Ready Response

By Don Tipton and Sondra Tipton

Over the past couple of decades, Friend Ships has responded to hurricanes, fires, floods, tornados, earthquakes, and civil unrest here in the United States and in many countries around the world. In every disaster we've worked, there is a need for more Christians to be there to comfort, encourage, help them with their needs, and sometimes just listen or give a hug. Fires, floods, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, terror attacks, chemical spills, mass shootings—every one of these terrible events is an opportunity to help and minister to people. When a disaster hits a community, it dissolves into chaos. Lives are shattered ,and all support systems gone. Those who know the Lord are crying out to Him to help them through this crisis. Those who don’t know Him are searching desperately for comfort and meaning in what they are experiencing. People desperately need what we as Christians have to offer. Yet routinely these amazing opportunities go unattended. This material will introduce the benefits and challenges of providing material aid while including ministry to the spirit. Learn how to select, prepare, inspire, and lead a team, keeping them functioning as an effective, disciplined group with priorities in place.Our teams can benefit greatly by being prepared before we go. In an environment where there is no power, scarce water, no open stores, restricted communications, non-functioning sanitation systems, and little fuel available, we need to be organized and sufficiently supported or we become a drag on a system that is already broken. By training and organizing in advance, we will know what we require in terms of personnel, housing, food, equipment, and supplies and minimize the chance that our mission will fail. By assessing our available resources, leadership, and the training necessary to obtain prior to the response, we prepare our team to be confident and ready to response to people's needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Tipton
• Release date: Nov 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311261274

Don Tipton

Don and Sondra Tipton are the Founders and Directors of Friend Ships Unlimited.Friend Ships is a Christian humanitarian aid organization that has sailed ships throughout the world delivering relief supplies, carrying out disaster relief and conducting medical missions in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East. The organization and its team work in the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods and in the course of wars, famines and extreme poverty. The organization has been in service since 1983.

Book preview

READY RESPONSE

CHRISTIAN DISASTER Relief Missions

Assembled by Don and Sondra Tipton

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

READY RESPONSE

Copyright @ 2013 - 11

Friend Ships Publishing

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be copied or reprinted without the express permission of Friend Ships Publishing, with the exception of a review of this book whereby brief passages may be quoted by the reviewer with proper credit line. Write for permission to the address below.

Friend Ships Publishing 1019 N. 1st Avenue

Lake Charles, LA. 70601 U.S.A. Tel: [phone]

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Ready Response

Christian Disaster Relief

Written and compiled by the Friend Ships Team, including Teri Shields, Murray Douglas, David Condron, Mary Pearce, Don Tipton, and Sondra Tipton.

Contents

Introduction

The First Step

Selecting your team

How to prepare your team

Spiritual support

House to house ministry

Safety and security

Equipment and supplies

Leading a team

Working with commodities

In conclusion

Planning outline

Introduction

Over the past couple of decades, Friend Ships has responded to hurricanes, fires, floods, tornados, earthquakes, and civil unrest here in the United States and in many countries around the world. In every disaster we've worked, there is a need for more Christians to be there to comfort, encourage, lead people to Jesus, help them with their needs, and sometimes just listen or give a hug. Fires, floods, earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, terror attacks, chemical spills, mass shootings—every one of these terrible events is an opportunity to help and minister to people.

When a disaster hits a community, it dissolves into chaos. Lives are shattered, and all support systems gone. Those who know the Lord are crying out to Him to help them through this crisis. Those who don’t know Him are searching desperately for comfort and meaning in what they are experiencing. People desperately need what we as Christians have to offer. Yet routinely these amazing opportunities go unattended. This material will introduce the benefits and challenges of providing material aid while including ministry to the spirit. Learn how to select, prepare, inspire, and lead a team, keeping them functioning as an effective, disciplined group with priorities in place.

In 1863, the International Red Cross was established by a Christian man named Henri Dunant born of his compassion for wounded soldiers. Today the Red Cross teams respond to over 70,000 crises a year, providing critical services, but Christian spiritual support is not among them. So why do we, Christians, the mightiest network in the world, with more than two billion professing believers and half a million congregations in the United States alone, allow the Red Cross to be at every disaster when we are not? People need the Lord at this time in their lives, and they are open to receiving what He has for them even