wfn.org | Louisiana responds to Mitch devastation in Nicaragua

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 12, 1998       Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
{667}

NOTE: This story may be used with UMNS #666. A photograph is available.

A UMNS News Feature
By Joshua Lewis*

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Ronnie Berg felt a bit like Jonah after his recent
efforts to help Nicaraguans in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch.

He didn't wind up in the belly of the whale, but he did watch as the
belly of a C-130 cargo plane was loaded with nearly 20 tons of United
Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) food aid bound for that devastated
country. 

Berg, a member of First United Methodist Church in Covington, La., has
business ties to Nicaragua, but he knew nothing of UMCOR's existence
until he accompanied his wife to a recent church charge conference.
After the conference, he helped arrange the cargo shipment to the
flood-ravaged country.

"It started at that charge conference," he said. "Man, I didn't want to
go. I wanted to stay home and watch TV. I was kind of like Jonah," he
said, referring to the reluctant Old Testament prophet.   

At that church conference, Berg heard the North Shore district
superintendent, the Rev. Grayson Watson, mention UMCOR. The next day,
Berg contacted Bob Osgood, director of UMCOR's Sager-Brown depot in
Baldwin, La. Osgood put him in touch with UMCOR officials who could
authorize food shipments.

"We made a deal: They would ship 40,000 pounds of food if we could get
the Nicaraguan government to guarantee it would go to the most needy
people and not into storage or onto the black market," Berg said. 

The shipment had a market value of about $30,000 and included 3 tons of
beans, 6 tons of rice, 9 tons of canned meats and high-protein bars,
among other items, he said. 

Berg began working with the Nicaraguan consul general in New Orleans,
Mayra Grimaldi, and  they received a letter from the country's vice
president making the needed guarantee. On the strength of the letter,
UMCOR Assistant General Secretary of Emergency Services Lloyd Rollins
ordered the food shipped, Berg said.

However, an airplane was needed. That's where the Rev. Dwight Ramsey,
pastor of First United Methodist Church in New Orleans, entered the
equation. Ramsey contacted Grimaldi to see how he and his congregation
could help, and he learned of the transportation need.

Ramsey, who had worked on a food relief shipment to Russia in 1992, drew
on some of his contacts to secure a C-130 cargo plane that would
transport the food to Managua. "And that plane was the critical thing,"
Berg said. "Otherwise, the food would have just sat here." 
 
The timing was propitious. "They say the Lord's train is never late, but
it's close," Ramsey said.

The plane flew out of the New Orleans Naval Air Station Joint Reserve
Base early Nov. 9, loaded to capacity, which is a rarity for the
sizeable planes, according to a squadron member. 

"Every bean and piece of rice that we could put on it is (in) there,"
Berg said.

Ramsey and Berg stressed the importance of the donations to UMCOR that
made the shipment possible. 

"It's important to note that this would not be happening had it not been
for the faithful United Methodists across the country who have
constantly and consistently made contributions to UMCOR," Ramsey said.

"This shipment was possible because of donations made before there ever
was a disaster in Nicaragua," Berg said. "Every Methodist ought to be
proud of this shipment. It represents every one of us." 

# # #

*Lewis is a contributing writer for the Louisiana United Methodist
Review.