Description REFLECTION JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS OVERVIEW This reflection journal assig ...
Description REFLECTION JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS OVERVIEW This reflection journal assignment is a way of responding to readings that requires you to interact with new ideas on several levels. In this assignment, you will be developing your four dimensions of critical thinking skills: analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application. Note that your grade for each Reflection Journal depends on the quality and thoroughness of developing critical thinking skills as demonstrated in your response to each of the 3 sections below. You must include all 3 of the headings in the body of your paper. Use current APA standards throughout, and include the book reference at the end. INSTRUCTIONS From Module 1 through Module 7, after you read your weekly assigned texts and review your online materials, you will write a weekly journal entry that includes the following: ? Describe what you believe are the key ideas from this week’s readings (1 page). ? How do these ideas impact you as you consider working with trauma clients (1 page) ? What Christian worldview integration thoughts come to mind from this material (1 page)? ?Your journal must be in current APA standards and include a reference page. Module 5: Week 5 Introduction Overview Disaster & terrorism can have a significant impact on one's faith, worldview & morals. In contemporary culture, as a disaster mental health professional, you will benefit from understanding the distinction between spirituality and religion. In recent studies, moral injury has been identified as an issue related to disasters/terrorism. Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to: Distinguish the impact of disaster/terrorism on one's faith & worldview. Define the signs and symptoms of moral injury. Discover faith-based strategies that promote spiritual health. Learn PageRead: Aten & Boan: Chapters 1 — 5 PageRead: Skaine: International Cultic Studies Association PageRead: Kolski, Jongsma, & Myer: Disaster PageWatch: Trauma, Spirituality, & Provider Care https://youtu.be/BIC6A52Z-Ns 4 attachments Slide 1 of 4 attachment_1 attachment_1 attachment_2 attachment_2 attachment_3 attachment_3 attachment_4 attachment_4 UNFORMATTED ATTACHMENT PREVIEW Read: Aten & Boan: Chapters 1 — 5 Aten, J. D. & Boan, D. M. (2016). Disaster ministry handbook. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books. ISBN: 9780830841226. chapter one Introduction My wife, young daughter and I (Jamie) moved from the Chicago area to South Mississippi just six days before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. We did not have phone service or a decent television signal, so we were unaware of the ever so rapidly and dangerously increasing storm that was headed our way. We attended a large church just down the road from our home. After the warm welcome and greetings that followed the bellowing choir’s opening praise song, the pastor walked solemnly to the podium. With his jaw set, and in a slow southern drawl, he began his message by saying, “If you remember Camille, you know what I’m about to say.” My wife looked at me and asked, “Who is Camille?” to which I replied jokingly, “She must be in the Old Testament.” Unfortunately, we quickly learned about Hurricane Camille (which hit the Gulf Coast almost thirty years earlier) and were soon introduced to her counterpart—one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike our nation—Hurricane Katrina. Being new to the area, as soon as the service ended I began nervously introducing myself to those in the pews around us. I wanted to know if this was something to be worried about. How do you prepare for a hurricane? I was from the North. I had never worried about hurricanes before. To my questions, I received answers like, “At worst, it’s going to be like camping for a day or two,” or, “You know, every year those news folks get up and tell us to take cover and get everyone upset, and for nothing, ’cause nothing happens. So I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Despite their trying to reassure us, something did not feel right. So from church my family and I drove to my work office for Internet access. In my mind’s eye I can still see my wife sitting at my desk, pulling up the national weather station live radar while my daughter sat on my lap. Looking at the radar on the screen, I thought, We must be zoomed in on the image, but we were not. I had never seen anything like this before. From my office we headed home to try and get ready for the fast-approaching storm. I soon found myself standing in our living room thinking and trying to remember all the things I had ever heard about preparedness and disasters. I recalled being an elementary child sitting under my desk with my hands over my head and my head between my knees. Okay, so that’s not going to help, I thought to myself. Think, Jamie. Just think. What else have you learned? Then I remembered all those post-9/11 public service ads that seemed to be everywhere at the time. So I ran to the kitchen and pulled open the junk drawer (you know, the one with twenty pens that don’t work and everything else you do not know what to do with). Eureka! I found it. I am ready, I thought to myself. I reached into the back of the drawer and pulled out a brand-new roll of duct tape. I quickly made my way through the house, duct