Our church’s humanitarian entity, the NAC USA World Relief Fund (WRF), is one of the many manifestations of the ‘joy of serving Him and others’ as expressed in our mission statement.
Even before the WRF’s founding in 2006 the church addressed humanitarian needs on a local level, be it here in the US or abroad in our mission areas. The devastation and hardship brought upon the southern US by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, however, required a different and more coordinated approach to providing help and support to the thousands of our fellow citizens affected by this disaster.
Teams of volunteers delivered thousands of hours of on-location support, helping to gut homes, provide food and assist with general clean-up efforts. Out of this coordination effort the decision was made to establish a separate entity for humanitarian projects to allow the church to provide even more targeted and timely disaster and relief assistance within as well as outside of the US.
Since then, the WRF has provided direct and indirect support in many of the natural or humanitarian catastrophes occurring every year (please refer to the list on the right).
For projects within the work area of NAC USA, the WRF pursues a strategy of engaging existing local, on-the-ground infrastructure, mostly ministers, members and church administrative resources in a voluntary capacity. Based on their intimate knowledge of the local situation this approach not only allows for a timely and efficient response but also avoids incurring otherwise often substantial overhead costs.
For humanitarian needs beyond the work area of NAC USA, we often partner with the church’s international humanitarian entity, NAK karitativ. With a more than 10-year history of successful global projects, NAK karitativ again provides infrastructure and network access which allow the WRF to eliminate overhead costs of its own. In selected cases, the WRF also supports other international agencies and humanitarian organizations on a project-by-project basis.
Over the next years it is planned to strengthen the WRF’s domestic presence as part of the church’s Stepping Forward initiative in the communities where our congregations are based. In addition, plans are under consideration to establish relationships with other humanitarian partners that would allow qualified members to participate in humanitarian projects outside of our church’s congregational or missional activities as part of our Christian belief as expressed in Matthew 25, 40: “...in as much as you did to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me [Jesus].”
Donations can be made to the World Relief Fund via eOffering (click the button below) or by mailing a check to the New Apostolic Church, World Relief Fund, 3753 North Troy Street, Chicago IL, 60618.
