It is nice to be thanked in public. But it is equally nice to be mentioned in a way that elicits helpful understanding. This is what happened when the Rev. Emily C. Heath, the pastor of the West Dover (Vermont) Congregational Church, penned a terrific piece for The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-emily-c-heath/five-tips-for-ministry-af_b_3315619.html) on tips for clergy dealing with disasters like the …
CWS Commends Judiciary Committee for Advancing Immigration Bill
May 22, 2013
WASHINGTON, DC — In a statement released today, CWS commended the Senate Judiciary Committee for its vote to send a bipartisan immigration reform bill to the full Senate for consideration: “CWS commends Senator Patrick Leahy and his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee for moving forward Senate Bill 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, for a …
CWS Emergency Appeal: 2013 U.S. Tornadoes
May 21, 2013
Appeal # 627-Y Initial CWS Appeal Goal: $55,000 Situation: Emergency responders are still in “search-and-rescue” mode, trying to find survivors of a devastating tornado that destroyed large areas of the Oklahoma City area on Monday (May 20). The community of Moore, Okla., was particularly hard-hit. It was still not clear how many people died in the devastation, with numbers fluctuating …
Oklahoma Tornadoes: What You Can Do To Help
Angela Rupchock-Schafer |
A huge tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma, yesterday and earlier tornadoes devastated communities across the Central U.S. As I was watching the news last night and today, scanning my Twitter feed for the latest information, all I can think is, “How can I help?” First off, you can help the most by staying put. Don’t get in the way of …
Marie Antoinette: Empowerment in Haiti
Amy Porter | May 20, 2013
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, CWS supports the Haitian Christian Service (Service Chretien d’Haiti), which was founded by CWS in 1954. Working with CWS, SCH helps people in times of disaster and provides vocational training, agricultural assistance and economic opportunities to help people to climb out of poverty. Two years before the January 12, 2010, earthquake, CWS also started working with churches …
CWS readying to respond to massive Oklahoma tornado disaster
NEW YORK – Disaster relief and recovery agency Church World Service has announced that it will respond to the extensive damage caused by this afternoon’s tornadoes in the Oklahoma City and Moore, Okla. area, including provision of emergency supplies as needed. Whole neighborhoods have been decimated in the path of a massive EF-4 tornado initially estimated to have been a …
Three Decades of Service
Matt Hackworth | May 17, 2013
One of the things I love about CWS is its history, and that so many of my colleagues have been around to witness it. The agency is the kind of place where people have come to spend their whole careers. Just a couple of months ago I helped celebrate the tenures of three colleagues who all have been with CWS …
Hmong House is “Good News” for Elderly Refugees
For Yer Thao, an elderly Hmong refugee living in Milwaukee, Wis., loneliness used to be all that she had to look forward to every day – until she started going to Hmong House of Good News. This innovative United Methodist ministry offers community and hope to Hmong seniors, some of whom live alone, others in families where everyone else works …
CWS Kit Challenge
Heather Dunham | May 16, 2013
A few years ago a small group of young children in a very small community decided to do something “big”. What happened was amazing; these small children gathered a community together, got busy, and presented Rev. Bert Marshall with 52 health and school kits to be sent to children to parts of the world they could hardly imagine existed. This …
Study … Play … Changed
Bert Marshall | May 15, 2013
“Hi there, how’s everyone doing?” I blurted out in a crowded room full of teenagers who were in the midst of their English class. Without missing a beat, they all responded “Fine! Nice to meet you. Come on in. Welcome.” I asked how long they’d been studying English. The answer: two weeks. Two weeks and they were speaking to a …