Responding in Oklahoma and Relief and Recovery Webinar

The Response Continues in Oklahoma

Photo Credit: FEMA/Andrea Booher

Thanks to your gifts and generosity, Week of Compassion immediately responded to the tornadoes that struck the Oklahoma City metropolitan area on Sunday and Monday. We are in regular contact with the Oklahoma Regional Office and are working with Disciples Volunteering to assess needs affecting Disciples and the wider community. Initial solidarity grants supporting Disciples who have lost their homes or sustained significant damage have been delivered as a sign of care on behalf of the entire church. We are also supporting Church World Service's emergency response efforts to deliver material resources and the develop Long Term Recovery Teams.

Currently, only first-responders are permitted to enter affected areas. We encourage you to pray, pay, and stay: pray for those affected, contribute to immediate needs by reaching out through Week of Compassion, and stay where you are. The time for volunteers will come, but it is not today! In our deep desire to help and reach out to those in such great need, we strive always to help in ways that are most supportive, effective, and efficient.

We cannot thank you enough for your faithful stewardship, gifts, trust, and partnership. For the most up-to-date information about our response, please continue to check in on our website and via Facebook and Twitter.

Webinar on Disaster Relief and Recovery

In the wake of the Oklahoma Tornados, plenty of questions have emerged concerning how communities affected by disaster respond and recover. On Tuesday, June 4, at 2 pm EST, Church World Service (CWS) Emergency Response Specialists will present key organizations and people that play a significant role from preparedness to long-term recovery. This webinar will also be a great way for participants to network, learn, and share their own experience and expertise. Register by clicking here.

This Week’s Responses:

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance:
Oklahoma, Tornado Damage (16)
North America, 2013 Tornadoes
Development and Long Term Recovery and Rehabilitation:
West Africa, Food Security
New York, Poverty Reduction
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Women’s Income Generation Project
Bolivia, Empowering Guarani Youth
Georgia, Vocational and Educational Opportunities for Youth
Uganda, Karamoja Education and Youth Empowerment
Serbia, Roma Women’s Empowerment
Georgia, Children and Youth Development
Kenya, School Safe Zone
Vietnam, Cleaner Villages
Ghana, Environmental Climate Change
Swaziland, Food Security
Ghana, Domestic and Gender Based Violence
South Africa, Girl's Empowerment
Ecuador, Community Development
Sierra Leone, Enhancing Welfare for Children
Middle East, Muslim/Christian Dialogue
Laos, Community Development
Tanzania, Combatting Burkitts Lymphoma

Responding to Tornados in Oklahoma

Week of Compassion is responding to the tornados that struck the Oklahoma City metropolitan area on Sunday and Monday. Our staff has been in touch with the Oklahoma Regional Office, and is currently working with them to assess needs affecting Disciples, and will-as always-work with our churches and Disciples Volunteering to discern the best way to contribute to the long-term recovery of affected communities across Oklahoma City and beyond.

At this point, only skilled first-responders are permitted to enter affected areas. If you would like to help out, the best thing you can do is to Pray, Pay, and Stay: pray for those affected, contribute to immediate needs by reaching out through Week of Compassion, and stay where you are. The time for volunteers will come, but it is not today!

We continue to keep Moore and all areas affected by disasters in our prayers. Thank you for all of the ways you partner with us and support those in need. 

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This Week's Responses:

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance:

Texas, Tornado Damage (2)

Supporting Partners As Tornado Strikes North Texas

Volunteers work tirelessly in the shelter at First Christian Church, Granbury, Texas. Photo Credit: Don TatlockAccording to reports, at least 10 tornadoes touched down in North Texas overnight. In the wake of these storms, more than a hundred people have been injured, and at least six people have been killed. Several homes have been leveled in the communities of Granbury and Cleburne, and others have sustained significant damage.

Week of Compassion has been in touch with congregations providing important, compassionate leadership in the midst of this disaster. First Christian Church in Granbury is working with the Red Cross to provide shelter for those displaced by last night's storm, and First Christian Church in Cleburne is also providing support to folks displaced by the storm in their community. We are working with the pastoral leadership of congregations, as well as the area and regional ministers, to coordinate support for those affected by the storm.

We will continue to monitor the situation and coordinate our response through the region and our faithful partners at CWS. Please keep the communities affected in your prayers, and if you would like to respond with Courageous Compassion, please follow this link .

We give thanks for all of those faithful ways you provide support and relief through partnership. Your generosity brings hope--even in the midst of frightening, overwhelming devastation.

             

This Week's Responses:

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance:
Jordan, Syrian Refugees
Ohio, Emergency Refugee Assistance
Texas, Tornado Damage (11)

Cleanup Buckets, Opportunities in Joplin, and General Assembly

CWS APPEALS URGENTLY FOR EMERGENCY CLEANUP BUCKETS

As the 2,500th CWS Emergency Cleanup Bucket arrived on May 7 in flood-ravaged Illinois, Week of Compassion joins our partner CWS in appealing urgently for people to replenish its rapidly dwindling supply.

