wfn.org | Lutherans Continue Relief Work Following Summer Disasters

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 14, 2000

LUTHERANS CONTINUE RELIEF WORK FOLLOWING SUMMER DISASTERS
00-217-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans continue to serve disaster survivors
following this summer's flooding in northwestern Minnesota and eastern
North Dakota, and devastating tornadoes that struck Granite Falls,
Minn., according to the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst in a September progress
report on relief efforts.
     Furst is director for Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a
cooperative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS).  Lutheran Social
Service of Minnesota and Lutheran Services of North Dakota are managing
LDR response to the disasters, he said.
     In July tornadoes destroyed 100 homes in a four-block area of
Granite Falls and damaged more than 300 homes, Furst said.  Furst toured
the area with the Rev. Bruce A. Kuenzel, Granite Falls Lutheran Church,
an ELCA congregation.  LDR provided an initial $10,000 grant to help
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota manage recovery efforts.
     "In town we stood where the tornado touched down," Furst reported.
"Most splintered trees and rubble were removed and we saw vacant lots,
holes in the ground (former basements) and a few new houses."
     Furst and Kuenzel met with several Granite Falls Lutheran Church
members affected by the storms.
     "The farm has been in our family for 82 years," said Doug
Peterson, whose farm was destroyed. "I don't know if we have the energy
or resources to recover."
     "It took 56 years to get it as we wanted it.  It took four minutes
to take it away," said Eldora Pederson, a Granite Falls' congregation
member whose property was severely damaged.
     As each person tearfully told of their property losses, they also
told of the outpouring of help following the storms, Furst said.
     "Food, volunteers and people with chain saws just came rolling
in," Kuenzel said. "Their response was a real gift of grace."
     In northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, LDR provided
$65,000 in grants to aid in flood response and recovery efforts
following flash flooding June 19.  Early reports said nearly 500 homes
were affected in the Moorhead, Minn., area and nearly one-third of all
homes in Fargo, N.D., were flooded, Furst said.
     In his follow-up visit to Moorhead, Furst said he spoke with six
parish nurses who reported on the people affected by the flash floods.
The nurses serve eight ELCA and LCMS congregations, Furst said.  People
affected by the floods are frustrated, depressed, angry and are
experiencing high blood pressure, the nurses said.  The nurses said farm
buildings are intact but crops were destroyed, local stores report
reduced sales and congregations report financial gifts are down, Furst
reported.
     LDR caseworkers in Fargo, N.D., said farm families are having
difficulty paying for food, medicine and insurance.  Many people,
especially elderly people, have not recovered from the 1997 floods and
are "perplexed" with government forms and procedures, Furst said.
     "LDR is reaching out to a diverse ethnic community including
Kurdish, Bosnian, Sudanese and Somalian people," he said. "Many speak no
English and do not know where to go for help."
     Furst told of a meeting with a Kurdish family whose basement has
been flooded with sewage backed-up four times since June.  A teen-age
daughter served as interpreter.  Both of her parents were ill from mold
and mildew in the home.
     "We left a war-torn country four years ago and came here with
nothing," the mother said. "We have no family here, no friends.  And now
we have lost everything again, and we are all alone."
     Lutherans can respond to such disasters by praying, volunteering
where cleanup and rebuilding are needed and by providing financial gifts
"enabling the church to bring help and hope to people who experienced
great loss because of a disaster," Furst wrote in his progress report.
     "When the church responds in Jesus' name to disaster survivors,
God's people can provide many 'gifts of grace,' gifts that differ in
each place and situation," he added.

DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors
of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S.
Virgin Islands, please include:

                 Lutheran Disaster Response
                       P.O. Box 71764
                   Chicago, IL  60694-1764
                        800-638-3522

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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