We’ve done incredible things together this year!
With your help, Foursquare Disaster Relief has made an impact on countless lives and communities.
What a year.
2022 was a busy year and you helped us meet the challenge head-on. We worked with our local church partners to distribute food, water, medicine, and essential household goods all across the globe. We gave people shelter and ministered to them. We met people’s physical and spiritual needs and brought hope in moments when it was desperately needed. And we couldn’t have done it without you.
50
Total disasters responded to
$3,386,117
Total dollars raised
1,741,469
Total meals served
Thousands
Received Jesus as their Lord and Savior
Here is every disaster that we responded to this year.
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Burundi
Camp McPherson
Chad
Colombia
Colombia EyeClinic
Costa Rica
Croatia
Democratic Republic of Congo
FEFC Europe
Fiji
Germany
Haiti
Honduras
Hurricane Ian
India
Indonesia
Kentucky
Kenya
Malawi
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Pakistan
Philippines
Poland
Puerto Rico
Republic of Congo
Romania
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Thailand
Tonga
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
Winterset IA
A closer look at our largest responses
This year we undertook some massive challenges in some of the largest and most far-reaching disasters we’ve ever seen.
The War in Ukraine
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the eastern territory of Donbas. Life has been turned upside down for the 44 million Ukrainians in the days that have passed. With a constant threat of gunfire, explosions, and missiles, Ukrainians are fleeing the place they call home.
Our Foursquare people have bought food and life-saving essentials, as well as provided emergency housing, spiritual and emotional care support, job training, transportation, medical care, and so much more throughout this time.
FMI workers and Foursquare churches in Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, and Germany are helping thousands of refugees — millions have been displaced by this war. With your help, we’ve given aid to thousands of families across Ukraine and surrounding areas with housing assistance, food packs, evacuation support, medical care, and other assistance as the war has impacted their church tithe and income.
We’ve equipped refugee assistance centers to help with job training, language lessons, childcare, and counseling along with spiritual, medical, and emotional care support.
We’ve also set up bakeries in many local communities to employ Ukrainians and distribute food. Through these bakeries, we are feeding about 13,000 people a month. Most importantly of all, in the time we’ve been working in Ukraine, over 1,000 people have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
Hear how your donations are helping and directly impacting the Ukrainian Crisis Response
Road to Hope in Venezuela
FDR launched The Road to Hope in 2019 after seeing many Venezuelan Refugees flee the region due to political tensions, hyperinflation, and food shortages. Since then, more than 5.6 million Venezuelans have left the country.
Thanks to the efforts of Foursquare churches engaged in ground-level relief, thousands of Venezuelan refugees who have come through Maicao, located near the border, have received hot meals, a pair of Road to Hope shoes, or a disaster kit. Local church members help wayfarers with laundry, lodging and other personal needs like securing much-needed medication and medical help, housing, and sharing the message of Jesus.
We are blessed to be able to work through local churches in Colombia. We are able to reach so many more people by partnering with residents who understand the culture, speak the same language, and are actively sending out relief teams to help refugees.
Road to Hope has mobilized churches all across Colombia to be the hands and feet of Jesus to these incredible people fleeing Venezuela and allowed the Church to be at the front lines of providing love and care in people’s darkest hour and greatest time of need.
Flooding in Chad
This year, flooding affected more than a million people in Chad. While floods occur every year during the rainy season, this year the rains came early and were the heaviest in decades. The Chari River that runs through the country could not contain the unusually large rainfall and flooded the surrounding provinces, including the Capital, N’Djamena. In total, 78 churches flooded and 21 buildings collapsed due to the sheer force of flood waters.
Over two months later, Chad’s people are still in a dire situation, with many homeless and sleeping under the trees for shelter. In response, Foursquare Disaster Relief has partnered with the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo National Foursquare Church to help bring in food, water, and relief supplies to help our brothers and sisters in Christ in this disaster.
The Military Coup in Myanmar
The coup in Myanmar has been brutal, and unfortunately, it appears the military has entrenched itself as the ruling power in the country. The coup initially began in the midst of a global pandemic, which complicated and amplified the distress of the citizens there. The country’s infrastructure broke down, and it is still challenging to get food and relief into the country.
In addition to health risks, the combined coup and coronavirus put countless people out of work. With the loss of reliable income, many people continue to struggle to pay for the skyrocketing cost of food.
To help we are continually sending food to people hiding out in their homes and even deep in the jungle. We have sent medical care teams to help the sick and injured. Along with our volunteers’ expertise, we also brought medicine and lifesaving oxygen tanks to those who have contracted COVID-19.
Our local pastors have stepped up during this crisis in an incredible way. They risk their lives daily to deliver food, medicine, and spiritual care to those within their church and the community at large.
Hurricane Ian in Florida
Our neighbors in the Caribbean, Cuba, Florida and the East Coast were hit by Hurricane Ian in September. This Category 4 hurricane, with 140 MPH winds and floodwaters as high as eight feet, caused major flooding, wind damage, and the tragic loss of homes and lives.
With the help of our Ready Fund partners, we were able to quickly engage with several local Foursquare churches, regional partners, and FDR responders to unite and serve our churches affected by Hurricane Ian. Our local Foursquare churches were able to deliver 20 semi-loads of immediately needed food, water, tarps, generators, and so much more. We also have FDR responders and church teams serving on the ground.
Our main base for this response has been in the Ft. Myers area with Mission Community Church and several Foursquare churches in the greater Orlando area. Our regional pastors have been critical in helping to mobilize more churches to be relief hubs. These relief hubs have been instrumental in getting the right aid where it is needed most.
Pastor Bethany Roe gives an update on Hurricane Ian relief in October 2022
We need your help in 2023!
It would be wonderful if no one needed our help next year. We would love for there to be no floods, no famine, no hunger, and no war — but that will sadly not be the case. We responded to more disasters in 2022 than ever before, and we don’t see the worries of this world slowing down any time soon.
We need your help to continue to bring hope to where it is most. Our Ready Fund partners contribute monthly to a standing fund that allows us to respond to disasters as soon as possible. Because of these partners, we get to skip the initial communication and fundraising efforts and immediately begin helping in the most critical hours and days following a disaster.
