wfn.org | ABCUSA: American Baptists Support Relief Efforts in Darfur

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 8/13/04)--The American
Baptist Churches USA World Relief Office will be releasing $20,000 in One
Great Hour of Sharing emergency funds to provide assistance in the
violence-torn Darfur region of Sudan.  The funds will be sent to the
ecumenical agency Church World Service (CWS) to fund its relief efforts and
those of its partner organizations, according to World Relief Officer Lisa
Rothenberger.

Among other efforts, CWS is assisting in providing food, medicines, access to
clean water, agricultural inputs and tools, and trauma care to 500,000 of the
most vulnerable people in the Darfur region. The program includes a
supplemental feeding program for 50,000 affected children.

American Baptists wishing to support relief efforts in Darfur can do so
through their church's monthly report of mission support, designating
contributions "Sudan-Darfur Relief."  Those wishing to contribute online can
do so by accessing the "American Baptist Missions" or "Give Now" pages of the
ABCUSA Web site--www.abc-usa.org.

CWS Executive Director the Rev. John L. McCullough reports that almost 500
refugees die daily in Darfur or in makeshift camps in neighboring Chad.
Additional concerns focus on the region's current rainy season, which is
providing a breeding ground for disease. 

Violent Arab Janjaweed militia, reportedly backed by the Sudan government,
are blamed for the deaths of as many as 50,000 black African villagers in
Darfur. An estimated 1.2 million people have fled their homes. Despite claims
by the Sudan government that it is disarming the militia, reports from Darfur
indicate ongoing violence against villagers.

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution that threatens to impose
sanctions on Sudan by the end of August if its government doesn't take action
to prosecute the Janjaweed as well as provide access by aid agencies seeking
to supply food, drinking water and medical supplies to an estimated 300,000
displaced people facing imminent starvation.

CWS has called on U.S. citizens to immediately pressure the United Nations
and world bodies to intervene more quickly and definitively to protect more
than one million black Africans threatened by the escalating crisis.

"We are encouraging American Baptists to pray and act urgently in this
matter," said International Ministries Acting Executive Director the Rev.
Charles H. Jones. "The seriousness of this situation demands our immediate
action."

K/2004ABNS/04ABN95

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org