STORIES
Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
Bringing Hope12/12/2023 site leaders help make recovery possible“Week of Compassion is here for the long haul.” “There are partners who will be the first in. Disciples will be the last to leave.” “It’s been years since the storm, and your groups are still here, doing the work that needs to be done.” Long-term recovery is easy to overlook – once the cameras are gone, and the urgency of storm relief subsides, it is the long, slow, careful completion of each step that helps families really recover, that moves families into safe and secure houses, where they can make true homes. Disaster Site Leaders are the foundation of disaster recovery volunteering. Modern Miracles11/28/2023 providing health care in Pakistan
Refugee Response Tour11/20/2023 reflections on recent conversationsRecently, Rev. Alan Dicken, Week of Compassion's Associate for Immigrant and Refugee Response, spent a week in the Ohio Region, bringing together congregations and resettlement partners to make connections about the ongoing work and future possibilities in caring for new neighbors in their communities. Churches asked questions, shared insights, and discovered ways to partner for the good of those around them, offering welcome and hospitality in ways large and small. Alan offered brief reflections and photos from each stop of the Refugee Response Tour: What a joy it was to join Disciples leaders from all over Ohio in October! Ohio was a wonderful host, with fruitful gatherings where resettlement offices and church leaders from all over the state were able to develop new relationships. Together, we were able to learn more about what is happening with refugees in the world and how congregations and the whole region can be involved in faithful refugee response. In Akron, First Christian Church Stow hosted the International Institute of Akron who shared about the need for home set-up supplies and the ways congregations can take up collections for refugee families who are being resettled weekly in the Akron area. Disciples Christian Church, which has a rich history of refugee support, connected other Disciples churches in the Cleveland area to the United States Committee of Refugee and Immigration (USCRI) Cleveland offices. Three USCRI representatives came to speak with over a dozen of Disciples leaders regarding the needs for newcomers who come to call Cleveland home. First Christian Church Wauseon shared space for a rich conversation about the situation facing refugee populations and how congregations can be actively involved in helping to support the needs in Toledo, Columbus, and remotely in more rural northwest Ohio towns. The resettlement offices in Dayton, through Catholic Charities Miami Valley, opened their doors to Disciples in the area to learn more about transportation volunteers, conversation partners, and ways that volunteers can connect with refugees even for an hour or two per week. Heartfelt Tidbits hosted Cincinnati area clergy and shared their unique opportunities to come alongside refugees in community gardens, school support, and in connection to neighborhood programs around the city. Disciples clergy gathered together for a district dinner and we heard more about support programs in the city. Chauncy Christian Church of the Hocking Valley Parish welcomed leaders from around the Athens and Jackson area for delicious donuts and dialogue about refugees who come to Ohio University - and discovered how close Columbus is for direct service projects and setting up houses for refugees who land in central Ohio. Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) in Columbus offered a tour of their facilities and engaged Columbus area clergy in conversation regarding their volunteer coordination programs and how churches can serve as welcome teams. St. Andrews Christian Church leaders shared how their involvement as a CRIS Welcome Team has blessed their church and community immensely as they’ve worked with an Afghan family over the past year. Although each site had vastly different conversations, each resettlement office had different needs for volunteers, and each church had different levels of volunteer capacity and engagement, each place had the same Spirit at work. Regardless of where a refugee comes from, what their background is, or where in Ohio they might be, there are chances for Ohio Disciples to be welcoming communities of support. Together, we learned that no matter how large or small, urban or rural a church may be, any Ohio Disciple can make a huge impact by being part of a welcoming refugee response. As congregations consider how to faithfully and effectively engage in new refugee support or continue existing ministries, Week of Compassion is honored to join in conversation, education, and action to support refugees throughout Ohio. Thank you for hosting me, and thank you for joining in this vital region-wide commitment of support for refugees. For more information about Week of Compassion's Immigrant and Refugee Response, contact Alan Dicken. GIFTS TO LIVE ON11/16/2023 the Week of Compassion 2024 Special Offering
In the story of the generous widow (Luke 21:1-4), Jesus sees the widow and her gift, and rejoices in her generosity. Others were giving from what they could spare - but this woman, Jesus said, was giving everything she had to live on. Such generosity upends expectation. She brings two small coins, the merest contribution, but she is the giver Jesus praises most highly. It is not only the coins themselves that matter. It is the way she gives - it is the story of her generosity that outlasts her. That’s what Week of Compassion does - what Disciples do. We bring what we have to live on, which becomes a resource for others to live on - and that mutual giving is how our story lives on too. Over the past 80 years through Week of Compassion, Disciples have responded to needs around the world, constantly evolving to meet new challenges. As Rev. Dr. Dawn Darwin Weaks, who wrote this year’s sermon starter and scripture commentary, has said, “We honor the courage of those who came before by being courageous now!” Today we launch the theme and resources for our 2024 Special Offering: GIFTS TO LIVE ON The Week of Compassion Special Offering is suggested for February 18 - 25, 2024. Standing Orders of print materials for the Week of Compassion 2024 Special Offering begin shipping in early December. To review your congregation's Standing Order, make changes, or create a new order, use the order page. Deadline for changes is December 4. This year we saved the step of Sample Packets. Standing Orders include everything you need to create a meaningful Week of Compassion offering with your congregation. With our Planning and Resource Guide, PLUS all the print materials of your Standing Order, AND the plethora of video, print, worship, and study resources on the 2024 Special Offering page ... less paper, less shipping, less time, and less waste means MORE resources go right to work caring for vulnerable communities around the world. THANK YOU for all the ways you are Week of Compassion in communities near and far, and for all the creative and generous ways you share GIFTS TO LIVE ON. a short film for the 2024 Special Offering
available on the Special Offering page in English, English with captions, and in Spanish on the Middle East11/13/2023 a statement from the Common Global Ministries BoardLast week, Week of Compassion's Board of Stewards met in Tucson AZ for its fall business meeting. The gathering included a site visit with the Arizona Disciples Border Initiative, exploring the complexities of the border crisis, and the response offered to asylum seekers at Casa de Misericordia in Nogales MX. The Board also spent time in conversation with Tamara Rodenberg, president of Higher Education and Leadership Ministries, exploring Week of Compassion’s support for young adults, students, and seminarians in its mission and work.
Between these significant conversations, the Board was joined by Peter Makari, Co-Executive of Global Ministries, for context and updates from partners in the Middle East. This statement, released today by Global Ministries, holds compassion and justice at the forefront. Week of Compassion is grateful to serve with our partners responding in the midst of this crisis. |
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