tape in hand. I remembered that almost everything I had watched, read or heard about preparedness after 9/11 said, “Have duct tape.” There I was, standing in the middle of the living room looking out our window knowing a threat was rapidly approaching. And all I could think was, Now what? Though I had a resource that was supposedly able to help me, I had no idea what to do with it. My story is not unique. Most people do not know how to effectively prepare for or respond to disasters. Moreover, in conducting research around the globe, David and I have found a great deal of variability among how ready churches are for disasters. Some churches in high-risk areas are relatively prepared, and others little or not at all. We have found an alarming trend: most churches realize there are threats but few do anything ahead of time to actually prepare for disasters. Though we have found many churches volunteer and help other churches in communities that are affected by disasters, most are not ready for a disaster that could directly impact their congregation or community. However, there is good news. There are numerous practical steps congregations can take to prepare for and recover from disasters. Purpose Thus, the purpose of this book is to help churches learn how to plan, launch and sustain disaster ministries. Throughout this handbook we will provide best practices and lessons learned that will help your church and community to be more resilient in the face of catastrophes, crises and emergencies. David and I (Jamie) will also share numerous examples throughout the book to help you apply what you are learning. Many will come from my own personal Hurricane Katrina experience and from my time living in Mississippi. We will also provide examples from the work that David and I have done through Wheaton College’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI) all over the world with churches impacted by disasters and humanitarian crises. Then we will introduce discussion questions and tools that will help you and your congregation build on this knowledge so that you can develop an effective disaster ministry. Overall, this handbook is designed to help you navigate disasters, from emergency planning through the recovery process. The handbook gives congregations and denominations or associations the critical concepts and components of effective emergency planning and response. Why This Handbook Since the 1980s there has been roughly a 400 percent increase in natural disasters.1 The world’s five costliest natural disasters have occurred in the past twenty years, with three of those disasters striking in the last eight years alone. There have also been nearly 5,000 terrorist events annually over the last ten years.2 As we write in HDI’s Ready Faith: Planning Guide, Natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, fires and tornadoes can strike a community with little or no warning. An influenza pandemic, or other infectious disease, can spread from person to person causing serious illness across the country or around the globe in a very short time. Mass shootings have increased in frequency. The harrowing events of September 11 and subsequent terrorist attempts have ushered in a new awareness of terrorist threats. The unfortunate reality is that many congregations in this country may be touched either directly or indirectly by a disaster of some kind at any time.3 In brief, you might think of a disaster as anything that disrupts civic society. (See next chapter for more in-depth description and definitions.) In our research4 and the research of others,5 it has been found that many people turn to faith and to local congregations for answers and assistance when disaster strikes. You may have never thought about your church’s role in responding to a disaster in your own community. But if your doors are open after a disaster strikes your area, people will come to you for help.6 “Knowing what to do when faced with a crisis can be the difference between calm and chaos, between courage and fear, between life and death.”7 If you are going to be ready, the time to plan is now. When a crisis strikes, it is too late to get prepared and too late to start working with those in need. By taking action now you can save lives and prevent harm during a disaster as you extend your ministry to those who need help. Another reason you should read this handbook is because it will help your church respond to our biblical calling to justice. In the most basic view, this is a book about justice. We will make the case that the vulnerable suffer disproportionately from all types of disasters. Further, the vulnerable often go unrecognized as vulnerable, or for a host of reasons are not helped by many public programs. This is a place where the church belongs and needs to be present. You may have heard it said that “disasters don’t discriminate.” There is some truth to this, that regardless of financial status, race, ethnicity, gender and so on, disasters can impact anyone. However, the longer that we have been doing this research, the more our eyes have been opened to how disasters reveal injustices. The poor, fragile, very old and young, people with the fewest resources and connections are actually at more risk and have a more difficult time recovering than others. Therein lies an opportunity for the church, as well as one of the basic reasons we wrote this handbook. Who Should Read This Handbook On a practical level, the handbook is