wfn.org | Tsunami: Assessment Team to Indonesia Identifies Crucial LWF

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

Tsunami: Assessment Team to Indonesia Identifies Crucial LWF Accompaniment
Role
Group Presents Its Recommendations to LWF General Secretary

GENEVA, 18 February 2005 (LWI) * A Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
assessment team to Indonesia in the aftermath of the devastating tidal
waves (tsunamis), says the LWF has a significant accompaniment role in the
short and long term.

The report of the seven-member LWF Pastoral Team to Indonesia, January
16-25, has been presented to LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko.
The team led by Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) Secretary and Mission
Director, Rev. Wayne Zweck included LWF Council members Rev. Dr Jubil R.
Hutauruk (Indonesia) and Ms Diadem Depayso (Philippines); Mr Peter
Schirmer, executive secretary of the LCA overseas aid and resettlement
agency, Australian Lutheran World Service; and LWF staff persons Rev.
Ginda Harahap, DMD Area Secretary for Asia; Mr David Mueller, LWF/DWS
representative in Cambodia; and Mr Neville Pradhan, DWS program officer
for emergencies, refugees and internally displaced persons.

The group visited Banda Aceh and Nias Island, regions of Indonesia
severely affected by the tsunamis that swept across the southeast Asian
coastline, following an undersea earthquake off Sumatra's coast, 26
December 2004. Indonesia was the worst affected, accounting for around 70
percent of the 220,000 people reported to have died as a result of the
catastrophe that affected 11 other countries.

The team explored the potential role of the LWF Departments for World
Service (DWS) and for Mission and Development (DMD) both in the short and
long term. The group also evaluated the churches' capacity to effectively
respond to the crisis, and how best their programs and people's needs
could be met through Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, the
Geneva-based global network of churches and their partners responding to
emergencies worldwide.

The team reports that the largest LWF member church, the Protestant
Christian Batak Church (HKBP) with a membership of 3 million, has
considerable actual and potential internal capacity to respond to the
needs created by the disaster especially through its diakonia department.
But it still needs support as ACT's existing capacity is currently
stretched in the middle of response. Two LWF member churches - the HKBP,
and the Protestant Christian Church (BNKP), with a membership of 338,061 -
have experienced direct impact of the tsunamis. Also affected is the
Protestant Christian Communion, a non-LWF member church.

LWF Intervention Should Complement Local Partners' Response

The team recommends that any intervention by the LWF through direct
support to its member churches, which also belong to the national council
of churches, the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), must complement
the role of the PGI's foundation for relief and disaster YTB, and should
seek to strengthen these key relationships.

The team members concluded that the response by the government, United
Nations and non-governmental organizations, and more specifically through
the current ACT partners, should*if properly coordinated*considerably
address the challenges faced in the tsunami-devastated areas. There
appears to be no need for DWS to consider establishing an operational
presence in the country and, in any event, it is probably too late to
participate in the emergency and post-crisis phases, report.

Facilitating Greater Cooperation among Churches

Providing pastoral support was a key task for the team. Whether they met
with church leaders in Medan or Nias, spoke to community leaders,
addressed displaced people at a camp, listened to harrowing accounts of
unlikely survival, or heard the cries of impotence and frustration, they
were intent on sharing the solidarity of the global Lutheran family, the
team reports.

With regard to the pastoral needs, they sees a role for LWF/DMD to support
the member churches in Nias. It was also felt that DMD could encourage the
member churches to look beyond their own congregations and engage with the
wider community. The LWF department could also facilitate greater
cooperation among the churches, and help them build capacity as they
struggle with isolation and lack of education.

Needs of Women, Children Require Specific Attention

The group also assessed the needs of children, large numbers of whom have
been orphaned, and women. They report there have been requests for
assistance in getting children back to school, and concern has been
expressed for orphans. The team was informed that the extended family was
not always in a position to care for the latter, and this had led to a
proposal for the establishment of alternatives such as child-care centers.

The LWF team identified livelihood support for female-headed households as
a major issue. Other related concerns include the need for security and
protection; water sources; mother and child health care; and special
feeding for lactating mothers and school-age children.

A number of stories put a human face to the statistics and the varying
long-term needs including psycho-social support for those suffering
trauma, as well as the value of the proposed early warning information
centers. In Mandrehe District, Nias Island, the team visited Sisarahili II
village, a community, that was severely affected in terms of human loss.
They came across a number of people with packed suitcases as they had
heard that a volcano was about to erupt and were fleeing to the sea-shore.
(855 words)

(Linda Macqueen, editor of The Lutheran magazine of the Lutheran Church of
Australia contributed to this article.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 66 million Christians. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication,
and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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