wfn.org | UCC provides prayer, monetary aid to tsunami survivors

[powellb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
Barb Powell, press contact
(216) 736-2175
<powellb@ucc.org>
<http://www.ucc.org>

For immediate release
Dec. 31, 2004

United Church of Christ provides prayer and monetary aid
to tsunami survivors

CLEVELAND -- The United Church of Christ today (Dec. 31) announced that it
has already sent nearly $100,000 in support of ecumenical and interfaith
efforts to aid survivors of the devastating earthquake and tsunamis that
struck Asia.

?Fifty thousand dollars has been wire-transferred to Church World Service
to cover the cost of shipping a 40-foot container of medicine and supplies
to Asia,? says Susan Sanders, disaster relief executive for the United
Church of Christ. ?The value of the shipment is $500,000.? The funds were
provided from the UCC?s One Great Hour of Sharing offering. Church World
Service is the disaster relief arm of the National Council of Churches.

An additional $20,000 was wire-transferred to Church World Service and
Action by Churches together. Other groups receiving aid include the Church
of North India, Church of South India, Jaffna Diocese CSI in Sri Lanka,
Christian Council of Thailand and Churches Auxiliary for Social Action in
India.	The funds were provided by Global Ministries, the partnership
ministry of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ).

In addition to the immediate monetary support, the Rev. John H. Thomas,
general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, has joined
with ecumenical and interfaith partners in calling for prayers for the
people in Asia. A pastoral prayer is available at <ucc.org> for use in
worship and other prayer settings.

The text of Thomas? prayer invokes images of Rachel weeping for her
children and of hope through Jesus? epiphany. Here is the text of Thomas?
prayer:

?In the celebration of Your incarnation, the icons of the season mingle
with horrific images like so much flotsam in the wake of Tsunami?s
indiscriminate destruction:

?Rachel?s weeping over lifeless bodies of lost children unable to cling to
boats and branches; the desperate flight of families rich and poor -- each
one holy -- racing the deadly embrace of waves reaching for this
generation?s innocent;

?The weak and the vulnerable survivors waiting for food, water, shelter,
but even more for some consolation like the ancient survivors, Simeon and
Anna of old.

?Our hearts break, O God, even as our minds resist comprehending the
enormity of sorrow spread across southern Asia?s vast beauty and poverty.

?Amid so much that is superficial, may this grim spectacle of loss prompt
us to cling ever more closely to all that is precious in our lives, and may
it stir in our oft-deadened hearts a great generosity of tears and treasure
borne by modern magi moved again by cosmic disruptions, gifts worthy of
Your epiphany that can even now render this year?s terrifying season holy.
Amen.?

The United Church of Christ was formed by the 1957 union of the
Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
Through its One Great Hour of Sharing offering, the UCC -- working with
ecumenical partners -- reaches out in the name of Christ to build
sustainable communities, respond to disaster and minister to refugees.

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