Lutheran Disaster Response - US Spring Storms

Photo Credit: David Valdez FEMA

Torrential rainfall, reaching more than 2 feet in some areas, is setting records in the South, especially Louisiana and Texas. River fl ooding has reached historic levels, affecting streets and highways, damaging or destroying homes, causing thousands to evacuate, and leaving at least five dead. More storms are predicted across the Midwest and throughout the South in the days and weeks ahead. 

Through congregations, synods and disaster affiliate organizations, Lutheran Disaster Response is working to assist those who have been affected by the flooding. Lutheran Disaster Response’s coordinators are present, working with local community leaders and
officials to begin planning the proper responses, particularly the long-term recovery efforts.

We know that the road to recovery is long, and Lutheran Disaster Response will be there to assist those who have been affected through every phase of this disaster recovery process. Our gifts are needed to begin relief efforts. Gifts designated for “U.S. Spring Storms” will be used in full (100 percent) until the response is complete to assist those impacted. Because of generous offerings of prayer and financial support, the ELCA walks alongside disaster survivors.

You can give through CtK (put US Spring Storms/Disaster Response on your check) or give online here. Check out the Lutheran Disaster Response blog here.

... for you were strangers in the land of Egypt

Last spring, Rabbi Ed Stafman, of Bozeman's Congregation Beth Shalom, was a guest speaker at CtK's adult forum for two Sundays. He reminded us just how often in the Torah God reminds God's people to care for the stranger, the alien, the sojourner, in their midst. As Deuteronomy 10:19 puts it: "You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

God uses the people's history to induce empathy, and still does.

I have never been a refugee, but I have felt lost. I've been sick. I've been scared. And over the past two weeks I've seen heartbreaking photos of children on beaches and old people on rafts whose seaworthiness is questionable. And Deuteronomy echoes in my ears: "you shall also love the stranger."

 

Lutheran Disaster Response (a ministry of the ELCA) and Lutheran World Relief are at work meeting basic needs for those fleeing war and crisis, and are working together with partners in the Middle East and Europe. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is calling for the welcoming of 100,000 Syrian refugees by the U.S. We have opportunities to make a real difference in the lives of individuals and families.

 

The Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary, Tamás Fabiny, wrote the following, about the refugee crisis in Hungary, and shared by the Montana Synod:

 

Walking with Refugees - the Church Amidst the Refugee Crisis in Europe
I would like to recall the poignant memories of the weekend when thousands of refugees set out from Budapest, Hungary, towards Austria and, finally, reached the other side of the border on board of buses provided by the Hungarian government.

I will never forget that march. I am very well aware that the refugees were hindering the traffic and broke several rules. However, what this persistent march gave proof of was their final desperation and their determination forged by the war, suffering, persecution and defencelessness they had left behind. And we have to admit that the heartlessness of some also strengthened their feelings of hopeless resolution.

 cannot forget that march. It was similar to the processions led by Martin Luther King in the cities of the US in the 1960s or to the opponents of the apartheid in South-Africa singing “We are marching in the light of God”. Looking at the crowds of refugees walking on the motorway I was also reminded of the wandering, let me use the word “migrant”, Jews on their way to a new homeland. This association is closely linked to a prayer written by the Reformed pastor Sylvia Bukowski: “God of Mercy, who led your people across the desert and shepherded them in the exodus; we cry to you for the millions of refugees who have left their homes in uncertainty and are escorted by poverty, persecution and violence on their way. May you be their guide and guardian, oh Lord!”

In the marching crowd of refugees you could see a one-legged man supporting himself on crutches and trying to keep up with the others. Many were carrying children in their arms or on their backs. One of the parents was pushing a toddler in a shopping cart. Yet others were carrying elderly or sick relatives on their shoulders.

I believe that the Bible’s account is relevant today as well: Jesus has compassion on the crowd, because they are like sheep without a shepherd.
Are we able to have mercy? Do we dare to show empathy? Can we speak words of compassion even if others demand us to demonstrate power?

