Tennessee and the South-east of the United States are suffering under extreme drought conditions while the Midwest as well as Oklahoma and Texas are recovering from severe floods. In Tennessee, twelve people have died from heat-related causes, farmers have lost crops, and lawn care companies have gone out of business.
You have read the stories in the paper, you have seen the pictures on the news, and you have remembered all who suffer in your prayers – men and women, young and old, all God’s creatures, large and small.
In July, Week of Compassion responded to an emergency appeal exactly 31 times – once a day. Normally, it’s about once every two days. Several of these were major appeals, e.g. Midwest floods, Iraqi refugee crisis, Darfur, and then came the urgent requests for help from India and other parts of Asia after widespread floods, from Peru after the earthquake, and from the many places hit by hurricane Dean and tropical storm Erin.
Week of Compassion has responded to every single appeal for help, as they always do to every request from a partner. Regular giving to Week of Compassion has been down by approximately $75,000, partly due to seasonal giving patterns, and Johnny Wray, Director of Week of Compassion, is concerned about our ability to respond to needs that will develop the rest of the year.
Remember that Week of Compassion responds to human needs on our behalf, around the world, around the year. Please consider making a special gift to Week of Compassion, either with your credit card or by writing a check to the church (Vine Street Christian Church, memo: WOC). You can make undesignated gifts for the response fund as well as designated gifts toward specific appeals (Darfur, India flooding, Peru earthquake, etc.).
When natural disasters strike, the poor suffer the most.
When we respond with generous hearts, even the smallest gift changes the world.