Posts Categorized: Disaster Response

2020 One Great Hour of Sharing Resources for Mid Council Leaders

You shall be called repairers of the breach. —Isaiah 58 Around the world, millions of people lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity. Each gift to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) helps to improve the lives of people in these challenging situations. For more than 70 years, One Great Hour… Read more »

Christmas Joy: Living with Joy and Dignity

Facing Financial Hardship Grocery shopping had become an anxiety-filled experience for the Rev. Gloria Casasus-Urrutia. Ten years after her 2006 retirement as organist at her church,  Porta Coeli in San German, Puerto Rico, she found herself thrust into severe financial hardship. “I had to write down the price of each item and add everything up… Read more »

Nurture Your Children’s Helpful Instincts

When children hear about people in need, they want to do something. The Jerry Can curriculum engages young worshippers in understanding the needs of others, especially in times of disaster, and showing what they can do to help. This curriculum centers on Jerry Can, a fun, energetic character that connects our response to disaster with… Read more »

OGHS: Saving a Community in Puerto Rico from the Threat of Displacement

A Community Facing Displacement Even before Hurricane Maria ravaged communities along the Martín Peña Channel in Puerto Rico last year, residents were facing another threat that could have completely disrupted their way of life. Plans to dredge the polluted channel and improve the waterway promised to dramatically increase property values in this section of San… Read more »

Passionate Generosity through One Great Hour of Sharing

This piece was written by Rev. Aisha Brooks-Lytle, Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, for their presbytery newsletter originally published March 30, 2019. Our conversations around what it means to flourish continues to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a Presbytery filled with healthy congregations and innovative leaders who are… Read more »

OGHS: Haitian Earthquake Survivors Build Their Future Through Education

Natural Disaster Changes Life Course The 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, and changed it forever, set Andral’s life on a radically different course. Andral lost his home and career in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city. In Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region, an estimated 300,000 people lost their lives in the earthquake. You could say that Andral… Read more »

OGHS: Repairers of the Breach

What is “the church?” It’s a big question. Think about this: As the wider culture becomes less traditionally religious, the church—something we share as a congregation and individually hold dear in our hearts— becomes less understood, or misunderstood, by many. Like it or not, it’s a fact. And as hard as it is to admit,… Read more »

Come See Us at the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women!

The 2018 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women begins tomorrow, August 2nd, in Louisville, KY, marking the celebration’s 30th anniversary. The Special Offerings and Presbyterian Giving Catalog team will be celebrating, too, sharing the work of the whole church with Presbyterian women from all over the United States in the exhibit hall at the Galt House…. Read more »

Children Can Help by Using the Jerry Can Curriculum

The Jerry Can curriculum nurtures and encourages our children’s natural desire to help people in need. Jerry Can represents the one common denominator in all disasters around the world: the need for clean water to survive. The Jerry Can cartoon was created to be a fun, energetic character for children to connect with as they… Read more »