Let politicians be concerned with politics. As a church we should ask ourselves: are we able to use the voice of humanity and act in a credible manner? When the bodies of 71 suffocated refugees, including women and children, were found in a delivery van on Austrian territory, the Austrian Lutheran Bishop Michael Bünker suggested that, following the identification of the deceased, the victims should be buried in a respectful way according to the rites of their own religion. In Hungary, a middle-aged Syrian man collapsed and died near the railway station of Bicske. Do we know anything of him? Has anyone tried to track his identity or his family down?

Although official reports consequently refer to the alienating term ‘migrants’ instead of refugees, we should make an effort to imagine how traumatised these people must be with all their experiences of war and life-threatening situations. Can we realize what it must feel like to be scapegoated all the time? Can we fathom what it means to give birth to a baby during such a flight and spend the night at a railway station five days later? We should keep this in mind at Christmas time when writing and listening to heartbreaking sermons about the Holy Family...

Still, something has changed. More and more people dare and manage to express their feelings of solidarity towards refugees. Voices of disapproval and reservation seem to be less frequent and the willingness to help is getting stronger.

Beside the sadness and despair expressed in this text, I would also like to voice my hope and even joy. Although the past few weeks have been full of hardships and painful experiences, we have also seen examples of resourceful love. Several Lutherans have shared their insights and practical advice on the internet. The spontaneous help offered by many civil activists is side-by-side with the conscious and relentless efforts of the Diaconal Service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary to organize aid activities. The Hungarian Interchurch Aid, one of the country’s largest and internationally recognized charity organizations, is also present with its decades-long professional experience. Secondary school students are inquiring about ways to contribute, university students are acting as voluntary interpreters and congregations are collecting donations. Many of our international partners have also stated their willingness to help.

All of us can do something to make the suffering of refugees more visible in our countries and to give a face to people who might seem threatening and frightening as members of a crowd. We can make their story heard. Most of all, we can help to recover their dignity.

In my experience, something is stirring within more and more of our Hungarian fellow-citizens. We might indeed be capable of showing our purer sides. We can see Ezekiel’s prophecy fulfilled: “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ez 36:26)”.

I know that we could talk about Schengen borders, quotas, registration, hot spots and similar subjects for a long time. These are indeed serious issues. Everyone has their own responsibilities. At the same time, wherever we stand, let us not forget the most important thing of all: exercising mercy.

 

Bishop Tamás Fabiny
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary

Generous Response on Malaria Sunday! Disaster Response in Nepal

THANK YOU to all the worshipers gathered as Christ the King Lutheran Church this past Sunday. A total of $685.57 was raised to support the work of the ELCA Malaria Campaign - and every last penny helps reach the campaign's goal of $15 million by the end of next January.
As the offering was received, we watched a video about the ELCA Malaria Campaign's work in Burundi. Below, watch about the work being done thanks to your generous support in Malawi. And if you'd like to "stay in the loop" on the Campaign's efforts, check out the ELCA Malaria Campaign blog.

Folks are also asking about how to respond to the devastating earthquake in Nepal last weekend. One hundred percent of gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response, designated for "Nepal Area Earthquake," will be used for relief efforts. The ELCA has well-developed partnerships with Lutheran World Relief, the Lutheran World Federation and the ACT Alliance, already delivering emergency aid. You can give online, or give through CtK, just indicate your gift on your check or offering envelope.

From the ELCA Disaster Response website:

Lutheran Disaster Response is committed to walking with our brothers and sisters in Nepal, as rescue efforts and assessments continue. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has launched an immediate large-scale emergency response with its emergency team in Kathmandu at the LWF offices, which have escaped the worst impact of the quake. The ELCA is the only U.S. member church of the LWF. We are also working with Lutheran World Relief and church partners from ACT Alliance to coordinate the response, which includes the distribution of immediate life-saving supplies such as water, food, shelter and medication to people injured.

Thank you for your prayers and generosity in support of those in need.

