ELCA News Blog
July 20, 2006
Staff of ELCA-supported center in Lebanon lose homes
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service
The homes of three staff members of the Contact and Resource Center (CRC), Beirut, Lebanon, were destroyed as a result of air and artillery strikes in Lebanon. CRC, an institution that provides support for people with disabilities, is financially supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "These are the names of our companions in ministry, and the conflict becomes more personal when we hear news like this," said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission.
CRC staff members are in the process of organizing a relief point in Byblos, Lebanon. They will be distributing first aid kits, diapers, mattresses, sanitary supplies for wheelchair users, drinking water, clothes and other supplies, said Dr. Agnes Wakim Dagher, director, CRC, in an e-mail to the Rev. Said R. Ailabouni, director of Europe and Middle East Programs, ELCA Global Mission. CRC staff is coordinating its work with the local municipality and with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Lebanon.
ELCA Global Mission will be releasing $15,000 from International Disaster Response, in addition to the $50,000 already committed for Lebanon, to aid CRC in its relief work among the "differently abled" persons and their families who are in crisis because of the war, said Lita B. Johnson, associate executive director and director for international programs, ELCA Global Mission.
*Katherine R. Hinck is a senior journalism and religion major at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog