Title: ELCA Supports People with Disabilities in Lebanon ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 2, 2006
ELCA Supports People with Disabilities in Lebanon 06-116-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) sent $30,000 Aug. 1 to support the work of the Contact and Resource Center, an institution designed to enhance the future of people living with disabilities in Lebanon. Located in Beirut, the CRC office has moved its services north of the city due to military confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group.
A "companion" ministry of the ELCA, staff of the CRC reported that people with disabilities are often left vulnerable, physically and emotionally. The CRC is responding to meet their needs during the military confrontation.
"War planes bombed Byblos, Lebanon, where the apostle Peter founded his first church, leaving devastation and death all around," said Agnes Dagher, director of CRC. "Among the victims lay two dead truckers in their burnt vehicles that were carrying emergency relief goods and medication" for families that have been displaced from their homes, she said. "This happened five miles away from our home. The explosions rocked" Byblos, a "quiet town by the sea, scattering glass and rubble everywhere," Dagher said.
In a letter to the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission, Dagher wrote, "I cry for my country, I cry for the children, for the mothers, fathers and for our young people who spent their childhood in war and now again are spending their youth in war." She said, "Soli Deo Gloria," because God "keeps us sane in this terrible war and at these terrible times."
"CRC serves a very specific segment of the Lebanese society," Malpica Padilla told the ELCA News Service. "CRC now has moved from their office in Beirut to a location in Byblos, north of Beirut. This location will serve as a distribution center for medical supplies, medicines, and other basic needs for people living with disabilities. We continue to pray for staff of CRC, who are working under extreme circumstances. Many of them are displaced victims of the conflict having lost their homes to air strikes," he said.
ELCA International Disaster Response sent an initial $15,000 July 28 to the CRC. It had also sent $50,000 July 17 to Action by Churches Together (ACT) and the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) in support of relief work in Lebanon.
Coordinated by ELCA Global Mission, International Disaster Response channels its funds through international church organizations and relief agencies. Funds provide for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials for survivors of disasters.
MECC is a member of ACT -- a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergency situations worldwide. ACT is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), both in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of ACT, LWF and WCC.
"The escalation of violence in the region is troubling," said Kathryn Wolford, president, Lutheran World Relief (LWR). "Through ACT, we are able to assist the civilians who have been forced to flee their homes, and we pray for a swift end to the fighting." LWR is a ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod, individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
Humanitarian crisis in Lebanon
Most of the casualties in Lebanon have been "innocent civilians," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for international leadership development, ELCA Global Mission. More than 499 people have been killed in Lebanon, about 90 percent of whom were civilians. The United Nations reported that about one- third of those killed or injured are children. As of July 30, 34 Israelis have been killed, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
Tens of thousands have had to leave their homes in Lebanon, causing a humanitarian crisis, said Ishida. Food, medicine, water and accommodations in some places are running out, he said. Israel has enforced a complete blockade by air, sea and land. In some safer districts in Lebanon, both public and private schools have opened their doors to receive families displaced from their homes.
MECC is responding to this crisis with humanitarian relief, reported Ishida. The most concerning issue is the lack of safe passage to deliver humanitarian aid, such as food and medical supplies, to people as communication and transport routes between the different Lebanese regions are hindered. U.N. agencies have been advocating for the opening of corridors to secure humanitarian aid but that has not yet materialized.
MECC reported that the lack of food and medical supplies is starting to be felt, said Ishida. Lebanese civilians residing in so-called "safer areas" have mobilized themselves, volunteering to assist and offer all kinds of help to the displaced, hoping to receive rapid aid from local or international organizations, 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 ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog