CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In response to disasters in China, Nicaragua and Venezuela, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are sending $275,000 to the church's International Disaster Response to support recovery efforts in those countries.
Coordinated through the ELCA Division for Global Mission (DGM), International Disaster Response provides funds for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials and supplies. Funds are used to rebuild communities and repair structures destroyed by major disasters.
Two earthquakes hit Yao An County, located in the southwestern province of Yunnan, China, on Jan. 25. Five people were killed, more than 1,500 were injured and 156,000 were made homeless, said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, ELCA director for international communication, DGM. About 9,000 buildings collapsed and another 23,000 were seriously damaged. About 155 schools were destroyed or damaged, he said.
The ELCA has made $25,000 available to support relief efforts in Yunnan. The funds are being sent through Action by Churches Together (ACT) for Amity Foundation, an independent, church-related relief and development organization based in China.
ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. It is based with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of the LWF and WCC.
Avalanches of water, mud and boulders, triggered by ten days of heavy rain in mid-December, have caused the worst natural disaster in Venezuela in modern history, reported Ishida. The government estimates that as many as 30,000 people have died, he said.
Some estimates put the final figure as high as 50,000 as a result of the flooding that raged through nine northern states, sweeping away; thousands of homes, Ishida said. With many bodies washed out to sea or buried beneath the mountains of mud and debris, authorities said they cannot yet be precise about the number of deaths.
To support recovery efforts in Venezuela, the ELCA sent an initial $25,000 to Lutheran World Relief -- the overseas relief and development ministry of the ELCA and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod -- and an additional $25,000 to Church World Service -- the development and relief ministry of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC). The ELCA is a member of the NCC.
The ELCA also has sent $200,000 to ACT for ongoing recovery efforts in Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch caused widespread flooding and mud slides in Central America Oct. 29-31, 1998. More funds will be available to respond to any future requests by Iglesia Luterana Fe y Esperanza de Nicaragua (Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope in Nicaragua), said Ishida.
INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:
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
