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WELS Christian Aid and Relief delivers hands-on disaster relief and humanitarian aid to communities around the world. During these times of disaster and trauma, WELS missionaries and volunteers work to provide not only physical relief and assistance but also spiritual nourishment. The aim is to help people in their time of need and connect them with a church community for ongoing support.
To help get the gospel in the hands of disaster survivors, WELS Christian Aid and Relief developed a short devotional booklet in 2021 entitled An Ever-Present Help in Trouble.
“We really didn’t have a printed resource that pastors and church members in areas that have been hit by a disaster could use as a tool for ministering to those who have been through the trauma of a disaster,” says Daniel Sims, director of WELS Christian Aid and Relief. So Sims and nine of his colleagues wrote a total of 40 devotions and prayers focusing on gospel promises that are comforting to people who have lived through a crisis or trauma. They wrote these devotions with two audiences in mind. “One [is an audience] of people who have been through a huge disaster . . . and the other is for people who don’t know much about Jesus,” says Sims.
Now when a disaster strikes, Christian Aid and Relief ships boxes of the devotions to the churches in the affected area. The books include a designated space in the front where a church can place an informational sticker. Above that space it reads, “This little book of devotions is a gift to you from God’s people at . . .” Readers are encouraged to contact the listed congregation for anything they might need.
These devotion books have already been put to good use. For example, after Hurricane Ida hit the Gulf Coast in 2021, a WELS congregation in Louisiana distributed copies of the book along with free meal packets to community members.
The book has been so well-received that members of WELS congregations have been asking how they can get copies. In response, WELS Christian Aid and Relief has partnered with Northwestern Publishing House to make copies available for everyone—because the truths found in this book are applicable and comforting for God’s people in every walk of life.
Author: Forward in Christ
Volume: 110, Number 06
Issue: June 2023
