wfn.org | UMNS# 05026-United Methodists pour out compassion for victims of

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United Methodists pour out compassion for victims of tsunami

Jan. 12, 2005	 News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {05026}

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

Compassion washed through Bethesda (Md.) United Methodist Church Jan. 9,
as a special concert raised $6,000 for the survivors and victims of the
Indian Ocean tsunami.

The church sponsored a "Wave of Compassion" concert, and 100 people from
the congregation and community attended. The church has raised more than
$12,000 since Jan. 2 to send to the United Methodist Committee on
Relief.

"The concert gave people a chance to respond, a way to reach out to
those in the face of disaster," said the Rev. Ronald K. Foster. "It was
a great event, fun and poignant at the same time. This disaster has
touched people very deeply."

Concerts, paper chains, water purification tablets and offerings of
prayers and money are just some of the ways United Methodist across the
connection are reaching out to the survivors of the Dec. 26 earthquake
and tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

Jeanie Leeper wanted fellow members of the Versailles (Mo.) United
Methodist Church to take time and think about what it meant for 150,000
people to die in a moment of crashing waves, in a place worlds away from
rural Missouri.

Church members left the Jan. 2 worship service with a blank envelope and
instructions to place the envelope "on your night stand, your coffee
canister, TV remote or any place where you will see it every day and
pray about what God wants you to give."

The envelopes will be collected each Sunday.

"It is very easy for someone to write a check for $10," she said. "But I
don't think God is asking us to write a check for $10; I think God is
asking us to give from the heart." By placing the blank envelope in a
place they will see every day, Leeper hopes church members will listen
for what God wants them to contribute.

"It's so easy to drop a small amount of change and think we have done
something," she said. "The purpose of the envelope is to get people to
pray. If they are praying, even if they can't give a whole lot of money,
at least they are praying for the people."

Jeffrey Bignell, a member of Reading (Mich.) United Methodist Church,
felt "the moving of the Holy Spirit" calling him to do something. He
started a campaign at his church to raise money to buy water-purifying
tablets to send to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. As of Jan. 11, the church
had raised enough money to buy tablets to purify 12,500 gallons of
water.

Bignell said he was in the Navy and has "walked among the people in
those countries (affected by the earthquake and tsunami)." Bignell and
his business partner in Industrial Marketing are paying the shipping
costs to send the tablets to Sir Lanka.

"God's glory shines through this action," said the Rev. Gayle Berntsen,
pastor of Reading United Methodist Church.

Children at Resurrection United Methodist Church in Durham, N.C., are
redecorating their day-care center with paper chains representing money
they are raising for UMCOR. So far, the children and their families have
raised $500 and have enough paper links to cover the hall three times,
said Director Heidi Bays.

White, purple and blue paper links represent 25 cents, 50 cents and $1.
"I should have added another color for $10," Bays said. "Some of the
donations have been large, and I am making a lot of links.

"The children look at the links and comment on how much money they are
raising," she said. "On the way home every day, they tell me they are
going to bring in more money tomorrow."

At Iowa (La.) United Methodist Church, an offering suggestion from the
Rev. David DeWitt has reaped more than $2,000 for UMCOR since Jan. 2.

"When the congregation came to the altar for communion, I asked them to
consider giving some small donation and leave it on the communion rail
for UMCOR," DeWitt said. "To my surprise, with only about 50 people in
church, $900 was collected."

Before everyone left the building that Sunday, the United Methodist Men,
United Methodist Women, a group of women who make and sell quilts, and
the administrative board had added enough to send $1,500. Since then, an
additional $200 has been raised, said DeWitt.

"Christian kindness makes all the difference in the world. ... As United
Methodists, it is a privilege and a joy to express the love of God in a
time of crisis."

Donations to UMCOR's "South Asia Emergency" relief efforts can be placed
in local church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR, 475 Riverside
Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Designate checks for UMCOR Advance
#274305 and "South Asia Emergency." Online donations can be made at
www.methodistrelief.org. Those making credit-card donations can call
(800) 554-8583. One hundred percent of the money donated to "South Asia
Emergency" goes to that relief effort.

* Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service