Thursday
Feb022012

Are You Ready for Souper Bowl Sunday?

On Sunday the New York Giants and the New England Patriots will meet on the field for Super Bowl XLVI, but we know that the real story is happening off the field as nearly 300 Disciples of Christ congregations will be tackling hunger across the nation through Souper Bowl of Caring. By participating in the Souper Bowl, youth and their congregations learn about the magnitude of domestic and international hunger, as well as recognize that God can use them to make a positive difference in the lives of others. 

No matter the size of your congregation, you can help provide shelter to the homeless, food to the hungry and compassion to those who need our loving care.

And it’s so easy to do! The Souper Bowl of Caring is as simple as holding soup pots at church doors following worship this Sunday, February 5th and asking worshippers to drop in a dollar (or more!) to help people who are hungry. Each participating group donates 100% of their collection to the charity of their choice, including Week of Compassion. All you have to do is: 

  • REGISTER at www.souperbowl.org  
  • COLLECT donations on Super Bowl Sunday 
  • REPORT your collection at www.souperbowl.org 
  • DONATE your collection to the organization of your choice

Can you imagine what would happen if the over 140 million people who watch the Super Bowl each year placed just $1 in the Souper Bowl of Caring soup pots after church on Feb. 5? Let’s become Souper Heroes by working together. After all, isn’t our goal to serve the Lord? 

I urge you to act on Jesus’ call to care for our neighbors. Go online today and register at www.souperbowl.org

Volunteers Needed in Minot, North Dakota

Mennonite Disaster Service is requesting skilled electricians in Minot, ND. The need is immediate and urgent. Local regulations have been eased to allow volunteer, skilled electricians to help bring the 4,000 homes damaged by floodwaters up to code. Volunteers may serve for one week or more. If you are available to volunteer, please call 1-800-241-8111. 

Did You Know?

In 2011, Week of Compassion responded to at least 56 different countries and at least 27 different states in the U.S.?

That’s thanks to you! By sharing your resources, you have changed lives. And that brings joy to those in need, to you, and to God.

Tuesday
Jan242012

Keeping an Eye on Severe Weather

On Sunday, widespread storms hit the Middle Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Large hail, high straight line winds and tornadoes were reported in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. Likewise, power outages struck Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. The storm system is still very significant and could bring on more severe weather in the Mid-Atlantic states in the next few days. Severe storms have hit Oregon and Washington, cutting power to thousands, causing flooding, and forcing people out of their homes. Additionally, communities in the northern U.S. have experienced severe winter weather, creating a need for blankets and hygiene kits when sheltering is required.

Week of Compassion has been monitoring the situation through our partners in regional ministry, who are checking in with congregations in affected areas. As of the writing of this update, no weather-based needs connected to Disciples congregations have been reported or discovered. We remain vigilant as severe weather is predicted in a number of regions

Likewise, Week of Compassion’s partner organization, Church World Service, has Emergency Response Specialists in contact with response organizations in impacted states to determine where CWS material goods are needed (Clean Up Buckets, Blankets, and Hygiene Kits, Baby Kits and School Kits). Response organizations being contacted include FEMA Volunteer Liaisons, State Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters as well as our many faith-based contacts. In the hardest hit communities CWS will determine if training and grants will be needed for Long Term Recovery.

We are always grateful for your partnership as we respond to emergency needs as they emerge. Please consider partnering with Week of Compassion as we respond when storms, tornados, and other quick-moving disasters strike.

Celebrate “My Fair Valentine” with Equal Exchange

Celebrate Valentine's Day with Equal Exchange! 

My Fair Valentine Cards & Candy set includes fairly traded organic dark chocolate minis and colorful cards with illustrated animals and cute messages.

Plus, each set comes with a fun and informative bookmark exploring where fairly traded chocolate comes from!

What a great way to show people you care about them-and that you care about fair trade!

Wednesday
Jan182012

Preparing for Week of Compassion February 19-26, 2012

Have you ever stopped to contemplate that literally all that we are and all that we have is of God? What an awesome concept! Therefore, our response to that Creator God is to give back. There is no greater joy than being in a position to share our gifts and resources with those in need. If we have enough, but others are lacking, we remind ourselves that God already created a world of plenty, and that it is up to us to distribute and share what we have with those who don’t have enough. I vividly recall this remote village in northern India and the looks in the eyes of the children and the woman, pictured above, when they received a goat from Week of Compassion. This goat would change their lives! One goat! How wonderful it felt in that moment to know that what Disciples had given was now improving the lives of an entire community. What joy!

This Week of Compassion special offering season, February 19-26, we continue to discern how “Sharing Brings Joy.” This Week of Compassion we hope you will lift up how that sharing blesses, transforms, and brings joy to others. In a time of uncertainty, fear, and continuing economic hardship in our country and in our world, I can think of no better offering to give back to God than our profound joy in knowing that we do, indeed, have all we need-—and more. For “the point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7) The early Christians are encouraged here to share the joy in giving by letting others witness their generosity so that all may see how God is being glorified and how others’ lives change as a result of our generosity. 

