CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A severe drought has singed farmland in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and states in the New England area this summer. These areas may be declared disaster sites, said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director of Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS).
"From Boston to Miami, rainfall totals are 50 to 80 percent below normal levels," reported Furst. "Farmers throughout the region have written off many summer crops."
Furst said more than 7,000 family farms in New Jersey have reported crop loss. Half of Connecticut's farmers could lose their crops. In West Virginia it is predicted that 1,000 to 2,000 fewer farmers will be in the beef and dairy businesses next year, he said.
"In many states corn stalks that should tower overhead stand only knee-high. Farmers using the last of their hay are wondering how they'll feed their livestock this winter," Furst said.
"Farmers, a fair share of them members of our congregations, face a disastrous harvest this fall and a long, difficult recovery in the months and years ahead," said the Rev. David R. Strobel, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Wescosville, Pa.
Strobel said the effects of the drought on farm families are financial, emotional and spiritual. Other people who depend on sufficient rainfall, such as those in nurseries, landscapers and employees of lawn maintenance firms, are facing similar difficulties, he said.
To address the effects of the drought on family farmers, Strobel said, "We can do what God's people do best. First, pray ... pray for rain and pray for the well-being of our farm families and all those impacted by the drought." He suggested also to reach out to farm families with "care and compassion."
Staff of the ELCA Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod has developed a list of "helpful ways" in which members of the church can minister to those who are experiencing the "devastation of one of the worst droughts on record," Strobel said.
Items on the list include prayer, listening to family farmers describe their situations, organizing support groups, inviting farmers to get involved in other non-farming activities, and encouraging farmers and others to contact state and national agricultural departments to urge assistance -- financial or otherwise -- for those most affected by the drought.
Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is working with ELCA bishops, LCMS district presidents and pastors to encourage meetings with farmers and rural community leaders to listen and discern ways to work together, said Furst. LDR works with farm service agencies, U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal and state entities to access the assistance designated for the agricultural crises, he said.
LDR is working with the Orphan Grain Train -- a volunteer network that gathers donations of clothing, medicine, food, literature and other items in response to human need -- to prepare for a delivery of hay to farmers in the mid-Atlantic area.
"Orphan Grain Train is organizing a hay-lift of three huge truckloads from Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin," said Furst. "This may be only a symbol of assistance, but it will let people know their brothers and sisters in Christ are not overlooking their crisis."
Orphan Grain Train has worked with Lutheran Disaster Response to provide personal and material resources to people affected by floods, blizzards and tornadoes in such places as Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
"In addition to prayers for rain relief in the east," Furst asked members of the ELCA to "remember farm families who are affected by the ongoing economic challenges and the hardships of weather crises, as well as those who are present in the name of Jesus Christ to offer care and help for farmers and rural leaders."
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DOMESTIC DISASTERS:
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors
of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S.
Virgin Islands, please include:
Lutheran Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
800-638-3522 ************************************
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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