wfn.org | UMNS# 05073-Church offers opportunities to help children affected

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Church offers opportunities to help children affected by tsunami

Feb. 1, 2005	 News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {05073}

NOTE: Photographs and a related report, UMNS story #074, are available
at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Barbara Dunlap-Berg and Kathy Noble*

Countless thousands of children were left homeless, orphaned or
traumatized after the Dec. 26 tsunami slammed into 12 countries around
the Indian Ocean.

As the children struggle to survive, they become even more vulnerable.

Deciding how to respond to a tragedy of such proportions can be
daunting. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has raised more than
$6 million as of Jan. 25 for tsunami relief, and since a large
percentage of the survivors are children, those funds will provide
immediate and long-term help to many of them. Beyond that, the church
offers other programs that more specifically minister to children.

"United Methodists believe each child of God is special," says the Rev.
William T. Carter, director of the Advance for Christ and His Church, a
denominational giving program that supports missions and ministries
around the globe. "Our denomination is in ministry with children
worldwide, and some of our most compelling work is in Asia and Africa."

As soon as they saw the heart-wrenching photographs, people around the
world began considering whether or not they might be able to adopt one
or more of the children.

"The first reality is that none of the children are ready for adoption,"
said Debbie Robinson, executive director of Miriam's Promise, an
adoption agency in Nashville, Tenn. Her agency is related to the United
Methodist Church's Tennessee Annual (regional) Conference.

"The last thing they need is to be swept up by a wave of well-meaning
people moving them from their country," she said.

The affected countries are also taking steps to protect the children.
According to news reports, both Indonesia and Sri Lanka have banned the
adoption of tsunami orphans for the time being. India requires the
consent of orphaned children to be adopted.

Robinson urges prospective adoptive parents to allow time for
legitimate, established agencies to provide the right process. The
adoption community fears the emergence of "black market" agencies
providing illegal adoptions and "under the table" adoptions that
actually force children into prostitution or other kinds of human
trafficking,

Moreover, while many children lost one or both parents in the disaster,
they are now living with other relatives and family members.

What about sponsoring a child? "The United Methodist Church has a
deliberate policy not to have such programs because they are expensive
and often detrimental to children," Carter said. They cost money to
advertise, to coordinate a process to help sponsors select a particular
child, to send photos of that child and to hire translators to translate
the child's letters.

A missionary who volunteered at an orphanage recalled that when an
"adopted" child received gifts from a sponsor, other children became
jealous and sad because they weren't "special enough" to have a sponsor.

"When persons give through the Advance to a children's ministry," Carter
continued, "they share their love with many children. Another plus is
that 100 percent of every gift will go to the children's ministry the
giver selects."

"Partnership in Missions: Catalog of General Advance Specials 2005"
lists more than 2,000 projects worldwide. Copies of the free resource
are available by calling (888) 346-3862 and asking for product number
100082. The catalog includes dozens of ministries with children in more
than 100 countries.

Some of them, listed with their Advance numbers, include:

·	Childhood Immunization, Global (982400) - Programs combating
communicable childhood disease in developing countries.
·	Children, Poverty and Violence, Global (14680A) - Ministries
addressing diverse issues affecting children and providing advocacy to
ensure children's full human rights.
·	Children's Ministries, Regional, Africa (101225) - Food, clothing,
education and medical assistance.
·	Children's Ministries, Regional, Asia/Pacific (201225) - Food,
clothing, medical assistance and school fees.

Contributions may be sent through a local United Methodist church or
annual conference or by mailing a check to: Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068,
GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. Write the check payable to "Advance GCFA"
and include the project name and code number on the memo line. Call
(888) 252-6174 to give by credit card. More details are available online
at http://gbgm-umc.org/advance.

"Through the Advance for Christ and His Church," Carter concluded,
"every gift makes a difference - and no gift is too small."

In addition, donations to UMCOR's "South Asia Emergency" relief efforts
can be placed in local church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR,
475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Designate checks for
UMCOR Advance #274305 and "South Asia Emergency." Donations also can be
made online at www.methodistrelief.org or by calling (800) 554-8583.

# # #

*Dunlap-Berg is an account executive for the Connectional Giving Team
and Noble is editor of Interpreter magazine. Both are units of United
Methodist Communications, the parent agency of United Methodist News
Service.

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

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org