wfn.org | UMNS# 05104-Tsunami victims pull together to rebuild,

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Tsunami victims pull together to rebuild, church executive says

Feb. 17, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New
York {05104}

NOTE: Photographs of the tsunami damage in Sri Lanka and Indonesia and a
picture of the Rev. John McCullough are available in the Photo Gallery
at http://umns.umc.org.

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - When Shanta Premawardhana visited Sri Lanka on behalf
of the U.S. National Council of Churches, he was amazed by the
resilience of its people.

Although the Dec. 26 tsunami wreaked havoc along the Sri Lankan coast, a
strong determination to rebuild exists, he told members of the NCC's
governing board during their Feb. 14-15 meeting in New York.

"Despite the devastation, there were smiles," he said.

The country has pulled together across ethnic and religious lines,
according to Premawardhana, an NCC staff member and native of Sri Lanka.
But he expressed concern about any foreign Christian organizations that
proselytize while dispensing aid. Such action puts that unity in
jeopardy and makes local Christians the possible targets of Buddhist
extremists.

"What happens is that churches get attacked, and pastors get killed," he
explained.

After consultation with the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka,
Premawardhana believes there are several ways that U.S. churches can
offer solidarity to their counterparts-including Methodist, Anglican,
Baptist and Presbyterian congregations-affected by the tsunami. For
example, four villages, where more than half the population is
Methodist, were destroyed

One option for solidarity is the development of sister church
relationships. Such partnerships, he explained, would not just mean a
flow of monetary aid from the United States to Sri Lanka, but the chance
for Sri Lankan Christians to show U.S. church members "a new way of
understanding their faith." He plans to develop guidelines on such
relationships for NCC members.

Other options include working with housing projects-possibly using
Habitat for Humanity models-and promoting micro-credit programs for
income generation, he said.

The Rev. John McCullough, a United Methodist pastor and chief executive
of Church World Service, told the governing board he expects a minimum
10-year recovery period for the tsunami-stricken region.

As an example, he cited the devastated city of Banda Aceh in Indonesia,
where perhaps as many as half of the population of 400,000 may have
perished in the tsunami. "A community like Banda Aceh is going to have
to be completely rebuilt," he said.

"They will, in a very real sense, be rebuilding on a cemetery,"
McCullough added. "That's why trauma counseling is so critical."

Because Church World Service has its largest overseas operation in
Indonesia, it is prepared for the work there. "We have more than 100
persons on staff, and almost all of them are Indonesian," he said.

Both Church World Service and the United Methodist Committee on Relief
are working in the region as part of Action by Churches Together, an
alliance of faith-based relief organizations.

"We appreciate opportunities to work cooperatively and collaboratively
(with UMCOR), especially in light of a disaster of this magnitude," he
told United Methodist News Service. "The participation of United
Methodists in our collective effort is critical."

More information on relief efforts by both agencies can be found online
at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor for UMCOR and at www.churchworldservice.org
for Church World Service.

# # #

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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

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