Church of the Brethren contributes to tsunami relief effort.

"This year, again in the season of hope, we have been challenged to be the hands and feet of Christ in the midst of the incredible loss in southern Asia," wrote Roy Winter, the General Board's director of Emergency Response, in an end-of-the-year e-mail to Church of the Brethren district offices and staff. He also called for "unceasing prayer for our neighbors experiencing such tragic loss. May God surround them with comfort and be a light in their worst hour."

Winter recalled a tragic loss this time last year. "A year ago we were focused on the earthquake in Bam, Iran," which also occurred on Dec. 26. The tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, "will likely be the largest relief effort in history as the destruction is spread over such a large geographic area," he reported. "As the numbers of victims of the earthquake and tidal wave continue to climb, the Church of the Brethren is actively making a substantial response." As of Dec. 31, news reports estimated the loss of life from the tsunami at over 121,000.

"We are challenged to reach out to our neighbors and 'bear one another's burdens,'" Winter said, encouraging districts to pass up-to-date news of the Church of the Brethren response to congregations. "With your help and the response by our churches, the Church of the Brethren will be touching the lives of many disaster survivors in their time of greatest need."

The Brethren response includes an initial grant of $30,000 from the Emergency Disaster Fund to aid emergency shipments of material supplies by Church World Service (CWS) to at least three of the hardest-hit areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India. Additional grants will be provided as needed, Winter said, and other affected countries may be added as the response expands.

The CWS effort is also supported by many other Christian denominations. It is focused in Indonesia on areas of Aceh, North Sumatra, Lokseumawe, and Nias. In India the focus is on assisting 50,000 families in the states of Andrah Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu with food, blankets, clothing, and supplies. A second phase in India is expected to include reconstruction of homes, building cyclone shelters, and assistance to agriculture and fishing. In Sri Lanka immediate assistance of cooked food, dry rations, temporary sheds, and kitchen utensils is going to 25,000 families that have lost homes, along with some medical assistance and 100 temporary shelters.

Shipments from the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., include light-weight blankets, IMA Medicine Boxes, Gift of the Heart Health Kits, and family shelters. "The total cost of materials and shipping will be about $50,000 per 40-foot container," Winter said. "Each of these containers has the potential of providing $500,000 worth of supplies which will help thousands of survivors. This shows how we are able to multiply the value of these donations 10 times," he added. "Let us rejoice that the Church of the Brethren can facilitate these vital shipments of material aid for Church World Service and our other partners."

Among the Brethren partners shipping from the center is IMA (Interchurch Medical Assistance), which is supplying CWS with 75 Medicine Boxes for Sri Lanka and 100 for Indonesia. On Dec. 29 IMA stated that it expected to have shipments ready within a week. IMA's pharmaceutical donors have expressed interest in donating additional medicines and supplies, the release said.

Two particular ways to help have been identified: donation to the Emergency Disaster Fund (mail to Church of the Brethren General Board, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120); and donation of Gift of the Heart Health Kits (for instructions see www.churchworldservice.org/kits or call the Emergency Response office at 800-451-4407 beginning Jan. 3).

"The greatest need is for financial contributions," Winter said, giving examples: $10 will purchase and ship a light-weight blanket; $108 will provide a temporary shelter for a family in Sri Lanka; $400 will provide medicines and medical supplies for 1,000 people for three months; $50,000 will provide materials and shipping costs for a 40-foot container. "Our supply of health kits is already depleted," he informed the districts. "We need a large number of health kits assembled and brought or shipped to the Brethren Service Center as soon as possible." Winter also reminded the districts that Emergency Response continues work in Florida, Virginia, and Nebraska following 2004's disastrous storms, and is monitoring flooding in California.

The National Council of Churches has made worship resources related to the tsunami available at www.ncccusa.org/resources/tsunami-worship-resources.htm.

Source: 12/31/2004 Newsline