For more than six decades, Disciples of Christ in the United States and Canada have shared material resources with a hurting world through Week of Compassion, bringing glory to God as well as joy to others. God’s people giving of their resources-—prayer, money, time, talent—-remains the propellant behind Week of Compassion. The act of giving back to God is simply a matter of faith. It is the natural reaction to our saying “yes!” to following Christ. Sharing with others invites God more fully into our lives. As we reach out in love, we open the way for God to reach more deeply into us. Sharing will joyfully transform you as you help transform the world.

This year, as you share your tithes and offerings with Week of Compassion, remember all the ways your gifts bring joy to others. Sow bountifully and share abundantly, knowing that you are not only helping change the statistics, you are also helping change lives. May we all give cheerfully and multiply the joy!

Week of Compassion: sharing resources, changing lives, spreading joy

If you have any questions about how to promote the Week of Compassion special offering, do not hesitate to contact us, or visit our website.

Wednesday
Jan112012

2011 Final Response Fund Report

The Compassion Response Fund is an allocation the Week of Compassion Advisory Committee makes each year to enable WoC to respond quickly to requests for emergencies, disasters and other urgent and unexpected needs that arise. In 2011 the WoC Committee allocated $471,449 for the Response Fund; it is the single largest item in the WoC program budget. In addition to what is budgeted for the Response Fund, WoC receives designated gifts for the Fund and for specific disasters, countries and situations that further enhance our capacity to respond to emergency needs and appeals.

Below is a brief report of grants made from the Compassion Response Fund and other designated disaster response accounts through December 31, 2011. Contributions for the Response Fund are needed and welcomed and will be used 100% for emergency response to humanitarian needs in the world.

Africa: [171,255]
$5,000 – Angola, flood relief
$5,000 – Chad, refugee assistance
$10,000 – DR Congo, conflict and displacement
$70,000 – East Africa, drought relief
$10,000 – East Africa, assistance to returnees
$5,000 – Ethiopia, drought relief
$21,000 – Kenya, drought relief
$17,000 – Liberia/Ivory Coast, humanitarian aid
$5,000 – Madagascar, Cyclone Bingiza
$5,000 – Malawi, massive flooding
$5,000 – Somalia, drought relief
$5,000 – South Sudan, emergency preparedness
$6,000 – South Sudan, assistance to returnees
$2,255 – Zimbabwe, water wells

East Asia and the Pacific: [197,563]
$10,000 – Australia, flood relief
$150,063 – Japan, earthquake/tsunami
$22,500 – New Zealand, earthquake
$2,500 – Philippines, fire damage
$10,000 – Philippines, typhoon relief
$2,500 – South Korea, mudslides

Latin America and the Caribbean: [749,089]
$11,000 – Brazil, flood/landslide recovery
$10,000 – Colombia, flood relief
$2,500 – Colombia, emergency assistance
$5,000 – Dominican Republic/Haiti, Hurricane Irene damage
$5,000 – El Salvador, relief for coffee growers
$450,000 – Haiti, earthquake
$50,000 – Haiti, agricultural revitalization
$60,905 – Haiti, children and youth House of Hope
$50,000 – Haiti, medical needs
$52,184 – Haiti, housing
$50,000 – Haiti, trauma program
$2,000 – Mexico, assistance to pastor’s family
$500 – Mexico/U.S., winter freeze

Middle East and Europe: [40,500]
$6,000 – Egypt, emergency assistance
$5,000 – Gaza/West Bank, capacity building
$6,000 – Iraq, Iraqi refugee crisis in Lebanon
$21,000 – Libya, humanitarian aid
$2,500 – Turkey, earthquake relief

Southern Asia: [118,500]
$5,000 – Cambodia, flood response
$10,000 – India, Orissa floods
$5,000 – Indonesia, Mentawai Is./tsunami
$2,500 – Indonesia, assistance to displaced
$55,000 – Pakistan, flood emergency
$15,000 – Pakistan, dengue fever epidemic
$11,000 – Sri Lanka, flood/cyclone relief
$15,000 – Thailand, flood relief

General: [24,000]
$24,000 -- 2011 ACT Alliance Rapid Response Fund
   Cambodia/Thailand, aid to displaced
   Tanzania, bomb explosion
   Malawi, flood relief
   DRC, cholera outbreak
   Nepal, refugee camp fire
   Swaziland, drought relief
   Uganda, landslides and floods
   Armenia, landslides
   Honduras, floods and mudslides
   Nicaragua, floods
   Ghana, floods
   Guatemala, floods and mudslides
   Tanzania, landslides

