wfn.org | Disciples find themselves on frontlines of Mitch relief

["Cathy Hinkle"<wshuffit@oc.disciples.org>]

Date: December 1, 1998
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Email: CMiller@oc.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

98c-70

	INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- When two groups of Disciples began planning 
trips to Central America, little did they know they would find 
themselves on the frontlines of Hurricane Mitch relief. But in a time 
of overwhelming need, both found ways to serve.

	For almost two years, members of the Christian Church (Disciples of 
Christ) in the Upper Midwest had been planning a work/study trip to 
El Salvador. At the same time a group of Disciples pastors was making 
plans for a similar trip to El Salvador and Nicaragua. This trip was 
organized by the Church Finance Council and the Division of Overseas 
Ministries.

	Working with the region's global mission partners, Greg and Dawn 
Nottingham, the Week of Compassion and the Division of Overseas 
Ministries, the Upper Midwest team had identified a small Lutheran 
congregation who needed a concrete floor poured for their new 
building. Then, the weekend before the group was to leave, Hurricane 
Mitch stalled over Central America, inundating the region. Now the 
greater need in El Salvador was medical aid.

	Within the next two days, the 12 team members collected medical 
supplies, vitamins and general purpose antibiotics. Luggage was 
unpacked and rearranged to accommodate the needed supplies. 
Fortunately one team member was a registered nurse; three were 
emergency medical technicians. On Nov. 6 the team arrived in El 
Salvador, ready for a new mission.

	With the assistance of Lutheran Bishop Medaredo Ernesto Gomez, the 
group traveled to Usulutan in the eastern part of El Salvador. There 
they stayed in a regional warehouse, sharing a single toilet and a 
cold water shower.

	Here's how Upper Midwest Deputy Regional Minister Alan Mace 
describes the team's work: "Each day began with a 45-minute ride to 
the end of the road at Puerto Parada. There we boarded boats for an 
hour-plus ride into the mangrove swamps to reach small communities 
which were cut off by the flood waters. When the boat ride ended, we 
walked in mud and then on the dikes around washed-out shrimp farms 
some 20 minutes to the first village. 

	"Half of the group stayed there and ran a small medical clinic. The 
remainder of the group walked about 1.5 miles to the next community. 
Much, if not most, of this walk was through water, some of which was 
waist-deep. Again, a clinic was provided at this village as well. Our 
group was the first relief to reach these villages. 

	"We were received with open arms and gracious hospitality. We were 
also overwhelmed by what we saw. The people had been living in 
standing water for eight days when were arrived. They were dealing 
with a very powerful foot fungus which literally eats at the feet. 
Parasitic infections from bad water were very common as were a 
variety of internal infections. In addition, we treated colds, open 
sores and various wounds. All told, our group saw more than 450 
persons. We stayed until we had exhausted all medications and 
supplies. We were fortunate to have the appropriate materials 
available to assist these persons in the face of the other calamities 
in their lives."

	The second group was made up of 12 Disciples pastors. Their trip, 
planned over a year ago as a cooperative venture of Week of 
Compassion, Church Finance Council and the Division of Overseas 
Ministries, was expected to offer participants an opportunity to 
reflect on issues of stewardship and mission with partner churches in 
El Salvador and Nicaragua. The group did have some of those 
opportunities. But in Nicaragua, they worked with ecumenical partners 
coordinating emergency relief efforts.

	While the team was in Nicaragua, Week of Compassion and One Great 
Hour of Sharing sent $15,000 to our partner church to aid their 
relief effort. The Division of Overseas Ministries also made 
available $1,000 for the immediate purchase of food and supplies.

	The Revs. David Shirey and Verity Jones share this report of their 
work: "On Nov. 5, we gathered with our Nicaraguan partners in the 
small offices of the Mision Cristiana de Nicaragua and prepared our 
offering: we bagged rice and corn meal, put candles in plastic and 
placed packets of bleach into containers to purify water. 

	"The next day we loaded our goods and ourselves into the back of 
three pick-up trucks and headed for a small town north of Leon. It 
took us seven hours to travel about 50 miles. We drove through river 
beds where bridges had once stood, across washed-out roads, and 
through fields destroyed by mud and rushing water. We dodged a number 
of dead cattle and gave folks along the way rides into the next town. 
We got stuck in the mud too many times to count. 

	"But we made it, not quite as far as we had hoped, but to 
Larreinaga, where one of our partner churches ministered. We unloaded 
our gifts and gathered with the town folk to thank God for God's 
generosity even in times of trial. We returned home exhausted and 
dirty, but confident of God's presence and the hope that we share in 
Christ Jesus."
 
	Participants in the Upper Midwest trip were all from Iowa: Joycelyn 
Haage, First Christian Church, Keokuk; the Rev. Traverce Harrison, 
First Christian Church, Burlington; Don and Martha  Johnson, First 
Christian Church, Des Moines; the Rev. Phil Jorgenson, First 
Christian Church, Clarinda; Deborah Krichau, Pleasantville Christian 
Church, Pleasantville; and the Rev. Jerry and Gladys Sawyer, Ankeny 
Christian Church, Ankeny. 

	Other travelers: the Rev. Rebecca Strom, Pleasantville and Fairview 
Christian Churches, Pleasantville; Virginia Stuary, First Christian 
Church, Winterset; Harlan "Frosty" Van Voorst, Packwood Christian 
Church, Packwood; and the Rev. Alan Mace, Christian Church in the 
Upper Midwest, Des Moines.

	Travelers to Nicaragua included the Rev. David Avery, Community 
Christian Church, Jefferson City Mo.; the Rev. Luis Ferrer, Board of 
Church Extension, Indianapolis; Angela Herrmann, associate editor, 
The Disciple, Indianapolis; the Rev. Verity Jones, Central Christian 
Church, Terre Haute, Ind.; the Rev. Marvin Owens Jr., Williamsburg 
Christian Church, Brooklyn, N.Y.;  the Rev. Kevin Russell, Sparta 
Christian Church, Independence, Ky.; and the Rev. David Shirey, North 
Christian Church, Columbus, Ind.

	Also: the Revs. Ed Taylor, Church Finance Council, Indianapolis; 
David Vargas, Division of Overseas Ministries, Indianapolis; Sarah 
Webb, chaplain, Bethany College, Bethany, W. Va.; Dan Webster, 
Christian Church of Arlington Heights, Arlington Hts., Ill.; and 
Rebecca Zelensky, First Christian Church, Gibson City, Ill.

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