wfn.org | Action by Churches Together Helps China Earthquake Victims

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 25, 1998

ACTION BY CHURCHES TOGETHER HELPS CHINA EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
98-040-AH

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Action by Churches Together (ACT) has provided
emergency assistance to victims of a January earthquake in China.  Working
through the Amity Foundation, ACT distributed tents and blankets, noodles,
wheat flour and bread in the hardest hit areas.
     Parts of Hebei Province were hit by an earthquake Jan. 10 killing 50
people and leaving 44,000 people homeless. Hebei is situated about 400
miles north of Beijing.  ACT has provided $60,000 for relief work in Hebei.
     Amity Foundation is a Chinese church-related agency.  ACT is a
worldwide network of churches, including the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF), meeting human need through coordinated emergency response.  The LWF
is a Geneva-based communion of 124 member church bodies including the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
     An Amity staff person reported that the tents were a big help.  "The
tremor had happened so quickly that the survivors could hardly accept the
fact that their homes had become ruins in just a wink," he said.  "In the
cold weather, many people could do nothing but dig into the stacks of
straws to keep warm."
     Amity reports that, in the Hailiutu Township alone, 48 schools have
been seriously affected, either flattened, or damaged.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html

  George Conklin