Domestic: [287,030]
$1,000 – Alabama, storm damage
$11,250 – Alabama, tornado relief
$5,000 – Appalachia, emergency heating assistance
$295 – Arizona, resettled refugee assistance
$500 – Arkansas, flood relief
$750 – Arkansas, tornado relief
$1,000 – Arkansas, fire damage
$1,200 – California, food ministry
$1,750 – Florida, storm damage
$100 – Georgia, storm damage
$647 – Georgia, resettled refugee assistance
$1,000 – Georgia, church fire
$11,350 – Great River Region, pastoral care
$4,225 – Illinois, flood relief
$900 – Illinois, resettled refugee assistance
$750 – Kansas, tornado relief
$3,450 – Kentucky, flood relief
$1,000 – Louisiana, storm damage
$1,500 – Michigan, mission station support
$200 – Mississippi, tornado relief
$1,500 – Missouri, flood relief
$44,125 – Missouri, tornado relief
$2,500 – Montana, flood relief
$750 – Nebraska, flood relief
$1,000 – New Hampshire, resettled refugee assistance
$5,000 – New Jersey, hurricane/flooding relief
$9,500 – North Carolina, tornado relief
$1,000 – North Carolina, church fire
$31,000 – North Carolina, hurricane relief
$2,500 – Oklahoma, fire damage
$7,750 – Oklahoma, tornado relief
$2,000 – Oklahoma, storm damage
$1,000 – Oklahoma, earthquake response
$14,900 – Pennsylvania, flood relief
$400 – Pennsylvania, hurricane response
$1,700 – Tennessee, storm damage
$4,750 – Tennessee, flood relief
$1,050 – Texas, resettled refugee assistance
$16,750 – Texas, wildfires
$11,088 – U.S./Mexico, emergency needs
$36,000 – U.S., 2011 spring storms
$6,000 – U.S., 2011 Missouri River System Floods
$10,000 – U.S., Hurricane Irene
$2,000 – Virginia, fire damage
$8,000 – Virginia, tornado relief
$2,500 – Virginia, earthquake damage
$1,750 – Virginia, hurricane and earthquake
$1,150 – Virginia, storm damage
$5,000 – Washington, fire damage
$500 – Washington, D.C., hurricane damage
$5,000 – Washington, D.C., earthquake damage
$1,000 – West Virginia, storm damage

Thursday
Jan052012

Making Resolutions: Getting Involved with Week of Compassion

Moumouna Garraban, a fish trader in Kokomanie, Niger, scales carp fish with her children and grandchildren. (ACT/Brot fuer die Welt/Christoph Pueschner)

Happy New Year!

It’s the time when so many of us try to break old habits, start new practices, resolve to learn something new, and maybe - just maybe - try to make the world a tiny bit better.

Our yearly hope at Week of Compassion is that we can partner with churches and individuals all over North America to do exactly that. If you are looking for a way to make a difference in the world this year, here are a few things you can do:

Invest in Women and Girls

According to USAID, “Aid programs that provide women opportunities to better their health, education, and well-being have effects far beyond a single individual. A woman multiplies the impact of an investment made in her future by extending benefits to the world around her, creating a better life for her family and building a strong community.” 

Week of Compassion’s Women’s Empowerment Fund is a mechanism for helping women become educated, develop economic opportunities, and build their communities. A gift to this special fund can transform not only a single life, but also families and entire communities. 

Support Food Security

According to the United Nation’s World Food Program, “approximately 925 million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy. That means that one in every seven people on Earth goes to bed hungry each night."

Hunger is a very real issue. However, food security is a very real possibility. There are ways to respond. 

One of our partners, Foods Resource Bank, aims to end world hunger by globally connecting local communities through agriculture in order to raise funding and awareness. Week of Compassion is always looking for creative, passionate congregations who are interested in starting growing projects to help FRB empower local communities to become more food secure. 

Learn More about Domestic Disaster Ministry

Our partners at Church World Service are hosting an important gathering on domestic disaster response from March 19-21, 2012, in New Windsor, Maryland. If you’re interested in learning more about how the field of disaster response is changing and how you can be involved in your community, this is an excellent way to make some great connections and learn about an important ministry.

This gathering will bring together scholars, researchers, theologians, volunteers and staff who work in disaster programs throughout the broad inter-religious community to:

  • Explore the changing nature of response to natural, technological, and human-caused disasters 
  • Tap the wisdom of the collective, yet diverse experience of participants
  • Identify issues affecting disaster ministry for the future 
  • Suggest forward-thinking, practical resources for the changing needs of disaster ministry

Speaker and registration info is available online. For more information please contact Tim Shenk at tshenk@churchworldservice.org or 212-870-2728.
 
There you have it—three great ways to get involved and help change the world for the better in the coming year. If you have any questions about how to get involved with these projects or anything else, contact Amy, Brandon, or Elaine at Week of Compassion!

This Week's Responses

Disaster Relief
Missouri, tornado recovery
Missouri, flood recovery