Ministries Making a Difference: Disaster relief and world-wide Christmas parties
Teams with Ohio Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (OSBDR) have been working in East Palestine, Ohio, cleaning out houses affected by a train derailment and chemical fire earlier this month. The derailment resulted in a fire and cloud that covered the area, displacing many families. OSBDR teams are wiping down and vacuuming the inside of homes, bagging up toys, clothes, and other cloth items. Each home takes 8-10 people around two hours to clean, according to Baptist Press.
Two Nazarene churches in Syria are operating as shelters for people affected by a deadly earthquake that killed more than 42,000 people earlier this month. The churches are distributing hot meals and blankets, and in Aleppo, members are visiting hospitals and shelters to pass out cold-weather gear, food, and medicine. A Nazarene Compassionate Ministry (NCM) partner in Germany is also coordinating deliveries of essential items. NCM has five stars and an “A” transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 96.
MENA Leadership Center is providing online training for believers in the regions of Syria and Turkey to care for those affected by the earthquake. MCL hosted a trauma counseling course over the weekend, as many survivors are showing signs of post-traumatic stress. It will also be offering a refugee care course in English and Arabic.
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Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) announced this month that they reached 6 million children world-wide through its in-person Christmas Party Clubs in December 2022. CEF trained 167,000 volunteers, who went out and held 169,000 party clubs. Club teachers reported Ukrainian children running to the party after sirens quieted. In other places, children climbed ladders to meet on roofs, gathered on sandbars along the Amazon River, and even huddled in snow to learn the biblical story behind Christmas, according to Mission Network News. CEF has one star and an “A” transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 86.
Main photo: Photo by Child Evangelism Fellowship / mnnonline.org
