wfn.org | ELCA Sends $150,000 To Help Initial Relief Efforts In South Asia

[NEWS@ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 29, 2004

ELCA Sends $150,000 To Help Initial Relief Efforts In South Asia
04-237-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) International Disaster Response released $150,000 to
assist immediate relief efforts in several coastal nations of the
Indian Ocean, after a massive underwater earthquake Dec. 26
created huge waves that claimed more than 77,000 lives in 12
countries.
     The Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for leadership
development and mission personnel recruitment, ELCA Division for
Global Mission, said ELCA International Disaster Response sent
$100,000 through Action by Churches Together (ACT) to coordinate
meeting overall needs in the region.  It designated another
$30,000 to support the work of the United Evangelical Lutheran
Church in India and $20,000 for other regional relief work,
particularly in Indonesia.
     ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies
that meets human need through organized emergency response.  It
is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Lutheran
World Federation (LWF), both in Geneva, Switzerland.  The ELCA is
a member of WCC and LWF.
     "In addition to government and relief organizations around
the world, church-related relief operations have begun," said
Ishida.  The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), a
member of ACT, has already started responding to the emergency
brought on by the massive sea surge, he said.
     Members of ACT International in India -- Church's Auxiliary
for Social Action and Lutheran World Service India -- have been
in touch with the ACT coordinating office in Geneva.  They are
working together with ACT member United Evangelical Lutheran
Church in India to assess people's needs in the states of Andhra
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, said Ishida.
     "In Indonesia, the province of Aceh on Sumatra's northern-
most tip, near the epicenter of the under-sea quake, is reported
to have been hit the worst.  Members of ACT in Indonesia --
Yayasan Tanggul Benkana, Yakkum Emergency Unit/CD Bethesda and
Church World Service -- will be coordinating their response to
the emergency," he said.
     The immediate needs for survivors include clean water,
medicine, shelter and food.  There are great fears of water-borne
diseases, such as malaria and diarrhea, Ishida said.
     The earthquake "struck under the sea in north Sumatra,
Indonesia, generating sea surges that sped across the ocean and
striking land as far as Somalia and Kenya on the east coast of
Africa," Ishida said.  "Thousands of people are still missing in
the coastal regions of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka," he said.  "Millions of people
have been rendered homeless by the devastating tsunami."
     "Most of the affected countries and areas have church
connections to the ELCA," Ishida said.	They include the Huria
Kristen Batak Protestan, and Simalungun Protestant Christian
Church, in Indonesia; the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and
Singapore; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Myanmar, and the
Myanmar Council of Churches; the Church of Christ in Thailand,
and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thailand; the Bangladesh
Lutheran Church, and Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh; the Andhra
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the South Andhra Lutheran Church
in India; and the Lanka Lutheran Church, Sri Lanka.
     Contributions to ELCA International Disaster Response will
be directed 100 percent to relief efforts in South Asia,
channeled through ACT.	Coordinated by the ELCA Division for
Global Mission, International Disaster Response often directs its
funds through international church organizations and relief
agencies.
-- -- --
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:
ELCA International Disaster Response, PO Box 71764 Chicago, IL
60694-1764, 1-800-638-3522, or at
http://www.elca.org/scriptlib/dcm/giving/idisaster.asp on the
Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news