Heavy precipitation from early 2013 storms and floods has resulted in widespread and severe flooding in Illinois and other states.

“The CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets are giving hope and help to survivors,” said Barry Shade, CWS associate director for U.S. disaster response. “With needs assessment ongoing, CWS expects to respond to additional requests from Illinois and other states for buckets. When we do, we hope to be able to respond without delay.”

Only about 2,600 CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets remain in the agency’s warehouse in New Windsor, Md., Shade said.

Church World Service, a global humanitarian agency and sponsor of CROP Hunger Walks, emphasizes the importance of faith community involvement in long-term recovery from disaster. Week of Compassion’s partnership helps supply thousands of CWS Blankets, CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets and other CWS Kits for shipment to disaster survivors every year.

In addition, we work together to help flood survivors access the material, emotional, spiritual and human resources they need to get back on their feet and go on with their lives by helping communities to start their own long-term recovery groups.

Putting together a CWS Emergency Cleanup Bucket is easy! It’s a great project for a youth group or anyone looking for a hands-on activity that makes a real difference. Instructions are available here.

Help Rebuild Joplin at “The Station”!

Disciples Volunteering, Week of Compassion, and the Disaster Ministry of the United Church of Christ invite you to spend a week this autumn at the mission station at South Joplin Christian Church and contribute to the ongoing post-tornado recovery of Joplin, MO. Our partners on the ground have reported that there is a critical need for volunteers from August-November. This is a great time to take a mission trip, whether it’s your church’s first or fortieth. For more information, including registration, follow this link.

Don’t Forget! Week of Compassion Worship Celebration at General Assembly

Week of Compassion would like to invite you to a special Sunday morning worship service at Pershing Avenue Christian Church in Orlando, Florida. We will celebrate the ways your gifts enable Week of Compassion to support partners from all over the world to live into Christ’s compassion for the vulnerable, the hurting, and the otherwise forgotten.

Our friends at Green Chalice and Equal Exchange are also partnering with us to host a Fair Trade Coffee Hour with delicious fair trade coffee and tea from our very own Disciples Coffee Project. Worship begins at 8:30 am on July 14th. Pershing Avenue Christian Church is located on 2000 Pershing Ave in Orlando. Shuttle buses will provide transportation between the church and the convention center. More details are available here.

This event is free but tickets are required. Tickets are available through online registration. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office, weekofcompassion@woc.disciples.org or (317) 713-2442.

We look forward to meeting you in Orlando, where we will worship, celebrate, and share joy together!

A Simple Prayer

From flooding in Illinois and Indiana to ongoing violence in Syria, people all over the world are facing significant uncertainty, overwhelming destruction, and are longing for a sense of hope.

For all those who suffer; those who feel so intimately what it is like to live in world filled with as much devastation as it is grace, we pray. For those who put their compassion into action so that those who suffer might feel solidarity, hope, and peace, we give thanks.

To partner with Week of Compassion and put your compassion into action, click here.

http://store.coolpeoplecare.org/products/the-earth-shirt

This Week’s Responses:

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance:

Pakistan, Displacement

NAPAD, Emergency Request

Indiana, Flood Assistance (2)

Week of Compassion and the Week That Was

Last week’s news was filled with reports of disasters. From flooding across a couple of Midwestern states to explosions in Texas and Boston to Friday’s report of a devastating earthquake in China, it seemed like one couldn’t turn on the news without another report of tragedy.

As always, the faithful support of congregations and individuals across North America and the faithful partnership of our partners both here and around the globe have allowed Week of Compassion to respond.

Week of Compassion has been in touch with the Northeast Region and several ecumenical partners to see if there are needs emerging as a result of the Boston Marathon explosion. Likewise, we are currently working with the Southwest Region and Central Christian Church, Waco, Texas, to respond to needs emerging from last week’s explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. In addition, we will continue to monitor the situation so that we might support long-term recovery efforts in West.

We have also responded to churches and church members affected by flood damage in Indiana and Illinois, and through our partners in Global Ministries, to needs emerging from a devastating earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, that rattled the Sichuan region in western China on Friday.

If you would like to help bring comfort to communities facing tragedy, be part of relief efforts all over the world, and join our movement of Courageous Compassion, click here.

Thank you for all the ways you have expressed concern over the past week. Your care, hope, and commitment inspire and effect change all over the world.

This Week’s Responses:

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance:

Illinois-Wisconsin, Flood Response (12)

Southwest Region, Relief Efforts in West, Texas

China, Earthquake Relief

Indiana, Flood Damage (2)