CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will make $50,000 available for flood relief efforts in Venezuela, the ELCA Division for Global Mission announced Dec. 22.
The ELCA will send $25,000 to Lutheran World Relief (LWR), an overseas Lutheran development and relief ministry of the ELCA and=20 Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, and it will send $25,000 to Church = World=20 Service and Witness (CWS), the development and relief ministry of the=20 National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC). The ELCA = is=20 one of 35 member churches of the NCC.
The ELCA's international disaster response effort is coordinated through the ELCA Division for Global Mission.
The Venezuelan government said at least 10,000 have died from flooding and mudslides, and the death toll is expected to rise considerably. The government also says tens of thousands have been displaced by the disaster. The flooding and mudslides resulted from unseasonably heavy coastal rains that lasted 10 days in mid-December.
CWS said it has provided funds for blankets and mattresses for 2,000 people being sheltered in Barquisimeto and Caracas after they were evacuated from coastal areas devastated by flash floods and mudslides.
LWR is helping to provide emergency supplies for three shelters served by the country's small Lutheran Church, it said in a news release. An initial $5,000 grant will help with meals and bedding for some of the 3,000 homeless families now gathered at a parish in Caracas and for 112 people who have taken refuge in a church and a hospital in the disaster zone of La Guaira, LWR said.
In addition to immediate relief efforts, LWR and CWS both said they're preparing for long-term relief efforts.
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico or
the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
Lutheran World Relief
PO Box 17061
Baltimore, MD 21298-9832
1-800-LWR-LWR2
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.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
