wfn.org | ELCA sends $50,000 to ACT for 'rapid response' to disasters overseas

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

>ELCA News Blog

>July 31, 2009  

ELCA sends $50,000 to ACT for 'rapid response' to disasters overseas

>by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service

For more than 20 years members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) have brought and continue to bring comfort, healing and
assistance to people affected by disasters. The ELCA works with such
partners as Action by Churches Together (ACT) to meet the needs of people
caught in crisis situations overseas. To help sustain the "rapid response"
efforts of ACT in such situations, the ELCA sent $50,000 to ACT in July.
 ACT is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save
lives and support communities in emergency situations worldwide.  It is
based in Geneva with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The ELCA is a member of the WCC and the LWF.

Funds are used to respond to disasters such as the fires in Goma, a city
in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Fires broke out in the
Birere/Mapendo quarter of Goma July 8.  "About 300 to 400 houses burned to
the ground, and 777 families were left homeless," said Megan Bradfield,
associate director for international disaster response, ELCA Global
Mission.  One household typically consists of six people, so the total
number of people affected is likely to be more than 4,500, she said.  Some
of the affected families are taking shelter at two churches, but living
conditions there are compromised with the lack of clean water, Bradfield
said.

"Contributions sent by the ELCA allow for the immediate response to this
and other emerging needs" around the world, Bradfield said.

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