for anyone who is part of or works with congregations and has a heart for disaster ministry—whether a pastor, lay leader, professional in relief and development, or academic researcher. The material is designed to speak to the questions and issues that congregations face when they consider a disaster ministry. The material in this handbook does not require or assume any particular set of skills or knowledge. All that is needed is a desire to help others and a prayerful attitude. Why Congregations Should Have a Disaster Ministry Churches see serving those in need as a basic expression of Christ’s love. When disaster strikes a community, near or far, church members want to do something to express their concern and care. Add to that the fact that disasters are on the rise, and you see a rapidly growing number of disaster ministries. Further, as population density increases, the potential impact of disasters in terms of the human toll drastically increases. At the same time, government resources are facing cuts and there is a growing recognition that government certainly cannot do it all, and cannot do it alone. For all these reasons, congregations have an opportunity to become involved in disasters as a basic area of ministry. We have heard the following from congregation leaders who support a disaster ministry: Congregations can provide broad-based prevention as well as holistic care for individuals after a disaster incident. Holistic care provides for the physical, emotional and spiritual parts of a person’s life. Congregations can reach people in need that other groups and agencies cannot reach, and thus help those who would otherwise go unserved. Disaster work can be integrated into the other ministries of a congregation and strengthen those same ministries. Congregations can be a source for community action. The connection with people in the community helps with assessing needs and risks and identifying possible actions. Congregations can advocate on behalf of the marginalized and vulnerable, as in ensuring fair distributions of health care or food, or determining where help is needed most. Congregations may provide key resources during a disaster, such as using a meeting space as a rest or evacuation center, or storing and distributing food, water, equipment and other resources. Congregations are already a center for communication, allowing meetings and messages to be communicated to a significant number of people on a regular basis. Congregations can provide a willing body of volunteers (members of the congregation, clergy and leaders) who are motivated by love and compassion.8 There are also scriptural and theological reasons to be concerned about disasters, though it may not be in the way you may think. A basic premise of our work is that disasters reveal the underlying fabric of a community. As we have stated, vulnerable people suffer disproportionately in a disaster. Further, the ways of being vulnerable to a disaster are greater than most people realize. Vulnerability comes from a wide variety of characteristics, such as being a single parent with young children (anyone who has parented multiple young children knows that everything related to running a home is more complicated), being medically fragile, very young, very old, or poor. Even the type of job you have can increase vulnerability. In my work, I can do my job from anywhere, as long as I have a computer and a phone (which I generally carry with me). If I was a machinist and the machine shop was destroyed in a disaster, I would be out of work for an unknown length of time. The same is true for any job dependent upon equipment or a facility, like a restaurant or office building. Therefore, we restate the question from “Should churches be involved in disasters?” to “Should churches be serving those most vulnerable to harm?” The disaster event, then, is not the focus of ministry; it is the test of how well the community cares for those who are most vulnerable.9 Put that way, the scriptural support is clear and well known to most Christians, from the proclamation of the church as the salt of the earth, the call to the church as the light of the world (Mt 5:13-16) and the repeated call throughout the Bible to serve the vulnerable (e.g., Mt 25:35; Acts 10:4). Strengths of the Local Congregation Disasters are not only a test of the community and the church, but they are also opportunities for the church to show its strengths. Local congregations are uniquely situated in their communities to help with disaster preparedness, response and recovery. This position is due to the character of the church as a community of service that cares for one another and the community around them, bearing witness to the work of Christ through their relationships. This character serves as the basis for establishing relationships of trust based on wanting what is best for the other person. This trust means the church has, or can have, relationships with people that agencies or outside groups cannot have. To understand how important and special this is, consider the disaster examples we listed at the start. Immigrant workers often live in fear of deportation, so they do not ask for help and certainly do not talk to government agencies. Elderly people in high-crime areas live in fear of being harmed and may not open their doors to people they do not know, even if those people are trying to help them survive a heat wave. The elderly are especially vulnerable during natural