In the midst of responding to one natural disaster, church members in the Philippines face a new one. I received an e-mail from Salvador Cariaga, a longtime Filipino missionary, about a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck his home country Feb. 6. Cariaga oversees a ministry that provides goats, farming techniques and micro-loans to Filipinos in need. The quake’s epicenter was in the central Negros Oriental province, where there is a large concentration of Churches of Christ

Volunteers from Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team are in Minot, N.D., helping church members clean up and repair flooded homes. While flood-stricken North Dakota has disappeared from the headlines, the community’s needs remain immense, said Daniel Kelly, minister of the Minot Church of Christ. The homes of six families in the 60-member congregation sustained flooding damages, Kelly said.

The Springfield Church of Christ in Vermont is helping flood victims in nearby towns after Hurricane Irene. Elder Ernest “Puggy” Lamphere said the 80-member church was pleased to receive a truckload of emergency food boxes, personal care kits and cleaning supplies from Nashville, Tenn.-based Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort.

The Bastrop Church of Christ is serving as an overflow emergency shelter amid ongoing Texas wildfires that have destroyed more than 1,000 homes across the rain-starved state. Church member Janice Hernandez said at least two families in the congregation have lost homes, and more than half of members have evacuated their neighborhoods.

Nearly every day is a new horror story in the Horn of Africa — the portions of eastern Ethiopia and Kenya surrounded by the troubled nation of Somalia. The grim political situation in Somalia — which has been without an effective central government since 1991 — is compounded by a terrible drought and famine. Somalis are pouring into a camp in Dadaab, Kenya, seeking food, water and refuge from the brutal warlords who control their country. I’m collecting reports from Church of Christ-supported ministries that are responding to the famine. Please contact me if you have updates or additional information.

In Minot, N.D., the Minot Church of Christ is doing its part to help residents after this summer’s devastating flooding. The church partnered with the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort to help bring much-needed supplies into the area, an area television station reports.

In tornado-stricken communities in Missouri and Alabama, youth groups from Churches of Christ are lending their time and sweat to recovery efforts.

Massachusetts last week became the latest state victimized by the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950 — and the latest helped by Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort Inc.

After seeing news accounts of the devastating tornado that ripped through Joplin, the Park Plaza Church of Christ in Tulsa, Okla., issued a plea to its members — “Joplin needs us.” Since Monday, the church has been collecting bottled water for relief workers and displaced Missourians who lost their homes in the deadly storm. Since Monday, the church has been collecting bottled water for relief workers and displaced Missourians who lost their homes in the deadly storm.

Faulkner University students are helping with the tornado relief effort in Alabama.