wfn.org | ABCUSA: STAFF TO VISIT EL SALVADOR

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES STAFF TO PROVIDE 
ON-SITE SUPPORT IN EL SALVADOR IN AFTERMATH OF SECOND 
MAJOR EARTHQUAKE 
 In response to the second major earthquake in El 
Salvador in a month, two American Baptist International 
Ministries staff members will travel to that country soon to 
offer support for Baptist partners and missionaries there.
 The Rev. Jose Norat Rodriguez, area director for 
Iberoamerica and the Caribbean, and Dr. Stanley Slade, 
Mission Explosion team leader and former missionary to El 
Salvador, will visit the country.  They will confer with 
coordinators of the El Salvador Baptist Federation, who 
have begun assessing the damages by traveling to three 
of the regions most severely affected.
 The Feb. 13 earthquake, which registered 6.1 on 
the Richter Scale, killed more than 275 people, injured 
more than 2,700 and destroyed about 18,000 homes.  An 
earlier, stronger quake on Jan. 13 killed more than 600 
people in El Salvador.
 International Ministries missionaries Deliris Carrion 
and Magda Aguirre have reported that they are doing well.  
Aguirre noted that even before the first earthquake 
housing was a challenge in El Salvador, and with an even 
greater number of houses and buildings now in ruins the 
need for shelter has become a greater issue.  "People are 
sleeping anywhere outside," she said. "There is need for 
so much: food, medicine and even tents."
 International Ministries urges American Baptists to 
pray for missionaries, church leaders and all people in 
Central America affected by the catastrophe.  
 Those wishing to contribute to the recovery may 
do so through One Great Hour of Sharing (line 7 of the 
Monthly Report of Mission Support), designating funds for 
"El Salvador Earthquake Relief."

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