Taken from: Compassion News

Compassion Assists Disaster Ministries

When terrorists attacked the United States on September 11, Christian churches and ministries near the crash sites began taking immediate action to provide comfort and help for the victims. The connections Compassion USA Ministry had already established in New York City and Washington, D.C, enabled Compassion to make early contact with these ministries to offer financial support.

"As soon as I saw the WTC collapse, my mind immediately focused on Lamb's Church in the heart of New York City, where I served as a seminary intern," says Compassion USA Director Rev. Dean Cowles. "I could only imagine the streets clogged with dust, debris, and desperate people searching for loved ones and coworkers." Now, USA Ministry is working hand in hand with that key ministry, helping volunteers and victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Manhattan Lamb's Church of the Nazarene, located in Times Square, has transformed parts of its six-story facility into twenty long- and short-term housing units for volunteers. Pastor Bowen reports that the Compassion funds have been used to furnish the rooms with carpeting, paint, beds, furniture, and linens.

Pastor Bowen describes the effect of September 11, as "more than just a disaster": For those living in New York City, the towers were "like an elephant in the background." Suddenly, overnight, they were gone. "It's like part of you has been ripped out."

Phil Jackson, East Coast Regional Facilitator for USA Ministry, was in Atlanta on the day of the attacks. The next day, he headed home to Columbia, Md., by bus, and immediately began contacting other new and existing New York ministry associates. He inquired about how they were responding and offered assistance from the Compassion Relief Fund. Days later, he went by rail to the city to establish a personal contact with these ministries.

Among those contacts is the Ground Zero Clergy Task Force, established by area churches. The task force requested and received $3000 to help fund a November retreat for ministers, leaders of faith-based organizations, and spokespersons for families of victims. This will be the first opportunity for these clergy members, who have been working long days without a break, to get out of town and think through their own emotions. At the retreat, professional counselors will provide training in on-going assistance for victims.

The need for such follow-up is great. "The greatest need now," says Rev. Marcos Rivera of Primitive Christian Church, "is not food and clothing, but mental health counseling from a Christian perspective."

Among the victims of the disaster are the many high school students who witnessed the events and have been displaced from their schools since September 11. They also have not been out of town since the attacks; in many cases, their families are afraid for them to travel. Every weekend in November, 50 to 60 youth per weekend will travel to a camp near Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for recreation and debriefing. A Compassion grant of $3000 is helping cover the expenses for this undertaking.

Additional grants have been approved for other New York City ministry partners and the Community of Hope Ministry in the Washington, D.C., area. These funds will be made available when specific plans for their use are in place. Meanwhile, those ministering in New York City agree that the opportunity for the Gospel to be heard and experienced in the city is unequaled; they are working in concert to make known the love of God and His people.

"Now, as the dust settles, the real work begins--to help counsel children and youth workers in the aftermath of such a tragic event," says Cowles. "Compassion is committed to bring healing, restoration, and hope to these darkened areas of our nation's greatest cities."

Donations are still being accepted for the NYC/DC Relief Fund. Make a donation today. Or, mail your gift to Compassion International, Colorado Springs, CO 80997.