Blog Archives
Message from Joplin
The last three weeks in Joplin have been a combination of overwhelming and amazing, a combination of horrible and wonderful. These have been weeks filled with high levels of anxiety but also great amounts of love and compassion.
As a lifelong Disciple I have always been proud of our little denomination, but in these last three weeks that has simply multiplied. Your prayers, your donations, your calls and emails, your trips to Joplin to lend a helping hand have reminded us of the significant family ties among those of us who call ourselves Disciples.
Over the coming months we will continue to work with the Area Office to keep you updated on the progress here in Joplin and the ways you can help. As we continue on this journey together and as you seek to find ways to reach out, let me share a few thoughts:
- We will always say yes to your love and kindness, but sometimes we will need to say no to the ways you are offering to show it. Please remember the difference.
- Things change nearly every day. What that means is that we ask your patience. For instance, if you are wanting to come volunteer next month we won’t be able to tell you what sorts of jobs are available until much closer to the time.
- Your prayers really do matter. When you pray for Joplin, you are doing something important. Never feel like prayer isn’t enough.
- Week of Compassion does wonderful work. Please remember this not only in crisis, but each year as we take routine offerings.
- We are overwhelmed, sometimes even by the kindness of the broader Church. What this means is that sometimes it takes a while to return calls or emails. Sometimes we simply forget. Again, remember your care is appreciated even when we forget to acknowledge it.
- The Area Office is a great resource and can answer many of your questions. Jeni has been wonderful and stays in close contact with us. Although we don’t want to inadvertently overwhelm her, do remember that she is available, too.
More information will be coming next week about the progress that’s being made here in Joplin as well as more ways you can reach out in care to those who were affected.
Meanwhile, Mary Lin (director of the Distribution Center at First Christian) let Jeni know today that we could use the following items: Bath towels, mops, cleaning supplies, glass cleaner, laundry detergent, laundry baskets, and Depends pads (not pull ups). We are overwhelmed with water and clothing, so please do not bring more of those items.
Thank you for being the body of Christ with us!
Rev. Jill Cameron Michel
South Joplin Christian Church
Guiding Principles of a Faithful Disaster Response (part 4)
Still, these questions remain: What do you need? How can we help? Whether the answers to these questions are readily forthcoming or are simply unclear, four guiding principles can direct our individual and collective response (with apologies for the para-phrasing of others’ advice): Prepare. Care. Share. Be in prayer.
The Long Road of Disaster Recovery (part 3)
Recovering from a disaster does not happen overnight. It is not completed in a few days, weeks, or even months. Recovery takes time. It is hard to balance people’s immediate needs with their long term needs which will surface in the days and weeks and months ahead. It is likewise difficult to balance the passion with which people outside of an impact zone want to help (now!) with the fact that this help is generally more important many months from now. It is hard to ask people with needs and those who want to help to be patient, just as it is hard to hear this word. Yet we must find ways of pacing ourselves. Responders burn out quickly. Clergy burn out in communities hit by disaster is especially high; informal surveys place the number of clergy who leave their church following a disaster at more than 50% within the first three years. It typically takes 3 months for a community recovery effort to be fully implemented (consider recent flooding along the Mississippi River, which in some places will not even subside for more than a month). Then it is no less than 1 year – and for disasters of the magnitude of recent tornadoes, probably 2-3 years – for the recovery to conclude. It is never completed. This is a marathon, no way around it.
Disciples Volunteering represents the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in our programmatic response to disaster. We support the local recovery as it unfolds by matching resources to identified needs. Sometimes, that means structuring our own response through a congregational Mission Station. Other times, it means channeling resources through ecumenical partnerships. Our greatest resources are the congregationally based mission teams that answer the call to serve and our long term Servant Leadership Team. Other resources exist and as those offers of support are received we do our best to match them to identified needs.
As responses to recent disasters come together, from North Carolina to Washington and many places in between, Disciples Volunteering will extend the call to Get Dirty for Jesus and partner in the long mission of disaster recovery. Thank you for hanging in there with the people who are recovering from disaster. Disciples are only able to be present and bring hope, healing, and a hand because of the vision, patience, and compassion of individuals and congregations to serve in mission for as long as there is need.
Report from Middle Tennessee
Dear Friends -
Thank you for your interest in helping the people of middle Tennessee recover from the devastating flooding they experienced in early May. Disciples Volunteering has now made two trips to meet with area pastors and potential work partners and we are pleased to report that good progress is being made.
Progress: Gutting Your Home to the Curb
“Please be patient with us.”
On our most recent visit, two organizations with the capacity to supervise reconstruction thanked us for reaching out in possible partnership. Then they asked us to please be patient. While there is always easily identifiable work right after a flood disaster in the form of mucking and gutting, much of that work has been completed. Shifting from the crisis relief phase to a long-term response takes time. Why? More than 18,000 people have applied for FEMA assistance in Nashville alone. Not all of these people will qualify for the assistance we aim to provide. But it takes time for people to assess their personal situation, to evaluate their resources (including deal with their insurance company) and their needs (the cost to repair, rebuild, or replace their home and belongings lost to the flood). In this moment, it is unclear just how many people will find that their resources won’t cover their needs. It also takes time for interfaith and not-for-profit organizations to develop an appropriate community response organization. The infrastructure that a collective response provides is critical because it includes case management to evaluate and prioritize needs. Such an organization also becomes the umbrella for receiving donations that are then distributed appropriately on a case-by-case basis to qualifying individuals and families. This critical work of a community based long term recovery organization assures us that our resources – donated dollars and especially volunteer hours – are being targeted to those with the most pressing needs; it assures us that we are living good stewardship.
