China Earthquake Partners

 Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance, with the assistance of the Amity Foundation, has been in close contact with local partners in the area. An assessment team are on the ground, and an appeal proposal will be submitted to the ACT secretariat. 

Amity Foundation is a Chinese NGO. Education, community development, and disaster relief are among its work. Most ELCA direct connections with Amity have been in sending English teachers to China.



Sichuan Council of Churches: Sichuan CC has designated April 18 as a day of prayer for the Yushu earthquake. A special offering will be designated for relief work, coordinated together with the Qinghai Council of Churches. This offering is being matched by ELCA funds. The Qinghai Council of Churches has expressed its gratitude for this outreach from its neighboring church council. Additionally, a team has been dispatched from Luzhou City Church (see below). They will meet up with church-related personnel in the earthquake area to assess the situation and offer assistance. 

Sichuan Council of Churches is the overall umbrella for the Protestant church in Sichuan province. Sichuan is located immediately east of Qinghai, and is where a devastating earthquake struck in 2008. The ELCA had already been accompanying the Sichuan CC in various church ministries prior to that disaster, including with Luzhou City Church. In the aftermath of the 2008 earthquake, with continued ELCA disaster relief assistance, the Sichuan CC has been enabled to engage in ongoing relief/rebuilding work, gaining specific expertise in understanding the church's role within disasters.



Luzhou City Church, located in southeast Sichuan, is part of the Sichuan CC. Luzhou is a particular companion to the ELCA. The ELCA has provided funding and other assistance for Luzhou's social ministry and education/training programs.

Luzhou City Church partners with other local organizations, including those that handle health care and persons with disabilities, in providing holistic social services. It has been a central partner in ongoing Sichuan earthquake relief/rebuilding.



Plateau Perspectives: A team, including several doctors, has been dispatched from Xining, with a focus on medical supplies, tents and bedding. The Yushu prefecture foreign affairs office has asked Plateau Perspectives to assist with relief, so PP is the point agency for getting permissions and coordinating with the government there. The PP team will confer with local partners as they make an assessment. 

Plateau Perspectives is an international non-profit organization that aims to promote conservation and sustainable development in the Tibetan Plateau region of China. Despite being the source of several major rivers - including the Yangtze - Qinghai has suffered from soil erosion, water shortage and deforestation over the years. The ELCA shares common interests in education and development work with PP.