STORIES
Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
a Special Offering 2024 Mission MomentSouth Sudan is a new country and there have been major conflicts since it became its own nation in 2011. One of the side effects of the ongoing conflict is the impact on the health systems, particularly on women and girls, who are especially vulnerable given the limited health care in the country. There is little infrastructure to support women and their health, leaving NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to deliver 80% of services like prenatal and postnatal care, along with family planning counseling and HIV screening and treatment. Providing such care is hard, and many women have to walk for miles to the health clinics. Truly amazing are the nurses and doctors and the care they provide – as important is the community space they create for women to support one another and empower one another to move forward. The impact is incredible. a Special Offering 2024 Mission MomentFor the past couple of years, when you would drive into Mayfield, KY from Paducah, KY and crest the hill to the north of town, the sight would take your breath away – a town flattened. Businesses, churches, homes, all destroyed when, on December 10, 2021, a mile-wide EF4 long-track tornado hit multiple counties in western Kentucky, leaving a massive path of destruction and thousands of Kentuckians homeless. Disciples swiftly responded through Week of Compassion and Kentucky West Area congregations, and the generosity of Disciples lives on as homes are rebuilt and communities are restored. In the two years since that event, Week of Compassion has partnered with Long-Term Recovery Groups to stabilize communities and support them through their recovery. Volunteer referrals and grant funding are helping move rebuilding forward in multiple counties - all with unique approaches to meeting the needs in their own neighborhoods. a Special Offering 2024 mission momentIn Afghanistan, young women are now barred from education past the sixth grade. In a region historically familiar with the struggle for equity and liberation following decades of violence, generation after generation of Shia Muslims have been targeted, their basic human rights drastically restricted. Some schools that still meet (remnants of education for young women in Afghanistan) are established and maintained by partners of Week of Compassion. Much like at schools anywhere, stepping into a classroom of kindergarteners is an energetic scene: students enthusiastically answering their teachers, embracing the opportunity of education, dreaming about their futures, young and optimistic. ongoing response in the Middle East1/30/2024 reports from Global Ministries and Middle East partnersRecently, Dr. Peter Makari, Week of Compassion's long-time colleague who serves as Global Relations Minister for the Middle East and Europe with Global Ministries, met with partners responding in many parts of the world, including “one of our Palestinian partners which works in Gaza, and of course the situation remains desperate there,” Peter said. “He [this partner] has insisted on the importance of advocacy.” As ground operations continue in Gaza, and voices worldwide clamor for the needs of the most vulnerable, Week of Compassion remains in contact with partners like Global Ministries, and the Middle East Council of Churches, in their efforts to provide humanitarian response to profoundly traumatized communities. Willing to Respond1/24/2024 networking for disaster preparednessA few weeks into the new year and winter weather has already left its mark. Being ready for what comes (in any season!) is more important than ever, as the increasing effects of climate change impact everything around us. WILLING TO RESPOND is Week of Compassion’s way to network congregations for disaster preparedness and response. Recently, through the Willing to Respond network, Week of Compassion connected two Disciples churches, rooted in quite different settings, about their need for and interest in a Congregational Preparedness Plan. These churches are finding new relationship and support in their common concern. 2023 Year in Review1/18/2024 responding with compassion around the worldEach and every day, something catches our attention.
Down the street, across the nation, throughout the world - Conflict. Disaster. Uncertainty. Illness. Emergency. It seems endless, and more than we can bear. And yet. Down the street, across the nation, throughout the world - Compassion. Generosity. Imagination. Possibility. Hope. It proves endless, and more than we can imagine. |
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