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Churches Dealing with Disaster

Volunteers assemble cleaning buckets in this file photo on the website of the North Carolina Conference. A file photo by Bill Norton.By Barbara Dunlap-Berg*
Volunteers assemble cleaning buckets in this file photo on the website of the North Carolina Conference. A file photo by Bill Norton.By Barbara Dunlap-Berg*

When disaster strikes, United Methodists respond with prayers and support.

Find out how you can be a part of relief efforts. Follow news coverage or the United Methodist News Service page on Facebook.

Check for information about local churches or conferences.

Learn from the stories of United Methodists congregations that have faced hardship, healing and hope after disasters.

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Disaster preparedness and response

Storms and flood

Part I of this series shares how the United Methodist Committee on Relief responds to disasters. The next four segments tell the stories of three churches — in Alabama, Indiana and North Dakota — that are recovering from tornadoes and floods.

Fires

During 2012 and early 2013, fire destroyed or damaged more than a dozen United Methodist church properties across the United States. This special news series reported on the damage from those fires, the response to the affected congregations and what churches can do to protect themselves.

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Disaster Relief
Emile Odimba, coordinator of the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s disaster management office in central Congo, helps distribute supplies to flood survivors in Kinshasa, Congo. More than 3,500 people lost their homes in massive flooding last year. Photo by the Rev. Fiston Okito, UM News.

Church provides aid for Congo flood survivors
With financial support from UMCOR and Global Ministries, the church distributed food, medicine and other supplies to thousands of people in central Congo.
Social Concerns
An instructor and student share a teaching microscope at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, in 2017. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

USAID freeze strikes Africa University
United Methodist-related Africa University is among the institutions struggling as employees with jobs funded by the United States Agency for International Development stop getting paychecks.
Violence
At least 100 people, including eight United Methodists, have been killed in fighting in Goma, Congo, between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. The security situation has continued to deteriorate since the M23’s major offensive on Jan. 23. Image courtesy of Google Maps.

United Methodists killed in Congo conflict
At least 100 people, including eight United Methodists, were killed in fighting in Goma between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.

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