wfn.org | Churches Are Helping in Kosovo

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 20, 1998

CHURCHES ARE HELPING IN KOSOVO
98-13-089-AH

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Action by Churches Together (ACT) is providing
relief assistance to an estimated 30,000 people that have fled areas of
Kosovo in Yugoslavia that have experienced civil unrest and violence.  An
ACT-related agency operating out of Pristina distributed emergency food,
hygiene and medical assistance in the Srbica and Shipolje areas to
vulnerable, displaced and other affected people.
     Troubles in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia resulted from extreme
force used by Serbian police and military units to crack down on the Kosovo
Liberation Army.   ACT reports that more than 70 people were killed,
villages and houses were destroyed, and thousands of women and children
fled their homes for safety in the woods or nearby villages.
     ACT is a worldwide network of churches, including the Lutheran World
Federation, meeting human need through coordinated emergency response.
     According to ACT the short-term goal in Kosovo is to help stabilize
the current situation by assisting the return of displaced families in
nearby areas to their homes.  ACT provided $25,000 to the Kosovo program to
meet immediate needs for food and medical assistance for people there.
     A joint letter from the general secretaries of three church
organizations -- the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the World
Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) --
appealed to church leaders in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to do all
they can to stop the violence and to ensure that the "identities and
history" of all the ethnic and religious groups in the province are
respected.
     The letter signed by the Rev. Keith Clements of CEC, the Rev. Konrad
Raiser of the WCC and the Rev. Ishmael Noko of the LWF said, "Our
organizations appeal to the leadership and members of the churches in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to do everything possible to contribute to a
peaceful and negotiated solution to the civil violence in the province of
Kosovo."
     The letter continued, "It is of utmost concern to Christians and
churches everywhere that a repetition of the violent conflict experienced
in Bosnia in recent years must be avoided. Everything must be done to
overcome the confrontation and to avoid a further spread of this conflict
to neighboring countries."
     The Lutheran World Federation is a communion of 124 Lutheran churches
worldwide, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

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