disasters because they may not know what to do, or they may need help to move but do not know where to find that help. Each of these cases requires a relationship of trust built up over time so that the needs of these vulnerable groups are known and someone can minister to them. No group or agency is in the position to connect with people and build trust the way the local church is. Besides building relationships of trust, the local church is often faithful in serving the community, staying for the long term. People see this in the way the local church is often first to respond and last to leave in a disaster. Because it is part of the community, it has a long-term presence that allows people to trust that it will be there when needed. The local church is most likely to know where the needs are and how to serve them. For example, a local emergency management office we frequently work with found that although they wanted to send people to the most vulnerable during a disaster, such as the elderly or medically fragile, their database of where these people lived was often out of date. As a result, valuable time was wasted sending emergency workers to locations where no one lived. Their solution to the problem was to work with local churches to reach out to people in need as they were the ones most likely to know the neighborhoods. Handbook Development Much of the information in this handbook draws on the experiences and wisdom of the overall Christian relief community. In the following pages we unpack what we have learned from some of the great resources available. We have also adapted promising practices from the broader emergency-management community that can be used to help your congregation. Further, we share heavily out of our own experiences of helping and studying disasters around the globe: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Gustav the national H1N1 outbreak the 2010 Mississippi Delta and 2011 Tuscaloosa tornadoes the Haiti earthquake and Japan earthquake and tsunami Deepwater Horizon oil spill typhoons in the Philippines displaced people in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo The recommendations we make are also based on our work with churches of all sizes, types and denominations; Christian relief and development organizations; public health departments; and emergency management agencies.10 Handbook Organization The general structure of our handbook largely revolves around some of the specific stages of disaster (see more in the next chapter), providing instruction on how congregations might take action before, in the midst of and after a disaster. In working with churches we have found this three-stage approach to be a practical and helpful way for getting started. We are not alone in taking this approach. In fact, this is the strategy most government agencies and Christian organizations involved in emergency response have recommended (and use in their respective resources) for developing high-quality emergency plans.11 You will find that each chapter has numerous tools, resources and discussion questions to help you with the tasks described. Overall, we encourage readers to take a developmental approach to applying these materials to their congregation. That is, start small and build up your congregation’s capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters over time. In such an approach, the objective is accomplished as foundations are placed and then built up over time. Throughout the hand--book, we aim to walk alongside you as a mentor would, pointing you in the direction of actions that will help your congregation develop greater resilience to disasters. Keep in mind that as with any book we could not cover everything. We encourage you to check out some of the references we cite throughout the book to dig even deeper into ways your church might serve amid disasters. This handbook focuses on preparing your own congregation with both general plans that can be incorporated into other ministries and specialized plans for the disasters you are most likely to face in your area. In the pages that follow we will introduce you to a different way to think about disasters, not only as the occasional crisis that may strike your church but also as a test that reveals the nature of the community. This view of disasters calls upon the church to do what it does best: care for the weak, the poor and the vulnerable; get involved in the community; seek out those in need; and approach disaster preparedness as a ministry that cuts across everything the church does. In this introductory chapter, our goal has been to orient you to the need and reasons to engage in disaster ministry. In our opening remarks we have also sought to introduce you to the strengths of the local church in disaster contexts and to provide a general overview of the structure of the book and how it was developed. In chapter two, “Disaster Basics,” we provide a basic understanding of disasters to help better prepare you and your congregation for disasters by making you more aware of potential threats and ways to reduce those threats. Familiarizing yourself with this material will provide important information you can use and share with others to boost your congregation’s and community’s ability to recover after a disaster. Further, the material covered in this chapter will help you better tailor your congregation’s disaster ministry toward the unique challenges or threats you may encounter. In