I’m Too Old To Be a Volunteer
When you see the news stories of people removing debris, sawing tree limbs, and mucking out houses it is easy to think that you don't have a role to play…
Chainsaws Aren’t For Children
One of the most frequent questions I get is "Can we take our youth group to LERT training?" And my response is always "Certainly, but we can't certify minors." Then I tell them ways to get their youth involved in Disaster Response in their congregation but I always get the same response.
Fill the Bucket – Clever Ways to Start a Disaster Fund
This year has been an especially wet one. New Years brought widespread floods through Missouri, Illinois and all the way down the Mississippi. January, February, and March brought more flooding in…
Continuing Discussion in Disaster Response
Last week we talked about the issues of communication that happen in a massive disaster response network like LERT. We also announced our upcoming conference where you can learn all…
Solving Communication Problems in Disaster Response
One of the most frequent questions we get asked is “How can I connect with OTHER volunteers across the country?” That’s a great question and one I didn’t have a…
Why Not Just Self-Deploy Into a Disaster?
Have you ever been struck by images of disaster so much that you just wanted to hop in your car and lend a helping hand? You may want to rethink that. Here are three reasons why Self-deploying might be more harmful than helpful
Disaster Response Conference in South America for Pastors and Seminarians
Last week LCMS Disaster Response and Luther Academy led a three day conference in South America for 76 Pastors and Seminarians on how to respond to disasters and minister to people hurting from a wide variety of tragedies.
Big Things are Happening in Latin America
There are about 14,000 trained volunteers across the United States and about 2,000 more are trained every year. What you might not know is that we train leaders and missionaries around the world to respond mercifully in times of tragedy with the love of Christ.
LCMS Disaster Response takes a FORO into Uruguay
LCMS Disaster Response’s role at the FORO is to be a subject matter expert in the area of Mercy work and giving a merciful response in times of tragedy.
LCMS Disaster Response in Hispanic Communities
Over the last couple of years we have discovered two needs. The first need is for our materials to be translated into Spanish. Secondly, we have found a need to train our Spanish speaking churches in the United States and throughout Latin America so that they will have Lutheran Early Response Teams (LERT). We also want to do a better job of responding to disasters that strike Spanish speaking communities across the United States.
LERT Trained and Thrown Into the Fire
This tornado struck just 3 days after the local LERT training on March 12th. The congregation saw a need, hosted the training and became certified for disaster preparedness. No one knew at the time that they themselves would hear the tornado sirens just a few days later. Because the team was trained beforehand, they knew what to do and responded to their community.
The State and the Current State of Lutheranism: Serving the Poor – Part 3
Lutheran Congregational Mercy Work Over the last 15 years there has been a renaissance of congregational mercy work across the congregations in the LCMS. Much of this resurgence was due…
The State and the Current State of Lutheranism: Serving the Poor Part 2
However, for almost two decades there has been an increased reliance on government funding NGOs. Many large faith-based organizations now get well over 50 percent of their annual income from the government funding sources and depend substantially on government budgets, election results, and political parties for funding their social work projects.
The State and the Current State of Lutheranism: Serving the Poor – Part 1
On January 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order establishing The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI). Many non-government organizations (NGOs) including congregations, denominations,…
Long Term Disaster Response Is Not Glamorous
The fact is that long term rebuilding is difficult and is not glamorous. However, LCMS Disaster Response is committed to helping communities rebuild for up to three years after a disaster has torn apart lives and homes. LCMS congregations are anchors in their community. They serve as a lighthouse of the Gospel and they can be a mercy center for helping others in a time of need.