wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Missionaries OK after tsunami

["LCMS e-News" <LCMSENEWS@lcms.org>]

	 <http://www.lcms.org>
e-News
	LCMS News

	PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE! This message comes
from a "Send Only" Mailbox that does not recognize replies.

	December 27, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 87

	LCMS workers reported OK
	as relief efforts mobilize
	to help tsunami victims

	Missouri Synod mission personnel are reported to be OK as relief
efforts get under way after a devastating Dec. 26 tsunami wiped out
coastal towns on the Indian Ocean, killing tens of thousands, with
thousands of others missing and hundreds of thousands homeless.

	The giant waves resulted from a 9.0 magnitude earthquake  news
agencies called it the most powerful in 40 years  centered at more than
six miles under the ocean surface and about 100 miles from the
Indonesian island of Sumatra.

	Among the countries with coastal areas most affected are Sri
Lanka, India, and Thailand. Early reports indicated that at least 12,000
people were killed in Sri Lanka alone.

	Officials in LCMS World Mission said that all LCMS missionary
personnel in the affected area  about 25, including family members 
are OK. Most of them are based in Bangkok, Thailand  far enough inland
not to have been severely affected.

	LCMS World Mission and LCMS World Relief officials were awaiting
word from leaders of LCMS partner churches in India and Sri Lanka,
however. Both church bodies work mainly in coastal areas said to be in
the path of the huge wave.

	Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, issued a news release
saying that experts predict the possibility of epidemics among survivors
who do not have clean water, food, shelter, health, and sanitation.

	The release said that LWR is beginning to provide these
essentials with long-time partner in India, CASA. Already, teams trained
in disaster response are in the southern coastal areas of India,
providing up to 50,000 people with clean water and food.

	The challenges these families face in the coming weeks and
months are very real, LWR President Kathryn Wolford said. Decaying
bodies, polluted water sources, destroyed sanitation systems and, in
some cases, having lost literally everything will make day-to-day
existence every bit as challenging as surviving the tsunamis
themselves.

	The release also said that LWR is sending $20,000 through Action
by Churches Together, which it describes as an international consortium
of church-related relief organizations who also are coordinating efforts
on the ground in affected countries.

	Updates and suggestions of where to send donations and how to
designate them, in order to help the many thousands of those affected by
the tsunami, will be posted on the Synod Web site ( www.lcms.org
<http://www.lcms.org>  ) as they become available.

	***************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

	***************************************

	  This Edition of "LCMS News" e-News is provided by:

	Board for Communication Services, Division of News and
Information
Contact Editor
<http://www.lcms.org/enews/contact_editor.asp?title=LCMS%20News&editorid
=6>

		To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this Newsletter and
many others, please visit LCMS e-News <http://www.lcms.org/enews> .
		Share this Newsletter
<http://www.lcms.org/enews/forward.asp?m=2506>	with a friend.

MessageId=2506 UserId=10073
  _____

Design ) Copyright 2003 The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
<http://www.lcms.org>
No reproduction without consent. All rights reserved.