Bible Gateway, the immediate scriptural resource first responders can use in times of disaster, is pleased to sponsor the second annual Spiritual First Aid Summit on March 11. This free live streaming online event is designed for anyone who has a desire to care well for others.

Expert speakers will help you learn how to assess and address the spiritual, emotional, and practical needs of your colleagues, families, friends, neighbors, and communities.

‘…Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me…’ Matthew 25:31-46

The host, Wheaton College’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI) (@WheatonHDI), is America’s first faith-based academic disaster research center. Its mission is to help the church prepare and care for a disaster-filled world. It uses research to create resources and events geared toward students, survivors, helpers, and researchers.

Bestselling author John Maxwell, editor of The Maxwell Leadership Bible, is a main speaker at the summit. Read his Bible Gateway Blog leadership lessons and sign up for his 30-day free email devotional, in which he brings you an in-depth look at God’s laws to equip and encourage leaders to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Another sponsor of the summit is Food for the Hungry (@food4thehungry), a Christian international relief, development, and advocacy organization. And the event is presented in collaboration with International Justice Mission (@IJM), a global organization that protects people in poverty from violence. Sign up to receive IJM’s free email devotional Encountering the God of Justice to help deepen your understanding and appreciation of God’s heart for justice.

HDI’s manual, Spiritual First Aid, is the first disaster spiritual and emotional care intervention to have been built from the ground up using both biblical wisdom and evidence-informed psychological insights gained from 15 years of scientific study. It offers a step-by-step approach to learning and providing spiritual and emotional care for others.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Emergency Bible Verses: When You Need Them Most]

The manual equips readers to use Spiritual First Aid’s BLESS Method which addresses the following five core unmet needs in the wake of disasters like COVID-19 to help victims gain a sense of meaning, feel connected, and improve resilience:

• Belonging Needs (relationships)
• Livelihood Needs (health, finances, resources, employment)
• Emotional Needs (mental health)
• Safety Needs (suicide, harm to self, threat to others, domestic violence)
• Spiritual Needs (faith, spiritual struggles, meaning-making, purpose)

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, God and the Pandemic: An Interview with N.T. Wright]

Bible scholar N.T. Wright, author of God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and its Aftermath (Zondervan, 2020), spoke at last year’s summit on the COVID-19 pandemic.

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