chapter three, “Disasters, Justice and the Church,” we further explore the role of the church in disasters and encourage you to think about how to help the most vulnerable in your congregation and community. There are several reasons that we have devoted an entire chapter to this issue: first, we believe justice is a biblical mandate for the church to follow, and second, we argue that creating a general disaster ministry focusing on who is vulnerable (along with specialized preparation) will help you be prepared for all forms of disasters and more. In chapter four, “Getting Started,” we present the various ways different congregations have approached disaster ministry, the types of programs they started and how they began. There is no one approach that fits everyone. Our hope for this chapter is that you will see an approach that works for your congregation and come away with some concrete strategies for launching a disaster ministry. In chapter five, “Planning,” we will help you identify areas of concern and establish a plan for your congregation and your family, which will lay the foundation for successful preparedness. Disaster ministry plans need to address a range of events and emergencies caused both by nature and by people, including all-hazards (i.e., any incident, natural or human caused, that requires an organized response) and public health emergencies. As a result, planning may seem overwhelming. However, we want to reassure you that though it takes time and effort, it is manageable. Thus, in this chapter we will help you learn to do the following: conduct a disaster risk assessment for your congregation and community engage leadership in developing a disaster ministry vision and goals develop a continuity of ministry and operations plan (COMOP) test and practice your plan In chapter six, “Response,” we walk you through a critical series of common response actions that you and your congregation may be called upon to carry out in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Specifically, we focus on four things: how to implement your plan evacuation and sheltering crisis communication protecting property In chapter seven, “Recovery,” we discuss how to prepare your disaster ministry for helping your congregation and community rebound from disaster over the long haul. In this chapter we will cover common recovery activities, as well as strategies for how your church can help other congregations and churches. The goal of the recovery phase is to help people rebuild and start to put their lives back together. Concentrate on the congregants, community members and facilities, and don’t worry about how much time recovery is taking. In chapter eight, “Providing Basic Disaster Spiritual and Emotional Care,” we introduce you to a wide range of inter personal helping strategies. We have devoted an entire chapter to this subject because we believe it cuts across all disaster ministry activities. This chapter focuses on delivering supportive care while avoiding the pitfalls of giving well-intentioned but unhelpful advice. It will help you recognize what is (and is not) healthy support. In this chapter we also offer recommendations for supporting the emotional and spiritual needs of children affected by disasters. We cover guidelines for referring survivors for additional mental health care, as well as provide strategies for recognizing and preventing burnout and secondary trauma. In chapter nine, “Case Studies in Disaster Ministry,” we introduce three in-depth case studies to further help you apply the lessons that you learned in this handbook. These case studies provide a firsthand account of how other church leaders and congregations have prepared for and responded to disasters. Specifically, we highlight cases from the Philippines, Japan and the United States, and then bring attention to common themes that emerge across cases. In chapter ten, “Conclusion,” we review the major lessons and take-home ideas, skills and recommendations covered in the earlier chapters. We also offer some of our thoughts about the best ways to get started and sustain your disaster ministry. Finally, we issue a challenge for those starting a disaster ministry to do so with the vulnerable in mind. Conclusion In this book we will equip you with much more than duct tape. Overall, the aim of this handbook is to help your congregation establish an effective disaster ministry. Our hope is that it will stimulate thinking about the role and ministry of the church within a disaster context. Further, we hope that this book will provide you with lots of helpful and practical information, tools and resources for developing and sustaining your congregation’s disaster ministry. By taking action now you can save lives and prevent harm during a disaster and expand your ministry. Chapter 2 Disaster Basics Few people—let alone churches—were prepared for the H1N1 outbreak of 2009. This was entirely different from what most people think of when they hear the word disaster. It did not destroy homes. It did not leave a path of physical destruction. Rather, it was a public health emergency (more on that later in the chapter). What initially presented as symptoms similar to the common flu (e.g., fever, body aches) would turn quickly into a much more intense set of problems, and in some occasions death.1 With a hurricane you often have weeks to see the storm forming and the path it is taking. You can see it coming. This pandemic was largely invisible