Lutherans Commit To Long-Term Tsunami Disaster Response

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- For the next five to 10 years, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will work with its "companion" Lutheran churches in India, restoring and rebuilding tsunami-struck communities in India. The Dec. 26 tsunami claimed more than 200,000 lives in several coastal countries of the Indian Ocean.
According to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the death toll in India is about 10,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced in the coastal states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and the union territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the LWF has 138 member churches in 77 countries. The ELCA is a member of the LWF.
Although "Christians in general are minorities in Indian society, and very few victims [of the tsunami] were members of Lutheran churches, our sister church bodies in India immersed themselves in relief and rebuilding efforts immediately after the disaster," said the Rev. Joseph K. Chu, program director for Asia and the Pacific, ELCA Division for Global Mission.
"We will work with them over the next five to 10 years on projects that address vital community issues such as peace and justice, sustainable development, health care, gender justice, child welfare and more. [The ELCA will] be their long-term partner," he said.
To assess needs for short-term relief and long-term community building, Chu, staff of the ELCA and others traveled to India, Jan. 13-20. In response to a special invitation from the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI), the Lutheran delegation met with and expressed their solidarity with survivors of the tsunami. They traveled from Chennai to Nagapattinam and Tranquebar, coastal states of southern India. The UELCI is a body of 11 Lutheran churches in India, and it is a member of the LWF.
"We have seen evidence of massive destruction as a result of the tsunami [that hit] various coastal cities and villages in southeast India," Chu said. "We have also witnessed the dignity of survivors there. They want to rebuild their homes and their lives."
The Rev. Chandran Paul Martin, executive director, UELCI, issued the invitation and referred to the visiting Lutheran delegation as a "walking letter."
"People will create the future. It is up to the churches to help create hope," Paul Martin told the delegation. "Your visit goes beyond solidarity. It is sharing life."

Reflections from Members of the Delegation
The leader of the delegation, the Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla, executive director, ELCA Division for Global Mission, said another purpose of the visit was to "identify areas of collaboration" between the ELCA and the UELCI, as both engage in relief and rehabilitation efforts there.
Malpica-Padilla offered three overall impressions from the delegation's trip.
Lutheran churches in India had "shown a great capacity to engage" and "a willingness" to provide disaster response immediately with their limited resources," said Malpica-Padilla. "The churches in India immediately made themselves available to areas where there was need, and they provided food, shelter, medicine and whatever else they could without having a financial commitment from their companions abroad," he said.
The second impression is "the spirit of the Indian people. They want to get on with their lives, and they want tools to start rebuilding. Something that we heard over and over again was a message that I have framed in the context of one phrase -- nets and boats. That's what they were asking us for, nets and boats. 'If we could have our boats, if we could have our nets, we will be able to go out to sea and fish again. Fishing produces income that will translate into me fixing my own house and probably sharing some additional resources to help rebuild my village and community.' So, it's the resilience of the Indian people and their desire to get back to normalcy," he said.
A third impression surrounds conversation about the "big wave," Malpica-Padilla said. "Everyone is thinking and talking about the tsunami, the big wave. But, before the big wave came, many [people living in] the coastal communities and fishing villages, were living or were being affected by what I call a wave of poverty, exclusion and marginalization. No one was paying attention to that." He called this impression, "dignity in disaster, justice in life."
"When most relief agencies leave India because they have accomplished their goals related to the big wave," the ELCA will continue to remain in the country "to address the needs of this other wave of poverty, underdevelopment and exclusion affecting these communities. We are willing to walk with the churches in India to address not only the needs created by the tsunami, but this constant wave of poverty," Malpica-Padilla said.
"Some fisher folk are having difficulty understanding why Dalits should receive compensation, since they did not lose 'nets and boats' in the tsunami," said Sue Edison-Swift, associate director for interpretation, ELCA Department for Communication. Dalits are the "invisible" people of India, she said.
"While Dalits do not fish, their livelihoods depend on it. They are the ones who receive, clean and sell the fish. Whole economies depend on fishing," she said.
"The UELCI has been asked by the government to reconstruct two whole villages. The reconstruction is to include repairing roads, providing education, securing electricity and more for all people, fisher folk and Dalits alike. About 80 percent of Dalits are Lutheran," said Edison-Swift.
"At one end of the reconstruction spectrum is restitution -- you'll be compensated for your losses. On the other end is restoration -- whether or not you've been directly affected by the tsunami, your livelihood will be restored. What churches want and what the government in India hope churches will do is create a new community out of the old one. We don't want to distinguish between people, Dalits nor fisher folk. We also want to avoid creating communities that divide between 'the haves' and 'the have-nots,'" she said.
"Life will never be the same," said the Rev. Frederick E.N. Rajan, executive director, ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries.
"When we walked the beach in India, it looked so peaceful, and the sea moved in perfect rhythm. But on that fateful day, December 26, this same sea became such a destructive force, swallowing up so many lives" and "loved ones," he said.
"I am so grateful for the extraordinary response of the Lutheran churches in India. These powerful waves may have destroyed life, but it did not destroy the hope distilled in [people]. We witnessed people who lost everything, who are now trying to rebuild their lives," Rajan said.
"I am also overwhelmed by the response of the global Christian community. Indeed we are all tied together at our baptism. It is empowering to see Christians from all over the world come together to help each other. I am hopeful of the future. We need to join with them in their rebuilding effort," he said.
"The Earth shudders. The sea rises. And 200,000 people die. TV cameras capture the apocalyptic devastation and pathos of lost lives and loves. Around the country, around the world, millions dig into their pockets and give with unprecedented generosity," wrote the Rev. David L. Miller in the March issue of The Lutheran magazine. Miller, editor of the magazine, was a member of the delegation.
"The tsunami is a spectacle of Hollywood-esque proportions. It's magnetic. It captures the imagination," he said.
"The spotlight seldom shines on this suffering, even though much of it is resolvable with far smaller sums than the tsunami is attracting. Malaria? Experts suggest $2 bill