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: Willing to Respond - March 20253/26/2025 Communities in Action a resource from Week of Compassion focused on domestic disaster readiness, and networking congregations registered with Willing to Respond
"a place for all to discover community, acceptance, and purpose" In September 2024, Hurricane Helene swept upward from Florida’s Big Bend, devastating communities throughout the southeastern United States. It hit the Blue Ridge particularly hard, triggering historic flooding throughout Western North Carolina.
At Christmount, the national retreat center of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains is still marred by the scars of Hurricane Helene’s devastation. The Christmount staff doesn’t dwell on the damage wrought by the storm, though; there’s just too much work to do. Celebrate Service4/23/2024 National Volunteer Week 2024 Volunteerism empowers individuals to find their purpose, to take their passion and turn it into meaningful change. When each of us, in our own way, answers the call to make a difference, we make progress in solving our most persistent problems, and create stronger communities and a more just society. - Points of Light Foundation, on the 50th Anniversary of National Volunteer Week
Week of Compassion connects volunteers to opportunities across the life of the ministry. We give thanks for the wide variety of people who are part of disaster relief, long-term recovery, and refugee response in congregations and communities. 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. 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. Week of Compassion + Be the Neighbor9/26/2023 expanding ministry & partnership At the beginning of the summer, Week of Compassion partnered with Be The Neighbor, a justice-based service-learning trip ministry empowering youth and adults to put faith into action through service and justice in ways that are relational, sustainable, and dignity-affirming. Be the Neighbor missions include direct service, relational ministry, immersion experiences, and education. The key question they ask: What would the world look like if we all took seriously the idea of being a good neighbor?
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