People of Faith Lead U.S. Disaster Recovery

Faith in America is on a downward trajectory we’re often told. Recent surveys have documented a shocking rise in respondents who state they have no religious affiliation. Social scientists call this “the rise of the nones.”

Indeed, according to Pew Research, some 28% of Americans now say they are religiously unaffiliated. That amounts to a large increase in just a few decades. As recently as 1990, the “nones” comprised only about 8% of the U.S. population.

Given the central and historic role of Judeo-Christian principles in our nation’s development, that religious decline should be a serious concern for Americans. But I would also suggest the trend has been greatly exaggerated.

Even Pew acknowledges that over half of the Americans it classifies as “nones” still profess a belief in God (or at least in a “higher power”).

But there’s another reason why I believe America’s faith remains strong: I’ve seen it in action. I would suggest there’s an entirely different way to gauge the nation’s spiritual health, one that relies less on social service surveys and more on boots on the ground. 

I’m talking about the army of faith-based volunteers, from coast to coast, marching forth to bring hope and healing every time a disaster befalls America.

My colleagues and I have seen their faith shine through the darkness like a beacon upon a hill.

In Lahaina, Maui, for example, firestorm victims who fled for their lives returned to neighborhoods that had been reduced to heaps of smoldering ash. We’d never seen anything like it. But a number of churches we partnered with distributed essentials like food, water, and clothing for survivors. The American Association of Christian Counselors also trained church volunteers to offer trauma care and emotional support to survivors as well.  

Then, in 2022, CityServe partnered with people of faith to lead relief efforts after a series of devastating tornadoes brought communities in several southeast states to their knees.

More recently, we’ve been busy working with faith-based partners to help folks throughout Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas who are struggling to recover from the one-two punch of hurricanes Milton and Helene.

Initially, disaster victims need the necessities we tend to take for granted — food, water, shelter, electricity, phone service, and gasoline. But once their immediate needs are met, most disaster victims begin to ask, “Why us?” For those who feel lost and alone, faith-based volunteers can make a lifesaving difference.

Visit any disaster scene and you’ll see faith-based groups busy handing out food boxes and first-aid supplies, organizing chain-saw crews to clear out debris, mobilizing local churches to set up temporary housing, and rendering the prayer and spiritual reassurance that’s also desperately needed.

I’m always struck by the sincere yearning to help displayed by the faith-based volunteers who put their lives on hold to serve on the frontlines of natural disasters. It’s truly an inspiration.

Right now, it’s happening in Chimney Rock and Asheville, North Carolina. Thousands of Christian volunteers have arrived from every point on the compass. Some trekked all the way from Southern California. Others who couldn’t join them played an equally vital role, supporting their efforts through charitable donations.

Here are just a few of the faith-based groups now working tirelessly in Florida and western North Carolina: Operation Blessing, World Vision, Spokes of Hope, Samaritan’s Purse, Convoy of Hope, Love & Life Air Support, Matthew 25 Ministries, and 180 Disaster Relief. They’re on the scene, providing vital assistance and lifting the spirits of thousands of hurricane victims.

As World Vision president and CEO Edgar Sandoval Sr. recently wrote to me, “It’s in these beautiful acts of service both at home and abroad that we bring the light of Christ to a world that desperately needs it.”

At CityServe we are coordinating the efforts of local churches to reach “the last mile of need” in these storm-struck areas. We’ve helped Elon Musk get his Starlink devices to the first responders who desperately need them, and we’re working with helicopter rescue teams to conduct welfare checks and bring supplies to those in remote enclaves.

So the next time somebody tells you faith in America is on a path of irreversible decline, ask them to talk with folks in Chimney Rock and Asheville. Trust me, they’ll tell you there’s no “rise of the nones” occurring in their communities.

As co-founder of CityServe International, a faith-based church network, I can assure you that the name of Jesus is known via the army of volunteers now helping storm-ravaged residents throughout the southeastern United States navigate what is likely the darkest period of their lives.

In their hour of greatest need, when they most urgently needed help, the storm survivors in western North Carolina will tell you that people of faith answered the call.

What renews my confidence that America can fulfill its God-given destiny to serve as the world’s last best hope? It’s those precious volunteers. They are living proof that faith is alive and well in America.