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Disaster Response
In all of Church World Service’s programs, there is an element that allows us to thrive: our partnerships. We recently took the time to appreciate one of these partnerships when our PC(USA) friends and colleagues Ellen Smith, Regional Liaison for Central and Eastern Europe, and Luciano Kovacs, Middle East and Europe Area Coordinator, visited CWS programs in Bihac in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgrade in Serbia.
Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, Wednesday’s Chapel Service for the national staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) focused on the recorded personal stories of five refugees living and working in the United States.
When the call went out to those concerned about gun violence to go to Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center in New Mexico, the first registrants hailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific regions of the country.
Why go to New Mexico? For the James Atwood Institute for Congregational Courage. This new initiative of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship will be held August 22-25 at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico.
The last several weeks have been a very active period of severe weather in the United States, highlighting the need for church and community preparedness and the importance of partnerships and collaboration to bounce back from and potentially lessen the impact of disasters, such as tornadoes and flooding.
More than two years after Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continues to provide aid and support to organizations serving Ukrainians who’ve fled to neighboring countries.
In 2014, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s Associate for Story Ministry, David Barnhart, met Lisa Horne, Director of Community Ministry at First Presbyterian Church of Flint, working on what would become the award-winning documentary, “Flint: The Poisoning of an American City.”
The brightly-lit Ramsey Gym at Beulah Presbyterian Church in Louisville came alive Saturday morning as some 20 area volunteers became a cheerful human assembly line in support of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
It is the season when volunteer work trips kick into high gear as groups from churches and other partners of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance show their love and compassion by helping with rebuilding projects in communities affected by disasters.
For groups that have one of these trips in their future, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has put together a free, downloadable how-to guide to assist with planning.
Lisa Baker has a promise for those pondering the idea of becoming a member of the National Response Team (NRT) of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
“It might seem daunting, but the reality is, you’ll get more than you give in this ministry,” said Baker, who’s part of the team. “Your heart becomes larger with every deployment.”
“Between 2 Pulpits” hosts the Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson and Katie Snyder called on the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus to wrap up their One Great Hour of Sharing podcast series by highlighting and illustrating the intersections of disaster assistance, ending hunger and the self-development of people.