Merciful God, hear our cry for mercy in the wake of the earthquake. Reveal your presence in the midst of suffering. Strengthen those who work in search and rescue, recovery and relief efforts. Comfort those who mourn. Inspire generosity in the hearts of those with the capacity to help. And bless us all with the assurance of hope we know in the death and resurrection of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Baskets of Promise

During the season of Lent, CtK is collecting items for Personal Care Kits, to be distributed by Lutheran World Relief. Each week, we add to our "Baskets of Promise" by collecting one of the items for the kits. This week (March 30th) we are collecting combs; next week (April 6th) we are collecting metal nail clippers. On April 13th we'll collect individually wrapped bars of soap (again), since every kit contains two bars of soap.
The response to this effort has been overwhelming. THANK YOU to all who have so generously donated items for care kits. While our original goal was to assemble 50 kits, it looks like we may be able to send even more than that.
I don't know about you, but I take a lot of things for granted - my toothbrush (given to me by my dentist), soap in the shower and near every sink (which are all indoors, with hot and cold running water safe to drink and bathe in), clean towels, my favorite hairbrush... Should I forget something while I'm traveling, I might be inconvenienced, but that's about the worst of it. Hotels often offer spares, and it's easy enough to go out and purchase a replacement whatever if I need it.
But for those recovering from natural disasters, or living in severely impoverished or refugee communities, the gift of a personal care kit means a lot. Personal care kits are a tangible expression of God's love and care for those in need.

Students open Personal Care Kits in their class.

If you'd like to learn more, check out the interactive map which shows distribution of Lutheran World Relief quilts and kits. (Personal care kits were shipped in late January to Syrian refugees in camps in Northern Iraq, and the timeline on the link will show when they arrive).

Help for Oklahoma Tornado Victims

It's tornado season. Again.
Lives have been shattered. Homes and neighborhoods devastated.
And we have many ways to help.
  - Prayer is the best first place to go - prayer for those who lost loved ones, who've lost homes, who don't know when, or if, they'll rebuild or move on. We can pray, too, for those who help, and who will help, with recovery efforts.
  - We can give. Right now cash is the best gift. Gifts-in-kind may be appropriate in the future, but for now transportation, storage and distribution of goods are all issues that take away from first responses.
  - Eventually, perhaps a group from CtK can go to Oklahoma, or another tornado/extreme weather stricken part of the country, to help rebuild.

From Lutheran Disaster Response:

May 21, 2013
  
U.S. Tornadoes

---

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Yesterday, a two-mile-wide tornado ripped through Moore, Okla., claiming many lives and leaving behind a devastating trail of destruction. Plaza Towers Elementary School stood right in the path of the storm's 166-200 mph winds.

Many Oklahoma residents already were recovering from storms even before Monday's tornado hit -- hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed this weekend as 28 tornadoes touched down throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Illinois and Iowa. As strong winds and warm fronts continue to move across the nation, the threat for future tornado outbreaks is looming.

Your help is needed to bring hope to our sisters and brothers in need. Lutheran Disaster Response affiliates are already on the ground, assessing the immediate and long-term needs of those affected by the tornadoes. We already know it will be a long road to recovery, and your gifts are needed now to begin coordinating volunteers, rebuilding homes and offering spiritual and emotional care to those in need.

Checks or money orders should be sent to:

Lutheran Disaster Response
39330 Treasury Center
Chicago, IL 60694-9300

Write "U.S. Tornadoes" on your check memo line.
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Give by phone at 800-638-3522 or online.

ELCA Responds to Hurricane Sandy

Rostered leaders of the ELCA received this email and video from our Presiding Bishop earlier this week. We continue to pray for all those affected by the storm and all who help in recovery efforts. Want to help? Donate to Lutheran Disaster Response online or in worship this Sunday.




Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

God's word of promise is given to all who are facing uncertainty, damage and disruption following Hurricane Sandy and its subsequent storms.

That word of promise is Christ is with you always. With Paul we can say, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." (1 Corinthians 12:26)

As members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), we remain in prayer, responding generously and working tirelessly to rebuild lives, congregations and communities.

We are not doing this work alone. Through ELCA Disaster Response, we are joining with our congregations, affiliates and other partners in our shared commitment to restore communities. As we have shown in past disasters, we stay until the work is done. That is the ELCA's commitment.

Please continue to respond with prayers, generous gifts of time and money, and the commitment to a sustaining presence. Visit ELCA Disaster Response at www.ELCA.org/disaster for updates, worship resources and ways to make contributions online.

Thank you for your prayers and generosity as we respond together and do God's work in Christ's name for the life of the world.

In God's grace,

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

From ELCA Disaster Response

July 14, 2011

Horn of Africa drought relief
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Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
The worst drought in 60 years has reached crisis level in East Africa. Thousands and thousands of people in Ethiopia, central and northern Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia are leaving their homes in search of food, water and shelter.
The Dadaab refugee center, managed in partnership with The Lutheran World Federation, was built to accommodate 90,000 people. However, recently more than 380,000 thirsty and hungry people have gathered in and around the center. This number continues to grow with more than 1,000 people arriving daily.

“This is the last of my food, a few beans. I used to grow food myself but there has been no rainfall in eight years, so now I have to buy all my food from the market. The prices keep going up. We only have enough food for one meal a day now, and that goes for all people in this area,” says Lucia Muvili Ngotho from the Kalimbui village in Mwingi, Kenya.
Gifts made through ELCA Disaster Response are now providing water and enriched porridge to children and older adults who are too weak to eat dry food. Your generous gifts will make it possible for this church’s response to continue as long as the drought does and, even afterward, as the people seek to restart their lives.
Contributions made to ELCA Disaster Response, designated for the “Horn of Africa Drought Relief,” will be used entirely -- 100 percent -- for work in the area, assisting those whose lives have been affected by this terrible drought.
Your gifts of prayer and partnership are needed and deeply appreciated. Thank you.
Sincerely,
The Rev. Daniel Rift
Director, ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal

To give online, go to ELCA Disaster Response: Horn of Africa Drought Relief. To give through the congregation, make out a check to CtK with ELCA Disaster Response: Horn of Africa in the memo line, and put it in the offering plate on Sunday.

Water, water, and more water

It turns out even Montana is not immune to flooding and all that it entails. From what I could gather from the TV news last night, things here in Bozeman seem not to be getting any worse for now. Unfortunately, that's not the case across the rest of the state. And of course there are so many parts of the country that are dealing with much more extensive flooding, and devastating weather events. Want to help? Consider a gift to ELCA Disaster Response. You can give online or through the congregation (just put ELCA Disaster Response/US Severe Storms in the memo line on your check).

Would you like to help a little more locally? The Rev. Tom Peterman, director of St. John's Lutheran Ministries/Lutheran Social Services Montana, sent in an email to all the pastors in the Montana Synod:

Just wanted to update you on some help that is being given to the residents of the Crow Reservation near Hardin, MT. Due to the flooding they are being directed to boil all their water. We were told that they were in need of water, diapers, and infant formula. We had a truck deliver 600 cases of 1.6 liter bottles of water to the Little Bighorn College (distribution center)today. We’ve also ordered 20 cases of diapers @240 per case, and 20 cases of dry infant formula to be delivered soon. We have put in a request with Lutheran Disaster Response in Chicago to see if there are any funds earmarked for Montana. The cost of the supplies we are sending comes to $5068.00. We figured it was more important to get water, diapers, and formula to the men, women, and children there ASAP and worry about how we’re going to pay for it later. I’m not worried about the money. It will be provided. Please keep the people and animals around our state and nation in your prayers. Water, water, everywhere (almost). God’s peace be with you.

Pr. Tom Peterman

St. John’s Lutheran Ministries, LSS-MT, and Lutheran Disaster Response

PS> If anyone in your congregation wants to assist financially in any way, they could send a check to St. John’s Lutheran Ministries and designate it for Lutheran Disaster Response. Our address is 2429 Mission Way, Billings, MT 59102.

Thank you for your generosity and for holding all those dealing with an abundance of water in your prayers.

