Katrina Anniversary Marks Start of Disciples Recovery Initiative

Thursday, August 31, A.D. 2006

While much of America has noted the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this week, thousands upon thousands of residents across the Gulf South continue to struggle to put their families back together, rebuild their homes and communities, and return some sense of normalcy to their lives. While government agencies at all levels have not yet been able to organize a thorough and effective response, hurricane survivors continue to laud the efforts of the churches and church-related agencies. Disciples, through a number of partners that include congregations and mission stations, regional ministries, Office of Disciples Volunteering, local interfaith recovery organizations, and partnerships like Church World Service, Habitat, Camp Noah and others, have provided more than $2 million dollars through Week of Compassion to hurricane relief and recovery and sent more than 250 work groups and nearly 3,000 volunteers to the region.

Now WOC is launching a new 2 year, $2+ million long-term hurricane recovery initiative to ensure that Disciples' response to the most disastrous hurricane year on record continues. The initiative calls for Disciples to send 750 work groups to the region between September 1, 2006, and August 31, 2008, to support the work of our five established mission stations and the efforts of several long-term interfaith recovery organizations and to build a dozen Disciples Habitat homes for low-income families who were left homeless. (Click here for details.) The initiative also calls for continued support of impacted Disciples families; ongoing pastoral care to affected pastors and care-givers; assistance for congregational revitalization projects; support of current and anticipated CWS hurricane appeals; and special projects for children and other particularly vulnerable groups.

Week of Compassion is deeply appreciative of the remarkable outpouring of gifts in response to our hurricane relief and recovery efforts. These gifts enabled us to respond to immediate needs, to ongoing needs throughout the year following, and now, to the critical long-term needs of recovery and rehabilitation.

Disciples Respond to Volcanoes, Typhoons and Other Emergencies

While the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season has not - so far - been as active as first predicted, WOC is monitoring the impact of Ernesto on several Caribbean islands and as it moves up the Florida penisula and the eastern seaboard. WOC is also monitoring Hurricane John, now a category 4, in the eastern Pacific, along with super Typhoon Ioke in the western Pacific. The typhoon season in East Asia is one of the most disastrous in decades; WOC has already responded to Action by Churches Together (ACT) appeals for typhoon/flooding relief in China.

In other responses this week, Week of Compassion responded to appeals for volcano emergencies in Ecuador and the Philippines; earthquake/tsunami recovery in Java, Indonesia; an emergency security training appeal for church partners in the Middle East; and church relief efforts in southern Lebanon. For more information, materials and stories related to WOC's work and witness in the world, visit our website at www.weekofcompassion.org.

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