Dear friends in Christ,

We are in the midst of the Epiphany season of the church year.  We are seeing Jesus go into the baptismal waters of the Jordan River, and rising from those waters to begin his ministry.  Epiphany is the season that challenges us to be instruments of God's revelation, to bring the light of the Gospel into the darkness of this world.

As I reflect on Epiphany texts, I do so aware of how you have risen from your baptismal waters and provide for shining that Gospel light into the dark places affected by disasters.

In Siren, Wisconsin, LDR is still present and responding to the F-3 tornado of June 21, which damaged or destroyed about 120 homes in this town of 900 residents as it cut a twenty-mile-long, half-mile-wide path of destruction.  John Yungerberg, of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin (which is managing LDR's response), just sent me a report in which he tells how our LDR case4 workers have completed 240 contacts...and of those, only 15 percent have been "closed."  Anticipated long-term recovery is expected to take two to five years.  The church will be there, revealing God's light.

Similar words could be written about on-going ministry in Hoisington, Kansas, in parts of Mississippi, and in West Virginia and Virginia.

In Houston, Texas, Dale and Jean Peercy have been busy since September 10th, busy working with local and national volunteers.  LDR is also working with "Allison Recovery Initiative," which consists of more than 100 community, faith-based, government, and non-profit organizations.  Case management is proceeding.  Emergency funds are distributed.  A huge warehouse, managed by Seventh Day Adventists, is open and being utilized.  (It holds repair and rebuilding supplies for volunteers.)  Tropical Storm Allison impacted over 10,000 children in the Houston area.  My simple request for your help on one report produced the exciting (and overwhelming) response of close to a million teddy bears and beanie babies, and thousands of blankets and quilts.  Jan Swecker, a case manager for Catholic Charities, wrote to say, "It was so exciting to see all the different places the bears and blankets came from.  Thanks to all of our Lutheran brothers and sisters who shared their blessings with t!
hose of us in Houston.  You can't imagine the joy and gratitude expressed by my clients/families who received blankets and bears.  You would've thought I'd just handed them a check for a million dollars!"

And speaking of a million dollars.  Lutheran Disaster Response is especially challenged in the response to the September 11 acts of terrorism.  So many of the natural disaster response norms do not apply specifically in this human-caused disaster.  The scope of the response is also unprecedented: seven ELCA Synods and five LCMS Districts have been directly impacted; nine social ministry organizations are directly part of the response.  As in every disaster, needs continue to arise as the recovery progresses.

The response of the church has been extraordinary.  Funds continue to come in directly to the ELCA and LCMS, at last count nearly $8 million.  The insurance fraternals, Aid Association for Lutherans and Lutheran Brotherhood, have provided an estimated $10.7 million towards a coordinated Lutheran response, with each fraternal contributing $1 million of corporate funds.  But the costs are equally extraordinary.  By the end of December 2001 $2.7 million has been granted by LDR for specific ministries.  My two-inch notebook with fifteen tabs contains the details of ministries already up at in place.  And many ministries are yet to begin.

In December I sent the largest grant ever provided in the history of LDR.  I sent one check for $1.75 million to support the next three-to-six month ministries in the New York City area.  Not only was this the largest LDR grant, but it was larger than most totals for a full year of disaster responses.  This check represents a beacon of Epiphany light, and its impact on the lives of affected people will certainly help to reveal a loving and compassionate God.

I have not been able to write a report for over a month.  I was part of a larger visit to New York in mid-December.  It has taken a while for me to process within my heart and soul that return visit to "Ground Zero" where the World Trade Center towers once stood.  But part of that visit included worshipping in Transfiguration Lutheran Church, Bronx.  On that Sunday Bishop Mark Hanson, ELCA Presiding Bishop, baptized thirty-one new members of God's church.  As they grown in years and faith, I pray they will rise from their baptism waters to do the same kind of supportive ministries that so many of you provide.

"We are witnesses to all that he did," Peter says in the book of Acts.  As we move together through Epiphany, I thank you for all you are doing to witness to God's loving presence.  As we continue our present challenges and as we head into the unknown challenges of this new year, I am confident that you - God's people - will continue to work together in response to disasters, bringing help and hope in the name of Jesus Christ.

Yours in Christ,
Gil Furst

Gilbert B. Furst  (Written on 01/15/02, at 7:35 PM)  Director for
  ELCA DOMESTIC DISASTER RESPONSE (Division for Church in Society) and
  LUTHERAN DISASTER RESPONSE (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LC-MS)
  8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631  PHONE: 773-380-2822 FAX: 773-380-2493
Please visit our website:  www.elca.org/dcs/disaster