About
MCC Disaster Relief Ministries
Who we are…
Since its founding in 1968, MCC has been at the vanguard of civil and human rights movements by addressing important issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and other forms of oppression. MCC has been on the forefront in the struggle towards marriage equality in the US and other countries worldwide and continues to be a powerful voice in the LGBT equality movement.
MCC’s ministry reaches over 43,000 members in over 250 churches in 22 countries worldwide.
Why we respond during disasters…
adapted from MCC’s Statement of Purpose
At MCC,we believe that even in our humanness, we are holy. We believe that Jesus led the way in acts of compassion and acts of justice. Because we have been a people in the margins of society, we understand fully the grace that God has extended to us.
At MCC, we believe our ultimate ministry is in the world. We know that in order to prepare ourselves for radical service that changes lives, we must equip ourselves and others in the safety of a supportive community.
At MCC, we have experienced the soul destruction that comes from hate filled rhetoric. As followers of Jesus, we believe ineveryone’s holy privilege to work out their own salvation. While we are a Christian church who follows Jesus, we respect those of other faith traditions and work together with them to free all those who are oppressed by hate, disregard and violence.
From all of these things and more, MCC derives our dedication to responding on behalf of our siblings around the world when disasters happen. We respond out of our own belief that we are called to be in community with our global human family.
We respond because it is our calling to do so.
The current effort…Haiti Earthquake, January 2010
…from Wikipedia:
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.[5][6] By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded.[7] An estimated three million people were affected by the quake;[8] the Haitian Government reported that an estimated 230,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless.[9][10] They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.[11]
Among the survivors were those connected to the MCC church community MCC Santo Domingo. We responded within days, collecting funds and scheduling aid for our Haitian siblings. Since the earthquake, MCC has raised over $40,000 in financial aid and sent multiple mission groups into the area. Read more in our news updates.