{"id":20247,"date":"2026-02-27T21:02:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=20247"},"modified":"2026-02-27T21:02:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:02:55","slug":"11-engaging-with-disaster-survivors-wels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=20247","title":{"rendered":"11 \u2013 Engaging with Disaster Survivors \u2013 WELS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>After a disaster, survivors are numb. They don\u2019t know what to do or even where to start. They are at a loss emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The devastation caused by a disaster, the loss of property, the injury or death of friends and family can make it hard for people to even think straight. Here are some ways that volunteers can provide care for disaster survivors.<\/p>\n<h2>Do!<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Take time to introduce yourself to homeowners. Let them know that you are part of a group of volunteers from the local WELS congregation. Share the name of the congregation.<\/li>\n<li>Be respectful of homeowners\u2019 property and possessions.<\/li>\n<li>If they would like to talk about their experience, please take the time to listen to their story. Living through a disaster is a traumatic experience. It helps survivors to talk about it.<\/li>\n<li>Listen carefully.<\/li>\n<li>Know that silence is golden. Listen more than you speak (James 1:19).<\/li>\n<li>Be sensitive to differences in culture, religion, race, or language.<\/li>\n<li>Speak the truth in love.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your answers simple.<\/li>\n<li>Provide clarification.<\/li>\n<li>Follow a simple guide for good listening. Listen with R.E.S.P.E.C.T.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>R<\/strong>epeat key phrases<\/li>\n<li><strong>E<\/strong>ye contact<\/li>\n<li><strong>S<\/strong>ummarize<\/li>\n<li><strong>P<\/strong>robe for more information\/clarification<\/li>\n<li><strong>E<\/strong>mpathize<\/li>\n<li><strong>C<\/strong>oncentrate<\/li>\n<li><strong>T<\/strong>ake your time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Recognize signs of stress in survivors.\n<ul>\n<li>Normal signs of stress:\n<ul>\n<li>Feelings can include sadness, guilt, anxiety, loneliness, abandonment by God, numbness, fatigue, helplessness, shock, and anger.<\/li>\n<li>Physical reactions can include tightness in the chest and throat, over-sensitivity to noise, shortness of breath, weakness in the muscles, lack of energy, and dry mouth.<\/li>\n<li>Thoughts can include confusion, preoccupation, despair, and irrational cognition.<\/li>\n<li>Behaviors can include changes in sleep (too much or too little, dreams about the trauma), changes in appetite (too much or too little), wandering around, forgetting what you are doing, social withdrawal, restless over-activity, crying, and suppressed crying.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Signs of stress that indicate a need for intervention by a trained professional such as a pastor or counselor:\n<ul>\n<li>Continuing exclusion of family, friends, or activities.<\/li>\n<li>Prolonged feelings of emptiness or worthlessness.<\/li>\n<li>Having thoughts of or articulating a plan for self-harm.<\/li>\n<li>Abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, or illegal drugs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Don\u2019t!<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Spread rumors. Rumors can lead to feelings of insecurity and even panic. Make sure that the information you share is accurate.<\/li>\n<li>Do not promise anything you personally cannot deliver.<\/li>\n<li>Some phrases to avoid:\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cI know what you\u2019re going through.\u201d In most situations this is simply not the case.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cEverything will be OK\u201d or \u201cYou\u2019re strong\u201d or \u201cYou\u2019ll get through this.\u201d After a disaster many are questioning their strength and ability to make it through a situation. It\u2019s better to direct them to the promises of a loving and mighty God.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cMany people have it worse.\u201d This is not really comforting. Even though others may have a worse situation, the person you\u2019re talking to still has a tough situation to live through.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cLet me tell you about my experience.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cDon\u2019t cry.\u201d It\u2019s OK to cry. Sometimes it\u2019s even helpful to release pent-up emotion.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThis happened because . . .\u201d or \u201cIt\u2019s God\u2019s will.\u201d Making a statement like this can anger those who have survived disaster.<\/li>\n<li>Instead of providing comfort, these phrases can cause anger or resentment. That in turn makes it hard to engage with them and share the gospel.<\/li>\n<li>If you say something that upsets them, apologize sincerely and try to keep the conversation going.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                    <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a disaster, survivors are numb. They don\u2019t know what to do or even where to start. They are at a loss emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The devastation caused by a disaster, the loss of property, the injury or death of friends and family can make it hard for people to even think straight. Here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[5517,6616,2735,290],"class_list":["post-20247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-prayer","tag-disaster","tag-engaging","tag-survivors","tag-wels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}