wfn.org | LWI 2009-008 Australia: Prayers, Support from the Global Lutheran Communion

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

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Australia: Prayers, Support from the Global Lutheran Communion
Tragic Loss of Lives and Livelihoods in Unprecedented Bushfires

GENEVA, 11 February 2009 (LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) assures the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) of the
prayers and accompaniment of the global communion following the
tragic loss of lives and livelihoods in recent bushfires across
the southeastern state of Victoria.

In a letter addressed to LCA President Rev. Michael P. Semmler,
LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko points out that the
scale of the current fires and the tragic toll of lives has
shocked the country as a whole and drawn the sympathy of the
world. 

More than 180 people are known to have died, and the figures
could rise, according to Noko's letter. Reports citing local
authorities put the number of those injured over the past week at
around 500, and some 1,000 homes destroyed. "The fact that some
of the fires may have been deliberately lit only compounds the
tragedy," notes the general secretary.

"The tears of every Australian are our tears also, and your
nation's trauma a trauma for the whole international community,"
writes Noko. The letter has been shared with all LWF member
churches, asking their prayers that the LCA "might be
strengthened for the ministry of comforting the bereaved and
counseling the traumatized, and for the accompaniment of families
and communities as they reconstruct homes and lives from the
ashes."

Noko commends Australians for their unity in compassion,
solidarity and mutual support in these difficult times, and
encourages the LCA to continue to "be a church for others" in the
midst of the current disaster. 

The LCA is an associate member church of the LWF, which it
joined in 1994. (286 words)

>*        *          *

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on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

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