wfn.org | Lutherans Learn Prayer, Money Best For Tsunami Aid

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 17, 2005

Lutherans Learn Prayer, Money Best For Tsunami Aid
05-047-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- According to mission personnel of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) serving in
Indonesia, prayer and contributing money remain the best methods
to support recovery operations following a Dec. 26 tsunami that
claimed more than 200,000 lives in several coastal countries of
the Indian Ocean.
     Rosella Kameo said survivors of the tsunami in Indonesia are
"going to need a lot of help to pick up the pieces and rebuild
their shattered lives."
     Kameo, an ELCA missionary working in Indonesia, and her
husband Daniel, who is Indonesian, received many inquires from
individuals and congregations around the world asking what can be
done to help survivors of the tsunami.
     Some wrote that "sending money to a disaster relief
organization seems so impersonal," Kameo said.	"'Why should we
bother to route our money through relief agencies if our
congregation could send it directly to individual [Lutheran]
churches or companion synods in India, Thailand or Indonesia?'"
     Although "it may sound impersonal, the very best way to help
tsunami [survivors] is to send a financial donation to a reliable
relief agency," Kameo said.
     "Volunteers are rarely needed, we have learned, because
disaster relief is a job that requires professionals with
technical skills and prior disaster experience.  An international
disaster situation is more complicated than a domestic one,
normally requiring passports, visas, fluency in the language of
the area and cross-cultural skills.  Hiring qualified survivors
is much more cost effective and sustainable than relying on
foreign volunteers.  As well-meaning as volunteers may be, they
are apt to get in the way and take up food, accommodations and
supplies needed by local people and professional workers," she
said.
     "Our goal is long-term sustainable development," said Kameo.
Credible relief agencies like Church World Service and Action by
Churches Together have "established a strong presence in these
areas long before the tsunami disaster occurred, and they employ
thousands of staff members, most of whom are residents of local
communities," she said.
     "Support the ELCA International Disaster Response effort"
that is "working in areas devastated by the tsunami.  Pray for
the wisdom and guidance of those who use the funds you send,"
Kameo said.  "Study about the people, cultures and religions of
the areas affected.  Most importantly, continue to pray for those
who have been traumatized and whose lives have been irreversibly
changed by this overwhelming tragedy," she said.

ELCA International Disaster Response
     Through ELCA International Disaster Response, members of the
church contributed more than $6 million to support recovery and
rebuilding efforts in southern Asia, said Kathryn Sime, director
for the ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal.
     Coordinated by the ELCA Division for Global Mission,
International Disaster Response often channels its funds through
international church organizations and relief agencies.  Funds
provide food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and
other materials for survivors of a disaster.
     "People [in Indonesia] do not allow the tsunami to destroy
them forever.  They are reclaiming life," said the Rev. Joseph
Chu, program director for the Asia and Pacific desk, ELCA
Division for Global Mission.
     Chu and other church leaders from around the world traveled
together to Indonesia Feb. 20-27 to learn about tsunami disaster
response efforts from Christian relief agencies.  Action by
Churches Together -- a worldwide network of churches and related
agencies that meets human needs through organized emergency
response -- organized the trip.  It is based with the World
Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF), in Geneva.  The ELCA is a member of WCC and LWF.
     "We saw how Christian relief organizations are working
together" in Indonesia, Chu said.  "They are very well organized
and professional in their approach when working with survivors.
This gives us great confidence as we continue to donate funds to
ACT and their partners, which are doing a very good job in
exercising excellent stewardship practices," he said.
     "We went to Banda Aceh, which is one of the most tsunami-
affected areas in Indonesia," Chu said.  "The exact statistics
are hard to have, but I think we heard that more than 100,000
people were killed there," he said.
     "We must offer prayer.  I believe in the power of prayer,
even though the people of Indonesia may not know who is praying
for them," Chu said.  "I also think it is important to listen to
what people in Indonesia are saying.  Sometimes we, who are
oceans apart, have ideas of what needs to be done.  But the
reality of local people is quite different, so we must listen,"
he said.
_ _ _
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 and
http://www.elca.org/disaster/idrgive on the Internet.

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