wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] PC(USA) receiving letters of consolation in wake of

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8893 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05469
Sept. 9, 2005

PC(USA) receiving letters of consolation

Korean Presbyterian church contributes $30,000 for Katrina relief

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - Expressions of sympathy and support from partner churches,
ecumenical agencies and institutions around the world have begun pouring in
to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Center here in the wake of catastrophic
Hurricane Katrina.

	About 20 email messages expressing grief had been received by Friday
from officials of denominations including the United Church of Christ in
Japan, the Evangelical Church of Niger and the Church of Scotland.

	The letters express solidarity with the United States and the PC(USA)
and shock over the destructive force of the powerful category-4 hurricane,
which battered the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29.

	"I am deeply distressed by the devastation caused by the terrible
Katrina," wrote Maqsood Kamil, executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church
of Pakistan. "My heart cries for all who have lost their loved ones and their
valuables."

	The Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches, said in his message: "Our hearts go out especially to
residents of New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana and southern
Mississippi. We have very little doubt that many members of your
congregations in these parts of the USA have been affected by the hurricane
and its after-effects - the floods, etc. It is difficult to find the right
words at times such as these."

	The PC(USA) also received expressions of sympathy from the
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Presbyterian Church of
Taiwan, the Synod of Evangelical Church of Iran, and the Armenian Evangelical
Church of Iran.

	The Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) pledged $30,000 for the
PC(USA) to use to help hurricane victims.

	The PCK "would like to stretch out our hands in providing relief and
assistance efforts in order to help those victims immediately, and work in
close cooperation with the Presbyterian Church (USA)," wrote the Rev. Seong
Gi Cho, the PCK's general secretary. 

	Various ecumenical agencies, including the World Council of Church,
also sent condolence messages to representatives of the PC(USA). Some church
staff members also received personal email expressing sorrow over the tragedy
from overseas ecumenical contacts.

	Katrina hit the Gulf Coast with 145-mph winds, causing widespread
destruction, essentially wiping some cities and towns off the map, and
killing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people.

    Louisiana officials say more than 1 million people have been evacuated
from that state alone; Mississippi authorities say the number of displaced
there will reach several hundred thousand. The evacuees are being housed in
shelters in 17 states and the nation's capital.

     On Thursday, the official death toll stood at 294, but that number is
expected to rise dramatically.

	The Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS), an
Egyptian Christian development organization based in Cairo, said by email
that photographs of the destruction wrought by Katrina are "absolutely
unbelievable" and that the number of displaced people is  "beyond
comprehension."

	"It certainly drives home the point that man, despite all his power
and technology and tools, is still very small against the awesome power of
nature," said Nabil S. Abadir, director general of CEOSS.

	Other ecumenical organizations or institutions that have sent
messages of consolation include the Presbyterian Community of Congo, the
National Synod of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba and the Church of
South India.

	"In our daily prayers, we lift the hurting to God, asking that Gods'
hope will permeate these situations of hopelessness," the Rev. Lewin Williams
of the United Theological College of the West Indies wrote in a message to
the Rev. Marian McClure, director of the PC(USA)'s Worldwide Ministries
Division. "We here would gladly help if we could, in any possible physical
way."

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