When Disaster Strikes at HomeShembull

Cooperation with other groups brings benefits, but also challenges. The benefits usually include access to the skills and experience of others. Cooperation also helps to remove duplication or competition in a relief project, and ensures that no needy group is left out.

However, there may be some prejudice towards the church, or lack of trust in its capacity to respond appropriately to the disaster. The church must be clear about what it can and cannot do. It should recognize that it has both strengths and weaknesses. For example, a church may be willing to offer the use of its compound, to make lists of needy people and to recruit a team of volunteers. Another group may be able to buy food and arrange delivering it.

In the face of disaster there is still a message of hope, and a commission. In Proverbs 3:25-27, Solomon writes of the protection and comfort that God gives, but also writes of what we should do when we have the opportunity to help others.