Fire Destroys North Carolina Church
Thursday, June 28, A.D. 2007
Early Monday afternoon a fire destroyed the sanctuary of Bethany Christian Church, Arapahoe, NC. The fellowship hall has also been condemned because of smoke and water damage. Investigators traced the source of the fire to an outside wall outlet and have ruled out arson or negligence as a cause of the fire.
Last night, North Carolina Regional Minister and Week of Compassion Committee member, John Richardson, presented a solidarity grant from WOC to Pastor Gary Edge and the Bethany congregation as an expression of the whole church’s concern in the aftermath of the fire. For details, visit the congregation’s website.
Floods Sweep Through Texas and Oklahoma
Heavy rains and flash floods have damaged hundreds of homes and prompted widescale evacuations across central Texas and northeastern Oklahoma. Some areas have received as much as 20 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
Week of Compassion is now assessing the impact of the floods and is in touch with Disciples regional and area offices as well as congregations in Texas and Oklahoma. WOC is also monitoring the situation with Church World Service and related local ecumenical partners regarding larger community responses. We have learned that the Brownwood Camp is flooded and is being evacuated today. Also, the homes of at least three members of Wylie CC, Abilene, TX, have been damaged. If you have information on families affected or community responses being made, please contact your area or regional office or Week of Compassion (jwray@woc.disciples.org).
WOC Awaits Numerous Humanitarian Appeals
There are a number of other major humanitarian concerns developing in the world which Week of Compassion is now monitoring and for which we are awaiting appeals from Church World Service and Action by Churches Together:
* Storms and floods in southern Pakistan have killed more than 300 people, forced the evacuations of several thousand and caused widespread damage to property, infrastructure and crops.
* After a week of violence and instability in the Gaza Strip, thousands of families have no access to food, medical care, cash or other basic necessities of life.
* Heavy rains from a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal have killed more than 150 people, destroyed thousands of homes and affected hundreds of thousands of people across several southern states in India.
* More than 4.5 million people have now fled the war in Iraq and millions more are displaced within the country, creating a growing humanitarian crisis throughout the Middle East.
* With the violence in Darfur, Sudan, spilling over into eastern Chad, ACT members are beginning emergency relief operations to some 35,000 internally displaced Chadians.
Click here for the latest update on the crisis in Darfur.
Designated Contributions Welcome
With the widespread flooding in Texas and Oklahoma and with several forthcoming appeals from Church World Service and Action by Churches Together, WOC would be especially grateful for designated contributions to the Compassion Response Fund. Gifts can be made via our website or mailed to Week of Compassion, attn: Elaine Cleveland, PO Box 1986, Indpls, IN 46206.
WOC Map/Poster
Click here for the latest additions to the WOC interactive map/poster. For a complimentary copy of the map/poster for your congregation, call the office at 317.713.2442 or send an e-mail to ecleveland@woc.disciples.org.
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