STORIES
Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh // photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
an immersion in international disaster response For many years, Week of Compassion has partnered with the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, serving the Filipino people especially through the Program Unit on Faith, Witness, and Service, and its Humanitarian Response Program. This summer, two Disciples seminarians deepened that partnership as part of Week of Compassion’s Disciples Seminarians Immersion Program in International Disaster Response. Katie Varon and Grace Dearhamer, both scholars at the Disciples Divinity House at the University of Chicago, had the opportunity to explore cultural difference, community resilience, and ecumenical partnership in unique and life-changing ways. “It is the rainy season in the Philippines.” When Grace Dearhamer and Katie Varon learned they would spend July through September immersed with Week of Compassion’s partner, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), this weather warning was often the first response. True to form, during their months in-country, flooding throughout metro Manila quickly illustrated the rain’s ability to disrupt plans, but for the millions of Filipino farmers and fisherfolk who depend on the earth for their livelihood, typhoons do more than just disrupt, they destroy. In the short span of four weeks in late 2024, six typhoons devastated communities across the Philippines’s Cagayan Valley Region in Northern Luzon. To this day, many farming and fishing communities have not recovered from the chaos. As part of NCCP’s Faith, Witness, and Service program, Katie and Grace joined the humanitarian response team traveling throughout the region, helping distribute rice, seeds, fishing gear, farming tools, and cash assistance based on the needs of each community. Patricia Mari Mungcal, NCCP’s Assistant Program Director and Katie and Grace’s supervisor during their immersion experience, wanted them to get to know the National Council of Churches in the Philippines as an institution, as an ecumenical coalition, and as a channel of prophetic witness. They were eager for this partnership as she said, “because through this we contribute to ecumenical leaders’ formation and understanding of the church’s role in doing transformative work in the society.” Both Katie and Grace spoke about the power of presence. Again and again they heard communities say, “Thank you for showing up.” Even when supplies had already been delivered by local distributors, the act of being there mattered. Communities that often feel invisible – especially those in remote or hard-to-reach areas – were deeply moved that staff from Manila, along with international visitors, made the effort to come. For students leaning into lessons on both culture and ministry, it was important to see ministry partners listen to the ideas and needs of each distinct community and respond as needed – to see that ministry is not only about the delivery of goods, but about relationship, solidarity, and being seen.
The immersion experience for Grace (left) and Katie (right) included worship and work in community. In addition to providing supplies and resources, NCCP works with each community to establish practices of equitable distribution and sharing of those resources, allowing local leadership to take independent ownership, setting them up for success. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, NCCP listens to people describe their needs—whether fishing nets, farming seeds, or food supplies—and responds accordingly. In one fishing village, after receiving cash assistance the group was able to invest and grow the funds to provide loans to fellow community members in need. This is an unfortunate necessity for those who fall on hard times and cannot pay the growing interest rates demanded by the typical loaning agency. Grace and Katie reflected, “When given freedom and power over their assistance, the community chose to continue looking out for one another.” The seminarians wrestled with cultural difference, and came away with a greater understanding of the challenges of living with one set of cultural norms in their day to day life, then stepping into another community’s culture and norms, like navigating gender expectations in rural villages where men carried the rice while women were expected to sit. Katie noted her desire to walk alongside people by helping unload trucks and distribute food, but learned that sometimes those gestures caused embarrassment for community members who saw such work as inappropriate for a guest. These tensions invited them into ongoing reflection about what it means to embody humility and solidarity without unintentionally causing harm.
Patricia offered, “One of the greatest gifts from this internship was the affirmation of our belief that we are intergenerationally and cross-culturally interconnected, and therefore we are accountable for one another – even when we come from different countries, contexts, and backgrounds. We call this solidarity. Katie and Grace were intentional in learning about our work, ministry, and communities, and we were intentional in making sure they got the most out of the two months they spent here.” As Grace put it, she has come to see ministry less as “doing for” and more as “being with.” Katie reflected that showing up – even in remote places that others bypass – embodies the gospel’s call to love one’s neighbor. “We are so grateful for the opportunity to be welcomed as visitors in each community and for the invitation to bear witness to the power of true ecumenical partnership.” Read Rooted in Partnership (part 1), sharing seminarian Leigh Larson’s summer immersion experience in Pakistan. Week of Compassion is grateful to work with long-standing partners again next year for the 2026 Week of Compassion Disciples Seminarians Immersion Program in International Disaster Response. Applications will open in January and an information session will take place early in the year. For more information or to be added to the interest list, please contact Rev. Alexis Vaughan, Week of Compassion’s Managing Director.
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