El Salvador: “Without Retaining Dikes, There is No Food”
The title of this post comes from an advocacy piece written by ELCA Missionary Stephen Deal entitled “Sin borda…no hay comida”. The phrase has become the rallying cry of communities who live along a 10 kilometer stretch of the Paz...
Hurricane Irene & Tropical Storm Lee: One Year Later
In late August and early September 2011 Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee hit the US east coast bringing strong winds and heavy rains. The storm systems came on back-to-back weekends (Irene on August 27-29 and Lee on September 3-5),...
Northeast Minnesota: Field Report
This is Pastor Michael Stadie, Director of Lutheran Disaster Response. This past week, I had the opportunity to do a field visit to Minnesota. While there, I spent time with Nancy Beers of Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (LSS-MN); Nancy...
September is U.S. National Preparedness Month
Since 2001, the month of September has been designated by the U.S. government as National Preparedness Month. The purpose of this event it to highlight the importance of being ready in the case of a disaster. To help in this...
Hurricane Katrina: 7-Year Anniversary – Lessons Learned
Today marks the 7-year anniversary of when Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast. This landmark disaster has changed much about the way we repond to disaster, for Lutheran Disaster Response, our partners and our country’s government. Many of...
Syria: Lutheran Communion Responds in the Midst of Conflict
As the conflict in Syria continues to worsen some Syrians are beginning to cross the border into neighboring countries like Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. These countries are continuing their practice of keeping open borders for incoming refugees, even as...