STORIES
Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh // photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
Standing with St Louis and Kentucky5/17/2025 a message from Week of Compassion Late Thursday evening into early Friday (May 15-16), a powerful and fast-moving storm system swept through the Midwest and Ohio Valley, leaving devastation across several communities. In Missouri, particularly the St. Louis metro area, winds reaching up to 120 mph toppled trees, downed power lines, and damaged homes, businesses, and places of worship. In Kentucky, towns like Somerset and London experienced significant destruction due to tornadoes. Across both states, at least 21 people had died as of Saturday morning – a number expected to rise in the coming days. Dozens more were injured, and many families have been displaced.
Among those most directly affected were two Disciples congregations in St Louis: More Ways to Respond6/4/2024 response to severe storms continues Week of Compassion continues to respond to recent severe weather and assess needs for immediate and long-term recovery.
First Christian Church, Rogers, took on extensive damage from the tornadoes that battered northwest Arkansas. Throughout the last week, church members and neighbors have worked together to clear trees, board windows, and clean up debris - including many who are dealing with similar concerns in their own homes. On Sunday June 2, one week after the storms, with power restored only the night before, the congregation gathered for worship, to pray, sing, hear the Word proclaimed, and share in communion. Severe Storms Update5/29/2024 connecting needs, responses, and prayers after the storms Over the last two weeks, communities from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Great Plains, across the Ozarks and the midwestern United States have seen significant severe weather, intense hail and thunderstorms, multiple deadly tornadoes, and broad paths of wind damage and destruction. Memorial Day Weekend weather made a particularly widespread impact.
Week of Compassion has been in touch with local church leaders and partners as they assess immediate needs across these various regions. Storm Season Update5/22/2024  With repeated severe weather and tornadoes across the plains, midwest, and south; flooding and windstorms in Texas; and other weather-related impacts across much of the U.S., the needs of our neighbors are great. Week of Compassion is connecting with Regional and local church leaders in affected areas and working with ecumenical partners to assess damage and coordinate response.
YOU can respond and help in a number of ways: notes from the field2/29/2024 checking in on Tennessee and western Kentucky We’ve come to see February as ‘Special Offering season’ for Week of Compassion, where many Disciples congregations receive annual offerings dedicated to this shared work of disaster relief, refugee response, and sustainable development.
But offerings come as more than coins and checks in offering plates and gifts online. Enduring connections - introductions to new people and ideas - tool trailers and storage closets - strategic planning and thoughtful visioning - creative solutions to seemingly insurmountable concerns … these are sacred offerings, too. a Special Offering 2024 Mission Moment For 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. Making Progress!9/28/2023 foundation poured in Mayfield KYRemember the house you built in the Exhibit Hall at General Assembly? The concrete block foundation is in place and ready for the next steps!
We are grateful to Leah Eubanks and the faithful at First Christian Paducah for keeping up with the progress, for sharing photos, and for hosting groups serving in the community to keep moving forward with rebuilt and restored housing, part of the recovery work since the winter 2021 tornadoes. To volunteer with them, or any of our other disaster response teams, go to weekofcompassion.org/group-volunteers |
