I serve with EFCA ReachGlobal Crisis Response, helping churches and individuals bring the hope of Christ to people whose lives have been disrupted by crisis.
My name is Steven Smeltzer. I lead training for our Crisis Response ministry and serve as part of our trauma care team. I am a certified Biblical Counselor and a licensed minister with the Evangelical Free Church of America.
My work includes equipping churches to prepare for and respond to crisis, training believers to care for hurting people, preaching and teaching, and providing biblical counsel and pastoral encouragement. Whether I am leading a seminar, visiting a church, or sitting with someone carrying deep grief, my desire is to help people know Christ and experience His love through His people.
How This Journey Began
Before joining ReachGlobal Crisis Response, I spent more than forty years working in banking, finance, and risk management. My involvement with the ministry began as a volunteer following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Through serving in places such as New Orleans, Haiti, Houston, and Corpus Christi, I witnessed how God works through local churches in the aftermath of disaster. Practical help creates opportunities to build relationships, share the Gospel, and walk with people through difficult questions and lasting loss.
What began as volunteering became a deeper commitment to serve with the Crisis Response team.
Equipping the Church to Care
A crisis affects much more than buildings and possessions. It can shake relationships, disrupt communities, and leave people struggling with fear, grief, and questions about God.
As part of our team, I help churches prepare to minister in these circumstances. Our training equips believers to listen, recognize the effects of trauma, offer biblical hope, and care for people over time. We also help churches consider how they can continue their own ministry when a crisis affects their congregation and community.
This work brings together practical preparation, compassionate care, evangelism, and discipleship. Our desire is to see local churches strengthened and people’s lives transformed by Christ.
My training work has also included collaborating with EFCA leaders in other countries to adapt trauma-care resources for their communities. I encourage churches and individuals to participate in crisis response through prayer, volunteer teams, and ongoing relationships with local ministry partners. Our goal is to strengthen ministry that continues long after the initial emergency has passed.
Serving in Ukraine and Beyond
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, I have made twenty trips to Ukraine and spent more than two years alongside its people. I work with pastors, churches, ministry leaders, military chaplains, soldiers, displaced families, and others living with the consequences of war.
I preach, lead training, provide biblical counsel, and encourage leaders who continue serving under extraordinary pressure. I am also developing Welcome Home, training designed to help churches care more deeply for people affected by conflict and crisis.
The ministry of presence is central to this work. We cannot repair every loss or answer every question. We can come, listen, pray, speak truth, and keep returning. Being present helps communicate that people are loved and have not been forgotten.
Ukraine is a significant part of my ministry, but my work with Crisis Response also serves churches and communities in the United States and other places as God opens doors.
Why I Share These Stories
Through ministry updates, photographs, sermons, and Bible studies, I share what I am seeing and learning as I serve.
In Faith and World Affairs, I also explore how biblical truth should shape our understanding of world events and our response as Christians. My desire is to encourage careful discernment, compassion for those who suffer, and faithfulness to Christ.
God is doing incredible things in very hard places. I am grateful to be part of a team that comes alongside His church in those places, and grateful for the people whose prayers, generosity, and service make this ministry possible.