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ELCA Aids Relief Work in China, Nicaragua and Venezuela


From News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>
Date 06 Feb 2000 16:05:51

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 2, 2000

ELCA AIDS RELIEF WORK IN CHINA, NICARAGUA AND VENEZUELA
00-23-MR

     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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