Often when a disaster happens, ministry leaders and congregations are inundated with immediate and physical needs. As they respond to the physical needs of impacted communities, one small way those outside of the disaster can share God’s love is by providing resources for the spiritual care and nurture of those affected.

Disaster in Our Midst

Anytime we look at the news, it’s hard to deny the reality of disaster in our midst. The rise of natural disasters due to climate change can be overwhelming, not to mention the constancy of disasters of a different kind — war, gun violence, racism, socio-economic injustice, and more.

Natural disasters in particular can enact so much catastrophic change in what feels like the blink of an eye. Yet, as Rachel Naomi Remen suggests in Kitchen Table Wisdom (New York: Riverhead Books, 1996), God is one who never blinks.

As people called to incarnate love in the world, how do we respond to a disaster holistically?

Supporting Faith Leaders & Communities beyond Physical Needs

Research tells us that, in their early stages, traumatic experiences can limit bandwidth for clear processing. According to “Understanding the Impact of Trauma,” “initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited. Indicators of more severe responses include continuous distress without periods of relative calm or rest, severe dissociation symptoms, and intense intrusive recollections that continue despite a return to safety. Delayed responses to trauma can include persistent fatigue, sleep disorders, nightmares, fear of recurrence, anxiety focused on flashbacks, depression, and avoidance of emotions, sensations, or activities that are associated with the trauma, even remotely” (in Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services, National Library of Medicine website, 2014).

For pastors and ministry leaders who are attempting to respond, lead, and help their neighbors while simultaneously experiencing the trauma of a disaster in their own lives, a diminished ability to process their experiences can be an added difficulty in the midst of crisis. What may have come naturally before the disaster may be hindered in its aftermath as decision-fatigue and stress responses set in. Likewise, where ministry leaders once may have had more space to attend to spiritual needs, they may be inundated with urgent physical needs once a disaster occurs.

Through our connection across the body of Christ, churches outside of a disaster can respond faithfully to these challenges and help bridge the gap by providing resources that offer spiritual care and nurture for those affected. This in no way should be a substitute for supporting the physical needs of impacted communities, but it can add a layer of care to the many ways we respond.

Recognizing Children’s Needs

In these times of crisis, adults are the decision-makers and are often dealing with an overwhelming number of quick decisions that need to be made. This means that the emotional and spiritual needs of children — and, let’s be honest, adults too — are sometimes pushed to the side.

Yet, for children, a disaster likely becomes a core memory and pivotal moment in their development. This may be a moment by which they mark time for the rest of their lives just as adults might do. It is important, then, to help children frame this experience as part of their spiritual journey as well. They need an opportunity to think theologically about who God is and how God works in the world, and they need space to name and recognize God’s presence in their midst.

Scripture reminds us again and again of how we are called to wrestle with hard things in relationship with God. By supplying resources for children’s spiritual care, churches outside of the disaster area can offer a smidge of God’s love in an overwhelming time.

A Way to Care for Children

To respond in a way that is mindful of children’s developmental needs, resources for their spiritual care need to include concrete learning, simplified (but not simple) language, interactive methods, and engaging practices. As bodily, tactile, and visual learning is so essential for children, these are important components for providing children authentic space to process their experiences verbally and nonverbally.

Children need adults to help model faith and spiritual practices alongside them, but they also need opportunities to reciprocate and share God’s love to those around them. Offering simple resources that include theological and biblical reflection, spiritual practices of prayer and lament, and tangible signs of faith can serve as meaningful reminders of God’s presence and love.

Support for Children’s Caregivers Too

In Overhearing the Gospel, Fred Craddock writes about the power of listening that happens at a slight distance (revised and expanded edition, St. Louis: Chalice, 2002). When a message isn’t delivered exactly to and for us, it allows folks in the vicinity to engage in meaning-making that they may not have experienced otherwise. Sometimes we can “overhear the gospel” more clearly than if it was directed right at us.

Intentionally walking with children in processing and reflecting on their experiences can also help caregivers to process their own experiences as well. In moments of deep stress when adults may not feel like their best selves, it may even feel safer for caregivers to “overhear” the theological reflection their children are experiencing. Through journeying with children, adults can receive simplified religious language, core theological concepts, and basic spiritual practices that can nurture and guide their faith journeys too.

Practical Ideas for Spiritual Nurture

After Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage to Western North Carolina and our hearts ached for our neighbors just a couple of hours away, we wanted to humbly offer some sign of support. As our churches, community leaders, neighbors, and colleagues responded with all of the necessary relief supplies, we wanted to provide something in addition to the physical care that would help children process all that was happening around them.

What began with a guided workbook and a battery-operated candle quickly became a Spiritual Care Kit for Children who had been directly impacted by flooding. It was our hope that, through the simple gesture of filling a water-resistant pouch with additional tactile items like colored pencils and a pop-it prayer, children might feel nurtured and seen during so much loss.

The guided workbook that we created includes activities to help children pray, lament, talk about how they are feeling, and share their experience with creativity. Other parts of the workbook help them to tell their story of all that happened and to reflect on the ways they’ve experienced God’s love. Our hope was that it would be something that families could pick up or put down over the weeks and months to come as they saw fit.

Faith communities can participate in this important work in a variety of ways and the kits can be as detailed or simple as you have bandwidth for. (Note: In order to maximize relief efforts, we have worked with our ministry network to deliver the kits alongside food, water, and other relief supplies.)

We recognize that this is just one of many ways to offer care and that an effort like this can serve as a crumb in the midst of so much need, but perhaps if we all put our crumbs together, they will somehow be enough. Let the Spirit lead the way.

“God Is with Me” Guided Workbook

You can download the free digital workbook at this link: “God Is with Me: A Guided Workbook for Children Experiencing a Disaster“

Editor’s Note: When using or sharing this resource, please credit the authors.

Featured image is by article author Rachel Doboney Benton