Post from ELCA Blog re: Earthquake in Japan

Japan: Earthquake and Tsunami Ravage Country, ELCA Missionaries Okay

Just before 2:45pm local time in Japan (early morning in the US) one of the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan, with a magnitude of 8.9, struck around the town of Sendai causing massive damage and creating a tsunami with waves up to 30 feet. As of this morning the situation is being assessed by ELCA with its companion on the ground, the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC). In looking at the situation Pastor Eric Anspach-Hansen of Tokyo Lutheran stated, “Hopefully our church [the ELCA] will be able to get involved in the relief work in the coming months.” Through its predecessor bodies the ELCA has had a relationship extending back to 1892 with the local Lutheran community in Japan. As more is learned about the impact of this disaster, we will continue to build on this long-standing relationship.

As of date it has been learned that the 22 ELCA Missionaries (and 3 dependents), sent by ELCA Global Mission, working in the area are all safe and accounted for. We are still awaiting reports on how the local JELC churches have been affected, particularly in and around the area of Sendai. As the news was reported at a Lutheran World Federation leadership conference in Malaysia, attended by leadership of the JELC and ELCA, a representative from the Australian Lutheran Church, which has recently been dealing with massive flooding and an earthquake in New Zealand, stated that of all the outpouring of help from the international community “prayer was the most important gift.” This sentiment was echoed by ELCA Missionary in Japan, Ally Streed, “Please keep the people of Japan (and just Japan in general) in your thoughts and prayers. This is the biggest earthquake they’ve seen since the Kobe earthquake of 1995.”

As we await more information and determine how best to respond please share the gift of prayer, for those who have lost their lives, those that deal with the devastation left behind and those who come to their aid. May God grant strength and peace where they can be found.

Help for Haiti

It's probably been impossible to miss the news reports about the earthquake in Haiti earlier this week. And sometimes it feels pretty impossible to make any difference or be of much help in the face of such devastation.
But God works through us, and already Lutheran Disaster Response and Lutheran World Relief are working to help. If you'd like to help, you can give online, or during worship on Sunday. One of the great things about LDR is that if you designate funds to help a particular situation, 100% of the money will be used for that purpose.

And don't forget to hold our brothers and sisters in Haiti in prayer.

Too Much Water

It's pretty difficult to avoid news coverage about the current flooding in the upper midwest of the United States. Once again, folks in North Dakota and Minnesota are watching the Red River rise, even above the records reached back in 1997. Of course this flood isn't the only news - there are other parts of the world where death tolls are higher. The flood caused by the breaking of a dam near Jakarta, Indonesia has left 50 dead, so far. And the world keeps on spinning...
We are not helpless, however, even in the face of forces we cannot control, even when the news is happening a half-world away, so that feels like it must be on another planet.
We can pray. We can give. The time may come when we can go and serve.
What follows is the text of an email from the Montana Synod office:

As of this writing, there is a serious flooding issue along both the Red River and Missouri River in the Upper Midwest. In some places, river and over-land flooding has already occurred, and in other locations, current forecasts predict floods of record-breaking proportion. Lutheran Disaster Response is already responding:
through local volunteers who are placing sandbags
by preparing for assistance in the communities where flooding will occur
in prayerful support for those who will be directly impacted
Now we ask that you:
Share this news with others - Invite the members of your congregation and your neighbors to monitor the situation in these communities. In this Lenten season of anticipation, we await the outcome of these floods, trusting that hope will abide.
Join in prayer - Pray that these communities may be bound together in unity in this time of great uncertainty. Pray as well for the faithful volunteers who are working tirelessly to prevent flooding and for those displaced by this high water.
Give a gift - Gifts to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, designated for U.S. Flooding, allow for immediate and ongoing response, bringing help and hope to affected communities now and into the future. Gifts may be sent through your congregation, or given directly online or by calling 800-638-3522.
Lutheran Disaster Response is a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, which responds to the long-term needs of communities affected by disaster. For updates and more information about this and other responses, visit www.ldr.org.

Lutheran Disaster Response
Bringing Help and Hope...
Phone: 773-380-2748
Fax: 773-380-2493
Visit us on the Web at LDR.org
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