WELS Christian Aid and Relief
WELS Christian Aid and Relief reflects Christ’s love and compassion to those suffering as the result of disasters or other hardships as well as through humanitarian aid distributed through WELS’ home and world missions.
Leaders from WELS Christian Aid and Relief traveled to a predominantly Hindu country in South Asia early in 2023 to see how humanitarian aid grant money is being used there. While there, Christian Aid and Relief leaders attended the following humanitarian aid events:
- Sewing schools: These schools provide women with a skill that enables them to set up a small business in their village and earn income to support their families. The women are given the foot-pump sewing machine on which they are trained.
- Free medical camps: These two-day medical camps serve about 500 people, offering basic dental, medical, and vision care.
- Education for young mothers: Infants and toddlers are weighed and given check-ups. Participants receive information about proper nutrition and basic food staples.
- Smokeless stove distribution: Many heat their homes and cook their meals over open fires inside their homes. The smoke causes respiratory illnesses and negatively impacts vision. At this event, one hundred smokeless, wood-burning steel stoves with chimneys were distributed, offering families a safer alternative.
“It’s a joy to know that these acts of kindness lead to many opportunities to share the reason for our hope in Christ,” says Daniel Sims, director of WELS Christian Aid and Relief. WELS is
working with 89 congregations and 7,000 Christians in this area of South Asia.
Domestically, WELS Christian Aid and Relief provides matching grants of up to $2,500 to self-supporting WELS congregations once a year to carry out compassion ministry in their communities. In October 2023, WELS Christian Aid and Relief approved a Community Care and Compassion matching grant for Christ, Denver, Colo., to assist the congregation as it reaches out to Venezuelan migrants in its area.
Only a month after receiving the grant, Paul Biedenbender, pastor at Christ, Denver, noted: “After a Bible study on baptism, six children were baptized (two others will be soon when the fathers have a day off of work). Combined with a similar event two weeks before, we have baptized 15 children. Warm clothing and coffee during the week keeps bringing people in who then also receive pastoral care.”
For more information, visit wels.net/relief.
