melanie (Josephson) Davis
Director, Disaster Services
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
Lutheran Disaster Response Minnesota

Disciples Give Hope to Texas Communities

Dear Week of Compassion,

I hope you realize the very significant impact the Disciples of Christ made in Southeast Texas.

Several of us had come together across the normal denominational barriers and racial barriers and had begun to work to recover from Hurricane Rita. We saw the enormous task ahead, helping thousands of our neighbors who would not otherwise recover, unless we, the faith community, worked together with them. We set a goal of helping 1000 elderly or handicapped or single parents get a roof back on their home, but we didn't see the way clear, until the Disciples of Christ responded with your check of $100,000.

You gave us hope! You were there at the critical moment. Your gift was God saying, "I am bigger than you imagined." We knew God wanted us to work together in a big way, but we didn't yet know we could gather the resources to actually do the big work required. Your faithful gift provided the kind of foundation we needed to build the capacity needed to help our neighbors. Without your very timely and significant gift, we might have settled for too small of a vision. In neighborhood after neighborhood here in Southeast Texas, we see families empowered and recovering and pulling together to make our communities whole and wholesome again.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Harland Merriam
Pastor, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Beaumont, TX
President, South East Texas Interfaith Organization