Winds Rush. Water Pounds. Buildings Fall. People Suffer.
Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti on the morning of October 4 and in Cuba later that afternoon. This powerful and slow-moving storm battered islands of the Caribbean and the United States’ Atlantic coast. The immediate and long-term impacts for survivors are significant.
The storm flattened communities and wrecked agriculture in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas. Global Ministries’ (UCC/Disciples joint ministry) partners are reporting devastation of crops and houses in the southern regions of Haiti as well as in the city of Port-au-Prince. Houses in Ganthier, Haiti, rebuilt for families displaced from the 2010 earthquake by Church World Service (including both the UCC and Disciples), now are flooded again. Torrential rains reignited fears of waterborne diseases like cholera, an epidemic that already was in Haiti prior to the hurricane. Over 1,000 people have died, most of them in Haiti and at least 22 in the United States. In Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, coastal destruction, wind damage and freshwater flooding has wreaked havoc.
The United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are well situated to respond robustly to people impacted both in the Caribbean and within the United States. Already, solidarity grants from the 2016 One Great Hour of Sharing Offering and Week of Compassion Fund are on their way to partners in in the region responding to immediate needs of food, shelter and safety. The UCC and Disciples are poised to respond with other churches to provide food, water, containers, roofs, mattresses, hygiene kits and psychosocial support. Within the United States, both denominations are active in local and national disaster response networks.
Your generosity to this disaster appeal will enable our churches to expand these responses and to walk closely with our neighbors now, in the immediate crisis, and through the long-term recovery process that will follow. In the midst of tumultuous weather, people receive food and water to drink. In the midst of danger, people find safety and rebuild homes. In the midst of hopelessness, people experience a love that will not let them go.
Hurricane Matthew
Pray passionately-
Prayers Following Disasters
Stay Connected-
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Global Ministries Website and Facebook
Respond generously (indicate Hurricane Matthew Response)-
Disaster Ministries
One Great Hour of Sharing UCC International Emergency Fund
Disciples of Christ Week of Compassion
Global Ministries
Support of specific partners through Global Ministries
