Be Prepared to Care While we may talk with more people at large events like synod assemblies or the upcoming fall leadership convocations, the most important conversations we have are probably the ones with small groups.

Those can be conference gatherings of rostered ministers where we can take time to explain what LDR Carolinas is and what we do. Even better are opportunities to talk with church members in congregational council meetings or adult Sunday school classes about the importance of preparedness.

A short article in the 2008 edition of the ELCA’s Stories of Faith in Action explains the importance of these conversations:

“When [an EF 4] tornado struck Enterprise, [Alabama] in March 2007, the members of Christ the King Lutheran Church were equipped to respond, bringing help and hope to the community.

Only 18 days before, two seminary students had come to this small city to give a presentation at Christ the King on behalf of Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR). Prior to the presentation, many members of the congregation had never heard of LDR…

The members of Christ the King started putting together their congregational plan, and several members agreed to serve on a disaster preparedness committee. Just over two weeks later, a devastating storm tore through the city, destroying two schools, leveling portions of downtown and residential areas, and killing eight high school students.

When Lutheran Disaster Response personnel arrive the next morning to begin assessing the situation, members of Christ the King were their first contacts. The church was soon named as the volunteer reception center for anyone coming to help, and within a month, nearly 4,000 volunteers participated in work projects around Enterprise.”

In case you did not guess, we were the two seminary interns who visited Enterprise to talk about preparedness. We also had the opportunity to return after the disaster to work with the members of the congregation as they served their community.

This article was originally published to explain the importance of donations to support LDR. We are sharing it now to explain the potential impact of meeting with us to discuss preparedness.

Contact us to schedule a weekday meeting with congregational leaders or a Sunday event including worship. We would be glad to preach and connect the Good News with preparedness and ministry to serve your community when a disaster occurs.

Read the original article from Stories of Faith in Action here.

[Photo from ELCA article, “Prepared to Care”]