 John Richardson (back of group) and Steve Huston (far right), in Dayton OH, with a work group from Geist Christian Church, Indianapolis. Over and over again, it is powerful when people say, “We are so grateful that Week of Compassion is here for the long haul.” As storms come, disasters occur, and global concerns persist, Week of Compassion, on behalf of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), engages with ecumenical partners closest to the crisis, providing collaboration and support for as long as it is needed. That long-term emphasis is where Disciples invest time, talent, and resources to transform communities in meaningful ways.  Steve Huston (r), serving in Dayton OH. Right now, the long-term recovery in Dayton, Ohio, has open weeks for volunteer teams through the end of July. (Stories about this effort, responding to the 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes, are featured in our 2022 Special Offering emphasis.) You can find all the details on our Volunteer page, or by contacting Raiza Spratt, Disaster Response Organizer. Long-term volunteers (or LTVs, for short!) are a crucial part of disaster-recovery volunteer opportunities, well trained to be the leaders on mission sites coordinated by Week of Compassion, usually for a month or more at a time. They are the liaisons between the week-to-week volunteers and our local rebuild partners; they greet and orient volunteer teams, keep job sites running, and volunteers doing work that is meaningful and appropriate; they are the ones on the ground daily, not just ensuring project sites and materials are prepared, but representing Disciples as part of the disaster recovery in a community. We couldn’t do this without them, and we are eager to expand that team, creating greater continuity in this ministry and in the communities we serve. In fact, Charlie Redman is always pressing toward this vision with us: How can Disciples be more of a presence in disaster recovery? He sees long-term volunteering as a path toward that presence. An incredibly generous, soft-spoken, and get-the-job-done leader, he’s mostly deployed with our partners at Brethren Disaster Response. Interested in people’s stories of survival, Charlie knows that any of us could be in need at any time, and sees long-term volunteering as one way he can offer comfort in difficult moments.  Answering that call to expand the circle, John Richardson, retired Disciples pastor and regional minister, is Week of Compassion’s newest LTV. Coming onboard in the last six months, John immediately exercised great flexibility, as COVID surges disrupted the planned training he would be part of! John jumped right in with a brief deployment in Dayton, and we look forward to putting him to work in his current home state of Kentucky supporting recovery from the 2021 tornadoes. John tells a great story about his earliest introduction to response work, as a young pastor learning that “helping people prepare for a storm, or recover after a storm, can also facilitate reconciliation in broken relationships. That is a ministry I want to do.”
Retiree Floyd Pearson is what you would call a DOER - always has multiple irons in the fire, and willing to go most anywhere, so long as he will be put to good use. Floyd’s strong sense of responsibility to care for our neighbors, and his particular attention to those who are getting left behind, have made him a real gift to Week of Compassion as he has spent this spring connecting with Kansas and Reno County VOADs (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) to coordinate fire clean-up and recovery. Floyd says, “It’s hard to learn that you can’t fix everything for everyone. I have been blessed by the people I have met.” Steve Huston is one of our longest serving LTVs, and seems to know Disciples from everywhere! As a former educator, he has a passion for teaching new skills to volunteers (especially youth groups) and always comes to recovery sites with a “we’ll make it work” attitude. On his last deployment (to Dayton), Steve shared photos of the work done by a very small crew of local individuals, piecing together work as they were able to offer their time. He captioned the pictures simply: “God always sends what I need.” There is no time like the present. Be part of the long-term recovery project in Dayton. Do the preparedness work for your congregation to be ready to support needs in your own community. Train and serve as a long-term volunteer. In every moment, Week of Compassion is grateful to serve alongside and on behalf of the Disciples church, knowing that truly and always, God will send what we need. Comments are closed.
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