other than the symptoms displayed by the host. In most cases it was spread by insect bites or human contact.2 This threat was unlike any recent disaster in our country’s history. Because of Katrina, people living in Mississippi had a better idea of what to expect and how to respond to extreme weather events. However, the region was not ready for this outbreak, and the disease rapidly spread throughout the state. A few months after the outbreak, a local public health department and a local ministry association contacted me to consult with them. The churches belonging to this ministerial association noticed that H1N1 appeared to be spreading through their congregations at a pace more rapid than other community groups and organizations were experiencing. I (Jamie) was asked to spend some time studying and consulting with them to help them figure out why H1N1 seemed to be having such an impact on their churches. After Katrina the churches learned the power of cooperating—that it was imperative to work together when faced with a disaster. So as the H1N1 pandemic began to intensify, many churches did just that: they held public meetings, they sent volunteers to care for the sick, and they came together to support one another. This worked for the churches when responding to extreme weather events, but it seemed to be having the opposite effect this time. As I met with this group of public health and church leaders, I asked them to first share what they knew about H1N1. I discovered a lot of misinformation about the pandemic. Once this misinformation was addressed, I went on to ask them to walk me through from start to finish the typical Sunday morning routine the average congregation member might have at their churches. I asked them to give me as much detail as possible, as though I were watching a videotape. Their descriptions went something like this. Most members’ first experience was shaking hands with or hugging a greeter or greeters at the entryway of the church. If it was a chilly morning, people might hang up their jackets in the coatroom. This might be followed by worship in the sanctuary, then a brief period of greeting people around them. People would then sign the register with the paper and pencil provided and pass it down the aisle for the rest of the people in the pew to sign. After the sermon, it was common for the members to pass the communion plates, or depending on the tradition, to take communion from the same goblet and from the same loaf of bread. Next came the passing of the offering plates. Finally there might be more songs, then the final prayer and blessing. People would then make their goodbyes or perhaps join together for a potluck lunch. All of what they described are common ways most churches worship together or represent liturgy or common religious practices. Unfortunately, the way many of these rituals were conducted accounted for the sharp spike in H1N1 among these churches’ membership. People were spreading H1N1 as they shook hands, as they passed an item down the pew, and so on and so on. The common practices of these churches and the common ways they had acted to help them cope with previous disasters were actually making them sick. After I pointed this out, one of the public health officials’ first reaction was that the churches should stop meeting, or at least stop things like taking communion. As you can imagine, this did not go over well with the clergy. At this point I asked if there might be other ways to help curb the increase. Examples of ideas shared in that meeting probably mirror strategies that you heard after the outbreak, like making disinfectant hand sanitizer readily available (such as when entering the church, before taking communion, etc.), encouraging people to cough into their elbow and instructing members to stay home if they had flu-like symptoms. Making some relatively easy changes to the common routines of these churches helped drastically slow down the spread of H1N1 in local congregations and allowed them to keep meeting. This example demonstrates that not all disasters are alike, and different disasters require different responses. Purpose In this chapter we provide a basic understanding of disaster types and stages. This will help better prepare you and your congregation for disasters by making you more aware of a wide range of potential threats. Familiarizing yourself with this material will provide crucial information you can use and share with others to strengthen your congregation’s and community’s ability to tailor responses to the unique challenges of these different types of disasters.3 Disasters Defined The Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps website offers the following helpful overview: By definition, a disaster is “an occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress, a grave misfortune, a total failure. . . .” A disaster is often further defined as being either a man-made or natural event that results in death, injury, and property damage which cannot be managed through normal, routine channels. A disaster requires immediate and effective intervention of multiple government and private sector organizations to help meet the needs of the community and area just after the disaster occurs and the area and people begin to recover.4 ypes of Disasters Disasters vary in their range, scope and intensity from incidents that directly or indirectly touch a lone community to an entire region to the whole nation (e.g., S
