After years of discussion, two WELS agencies have now been combined into a single new entity. Representatives of the Committee on Relief and the Humanitarian Aid Committee met last week to create a new, single agency called Christian Aid and Relief.

For more than 50 years, the Committee on Relief has gathered and distributed gifts for disaster relief efforts to communities and individuals here in the United States and around the world. The committee has also worked with groups like WELS Kingdom Workers to encourage and support WELS members who volunteer their time and talents to help in time of need. Over the years WELS members have shown their Christian love by responding to those needs with generous gifts and with their volunteer efforts. It was the Committee on Relief that used those gifts of money and time to respond to events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the earthquake in Haiti. The committee also has responded regularly to smaller and more localized disasters such as floods, fires, and tornadoes.

The Humanitarian Aid Committee was a sub-committee of the Board for World Missions. Its role was to provide funding for planned humanitarian aid projects in our various world mission fields as a means to "build bridges" and provide a point of contact for gospel outreach. Its efforts have included such things as providing water purification facilities in places like India and Indonesia, digging water wells in African villages, and providing medical supplies in Eastern Europe.

The work of these two groups has always seemed somewhat similar and related, even though the purpose of each was different. The Committee on Relief responded to sudden needs while the Humanitarian Aid Committee carried out planned projects. In spite of the different focus of each group, the distinct purpose of each was not always clear in the minds of our synod members.

These two entities have now been combined into an agency that will be known as Christian Aid and Relief. This will be a single "human care" agency, under the direction of a single committee, overseeing both kinds of work (disaster response and humanitarian aid projects in world mission fields). It was the conviction of both the Committee on Relief and the Humanitarian Aid Committee that a new entity having both responsibilities would put these similar efforts under the direction of a single committee, improving efficiency and ending any possible confusion.

The committee overseeing Christian Aid and Relief will consist of five members appointed by the synod president. One of those members will be appointed from a slate of candidates provided by World Missions. This will ensure that the various humanitarian aid projects proposed by world mission fields will be communicated to the committee and will receive appropriate attention.

All of these efforts—disaster relief or humanitarian aid projects—are ways in which WELS Christians can follow Paul's encouragement in Galatians 6:10, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Showing Christian love and providing help to those in need are ways in which we can let our light of faith shine. In addition, these efforts—especially the humanitarian aid projects—will serve to provide points of contact for gospel outreach in places around the world.

Thank you for your past support of the work of these two committees. I am confident that Christian Aid and Relief will faithfully use your future gifts to carry out an important part of our synod's work.

Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder
President

Note: Details of the merger will be worked out over the coming weeks and months. For the time being, you will continue to see references to the Committee on Relief and the Humanitarian Aid Committee—for example in the following story about flooding in the Midwest.