Through past disasters and crises like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Harvey, and others like it, we have quickly determined that local and state government, regional agencies, churches, and ministries alone are not big enough to embrace and handle the magnitude of destruction that a crisis brings. Specifically, government and local agencies are not equipped to minister to the overwhelming emotional and spiritual needs of individuals affected by disasters or crises.
Today, there is a growing sense of urgency amongst Christian leaders that at any given time, anything could happen, and churches must be ready! With the threat of future hurricanes, tornadoes, escalating threats of terrorism, bio-chemical warfare, and pandemic catastrophes, the body of Christ in our city, like Joseph in the Bible, needs to be equipped to respond to the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of survivors. In preparation for these events, UIC is training and equipping the body of Christ and churches to be ready for smaller to catastrophic crises within our community or beyond.
The Crisis Response Model
In 2005, during the Hurricane Katrina response in Greater Austin, the Lord revealed a vision to build a church network to train and equip the body of Christ to meet the needs of those impacted by crisis.
The vision includes the following:
Sectors
UIC will divide the city into several sectors and develop each sector to respond to community needs after a crisis strikes. Each sector will have a UIC Sector Leader who will organize and mobilize the community of churches, ministries, and businesses within the sector to effectively work together.
Sector Leaders
Sector Leaders will primarily work with the Crisis Relief Coordinators (CRCs) in their sector to develop volunteers, collect data, organize vital resources within their organizations, coordinate training, implement the organization’s disaster plan, and collaborate with other CRCs in the sector.
Crisis Relief Coordinators (CRC)
Each participating church, ministry, or business will be asked to assign a dedicated Crisis Relief Coordinator (CRC) who will serve as a liaison between their organization and UIC. Each CRC will build a core team of trained volunteers to develop the crisis model within the organization.
Helping Families Get Back on Their Feet
The ultimate goal of the network is to make sure every family affected by a crisis is connected to the local church and assigned a trained volunteer to meet the emotional, physical, and spiritual short and long-term needs in an effective, efficient, and organized manner. We believe this is the Lord’s heart. UIC will help identify and train volunteers to be the Good Samaritan to those impacted by crisis and will provide additional resources to participating churches through the network of ministries and businesses to help meet the immediate needs of every family.
