Compassion is not always our first response when faced with the needs around us. Sometimes, we have sympathy but are not moved to act in solidarity. Henri J.M. Nouwen wrote about this tendency: “Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it.” How can we become more equipped to have a posture of compassion at all times?
In Vancouver, Washington, four tiny house villages—called Safe Stay communities—provide a safe place for people experiencing homelessness to find shelter and transitional housing. When Pastor Kevin Campbell-White and his wife Jeni drove by one of these villages several months ago, they had the passing idea to try to connect their church (Hillcrest Church of the Nazarene) with the city to support Safe Stay residents.
When wildfires devastated parts of the island of Maui, Hawaii, Nazarene churches were there to provide hope and healing. Now that the initial relief work is done, the focus of these congregations is shifting to providing long-term, sustainable compassionate ministry in their community. Learn more in the video below.
“Today, I believe that this work is very important because, in moments of sadness or hopelessness in the hospital, a word of encouragement arrives.”
God is doing incredible things through creative and hope-filled churches around the world. Most often, these congregations are small, rural, and scattered across continents in some of the most remote pockets of our planet. These congregations are comprised of entrepreneurial pastors and devoted disciples who are community leaders; they are often teachers, farmers, mechanics, and more. They are Christ-followers who devote their lives to teaching kids and who work tirelessly when a storm strikes or crops fail.
In December of 2023, Pastor You-Sin Houe hosted all the Nazarene churches in the Perth, Australia, area for a Christmas celebration where volunteers passed out backpacks and school supplies to local children at Cullacabardee Aboriginal Community Church of the Nazarene.
In March of 2023, Cyclone Yaku caused devastation across northern Peru, with rains causing rivers to overflow and landslides adding to the loss of lives, homes, businesses, and schools. At least 71 people died, and more than 131,000 people were impacted. As the summer of 2023 continued, heavy rains continued to plague the country. By August, the Government reported 839,760 people needing humanitarian aid since the start of the rainy season in January. Of this group, 123,691 people have been rendered homeless, and 48,903 houses are reported destroyed or uninhabitable.
After 26 years of brutal civil war in Sri Lanka, a new era of peace, reconciliation, and development began in May 2009 when the conflict ended. But in a small village called Iruttumadu, people were left with the worst scars from the war. The village was largely destroyed, and healing seemed impossible.
As medical volunteers from Global Care Force visited churches and villages across Ukraine over the fall and winter of 2022, they prayed that God would help them find at least one person in each location that would be the right fit for an inaugural trauma-care training.
It has been three years now since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the whole world. The pandemic affected billions of lives globally with disease, death, debt, and distress. It has seriously complicated an already broken world. But in the midst of so much brokenness, we have seen many churches become hands and feet of Jesus, salt and light to the world.