In the meantime, Disciples Volunteering is not idly waiting for the call for volunteers. Two congregations on opposite sides of Nashville have stepped forward to serve as Mission Stations. We are working with those congregations to ensure that their facilities are ready to receive volunteers (specifically, with the expansion/addition of showers on site). We are also working with local pastors, to identify unmet needs within their congregations. While our primarily long-term response is always made in partnership with other faith-based or not-for-profit organizations, we know the importance of “taking care of family,” of doing what we can for Disciples who were impacted by the flood. Week of Compassion has already made an initial response to Disciples congregations and families. Local congregations have organized to help each other, whether in the form of mucking and gutting or offering to watch children and provide meals. Now, pastors are identifying people within their congregations who will not be able to rebuild on their own. Our ability to help them will depend on continued financial support. As always, designated gifts can be made through Week of Compassion to enable the purchase of materials for rebuilding homes.
You do not have to sit idly by, either. The people of middle Tennessee need your prayers, for healing and restoration. They need financial support. Soon, they will also need your labor. Potential work partners estimated that they would be ready to receive volunteers in 2 – 4 months. As Disciples pastors identify unmet needs from within their congregations, Disciples Volunteering will be ready to put volunteers to work more quickly – so long as we have the financial resources to buy the bleach, insulation, sheetrock, paint, or whatever else is needed. The Mission Stations are almost ready to house volunteers. Once these pieces come together, we will send out an e-mail opening up for registrations of mission teams. We know this is not the answer most people want to hear. Thank you for your on-going support, and your strong desire to help now! Please be actively patient with us, praying, generously supporting, and planning to volunteer – all as you are able – for and with the people of middle Tennessee.
We are compiling a distribution list to notify folks as soon as Disciples Volunteering is ready to start scheduling mission teams. We will have more detailed information about the work at that time, including possible age limitations (most partner organizations set a minimum age of 16 to work on a reconstruction project). To be added to this list, please e-mail Brenda Tyler. You can also watch for updates on this blog.
Holy Week, Holy Work
Disciples Volunteering enjoys some wonderful relationships with individuals, congregations, and regions that regularly support this ministry through financial gifts and regular volunteer service. One such partner is the the Christian Church of Northern California-Nevada, which has sent a Mission Team to the Gulf Coast during Holy Week every year since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita slammed the Gulf Coast. This year, their team was to work with Hope Community Development Association in Biloxi, Mississippi. The week started as planned with the Mission Team arriving Sunday and settling in at the Mission Station at First Christian Church, Gulfport. Monday they were oriented to Hope and learned a little about the East Biloxi neighborhood where Hope focuses its efforts, including how the neighborhood was hit by water from two directions as one set of waves washed in from the Gulf Coast and a second set of waves poured in from the backside off the bay. Here we are more than four and a half years after the storm, and they were actually going to spend the beginning of the week gutting a home that flooded during Hurricane Katrina. However, Hope was in the difficult position of having too many volunteers this Spring Break week – a good problem, to be sure, but a problem nonetheless. The Northern California-Nevada crew showed great flexibility in responding to the circumstances, and agreed to shift over to Slidell and assist in the building of the new missions center. With their help, the continued work of many long-term volunteers, and the labor of some FCC members this week, we expect that by the end of the day Friday we’ll be in a good place to let the project rest for several weeks, until our next scheduled batch of volunteer groups.
The title of this entry is a refrain that I have often heard from the Northern California-Nevada volunteers as I have served with them these last five Holy Weeks. At the end of both Alternative Spring Break and Lent, in the midst of the crunch of Holy Week and all that remains to do in Slidell, it is a reminder to me that when we serve God by serving others, the most mundane task is holy: that every hour, every day, every mission week spent in service is holy, sanctified by the Spirit which blesses the good work we attempt on behalf of another. I do not mean to imply that Holy Week is itself about service; but it does lead us to focus on the words and the actions of one who put others before himself – and who calls us to do the same.
At the end of the day yesterday (Tuesday), these were the views of the missions center from the back side and from the street:
Quick Haiti Update
Felix Ortiz gives Haiti response update
Just a quick note… Global ministries is doing another webcast to update us on how Disciples are responding and active in the recovery effort in Haiti. Join the webcast here, or check in afterward for the slideshow update.
Help for Cedar Rapids
In 2008, Iowa experienced its worst disaster ever: 85 out of 99 counties were impacted; state-wide, damages are estimated at $8-$10 billion; farmers lost $3 billion in crops; and several thousand homes were destroyed. Volunteers have been working hard with folks in the communities affected, but the wider public attention to their plight, needs, and inspiring stories of recovery was short-lived. Disciples Volunteering, in partnership with Week of Compassion, wants to bring some attention back to Iowa. You can help, by sharing the following blurb, volunteering to serve, and recruiting friends, family, and church members to do the same.
Volunteers Needed for Cedar Rapids “Ecu-Build”
In 2008, when Cedar Rapids, Iowa, experienced historic flooding that destroyed more than 5,000 homes, it was clear that the recovery would take years. While much progress has been made, the recovery has only just begun for too many families and individuals. That is why Church World Service is coordinating the work of at least 10 denominations to bring a focused effort to neighborhoods in need of assistance – and your help is needed! Disciples Volunteering and Week of Compassion are calling for volunteers to serve alongside ecumenical partners in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, repairing homes damaged by the flood. Disciples Volunteering and Week of Compassion have joined in this mission to bring hope, healing, and a helping hand to Cedar Rapids. Please consider serving for a week in May, repairing homes and rebuilding lives that were damaged nearly two years ago. Volunteers are needed May 2 – May 22. For more information or to register, contact Brenda Tyler at 888-346-2631 or visit this registration website.
