CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its partner humanitarian relief organizations face challenges in providing aid to thousands of residents of Afghanistan. The fear of U.S. military attacks on the country is causing people to become internally displaced or refuged near the border in neighboring Iran and Pakistan.
Eight "relief trucks are being held up" at border posts between Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Belletech Deressa, director for international development and disaster response, ELCA Division for Global Mission.
The trucks belong to members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) and Church World Service (CWS). ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. It is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. ACT utilizes the resources of LWF and WCC. The ELCA is a member of both the WCC and LWF, and participates in CWS.
ACT members said thousands of internally displaced persons are in urgent need of food and shelter.
"CWS has sent 1,000 shelter kits to help people who are fleeing Kabul, the central region of Afghanistan. The kits include plastic and ground sheeting," Deressa said. "CWS is also planning on providing food for internally displaced people," she said.
"Fears have been expressed that relief items, which are on their way to Afghanistan, could be looted," Deressa said. "The CWS office in Karachi, Pakistan, was forced to close on Monday out of safety concerns for its staff," she said.
Protests have been taking place in many towns and cities in Pakistan, Deressa said. "CWS is in constant touch with churches there, reporting that several incidents have caused concern. A church in Quetta was attacked. In Rawalpindi, houses of a Christian community were stoned. Police work to disperse crowds," she said.
"Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move in Afghanistan," said Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), a joint ministry of the ELCA, Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod (LCMS) and Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LIRS was established by Lutheran churches in the United States to carry out the churches' ministry with immigrants and refugees around the world.
"Any war will produce more refugees and the displacement of people," Deffenbaugh said. If people flee their homes and remain displaced in their own country, there is no international relief available to them. They must get to another country to receive international assistance, he said.
The borders are currently closed between Afghanistan and its neighbors, Deffenbaugh said. "Thousands will surely die from starvation and exposure," he added.
According to Lutheran World Relief (LWR), the people of Afghanistan have also suffered from years of civil conflicts, natural disasters and poverty. LWR is the overseas relief and development ministry of the ELCA and the LCMS. In addition to supporting development projects worldwide, LWR is a member of ACT.
"The people of Afghanistan have suffered long and hard. Civilians who now fear U.S. military action against terrorists have already endured three years of severe drought. Before the drought the nation suffered 20 years of war, including invasion by the Soviet Union in 1979. Agriculture and the economy have sustained heavy damage. Government services are minimal," according to a Lutheran World Relief news release.
LWR is assisting its partner organizations in Pakistan and Iran with water supplies -- portable tanks, piping, purification units and tankers -- for up to 70,000 refugees in Pakistan; emergency shelter kits, tents, tarpaulin and blankets for 5,000 refugee families; and quilts for 125,000 Afghan refugees in eastern Iran.
LWR has made an initial allocation of $25,000 in cash and a $136,500 shipment of bedding supplies.
ELCA International Disaster Response provided an initial $150,000 earlier this month to support the people in Afghanistan. The funds sent by the ELCA will help support the relief efforts coordinated by ACT.
Members of the ELCA contribute funds to the church's International Disaster Response fund. Coordinated through the ELCA Division for Global Mission, International Disaster Response helps relief agencies provide funds for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials and supplies. Funds are also sent to rebuild communities and to repair structures destroyed by major disasters.
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:
ELCA International Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
1-800-638-3522
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
- - -
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
