The ERU draws its inspiration from many sections in Scripture, including Isaiah 58:12, which states: “If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight…and you’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.” (Message: Is. 58:12).

The Bible has many examples of disasters, and of ways that God’s people prepared for, avoided, responded to, mitigated and recovered from, often with specific directives from the Lord. Some examples include:

• Preparation: Noah built an ark and followed God’s instructions to ride out the flood
• Prevention/Mitigation: Joseph’s dreams and preparedness measures kept a disaster from occurring (or at least lessened its impact) after 7 years of poor crops in Egypt
• Response: The churches in Antioch sent food to their brothers and sisters suffering from famine in Judea
• Rehabilitation: Nehemiah coordinated the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after it was ravaged by war

The Bible does not always give us a clear reason why disasters occur. We do know, however, that God has used disasters throughout history to bring glory to Himself, to draw people to Himself, to demonstrate His mercy. He is never far when a disaster occurs and ready to bring beauty out of ashes.