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Dear Christian Friends,
This past week nineteen states across the country have felt the impact of
severe spring storms. Lutheran Disaster Response, a cooperative ministry
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod, is responding in two areas that have been affected
in major ways.
Last week floodwaters rose in the Michigan Upper Peninsula. A record
seasonal snow pack, ice jams, temperatures in the 80s, and three inches of
rainfall combined to raise rivers and streams above the flood stage. Most
affected were the cities of Ironwood (twenty-seven houses damaged and five
destroyed) and Wakefield (eighty houses damaged and thirty-three
destroyed). Local Lutheran congregations have been on the forefront of
providing meals for persons evacuated from their homes and offering
pastoral services to their communities. Pastor Joyce Heintz (All Saints,
Wakefield), told me that people are returning to their homes, most
electricity and gas has been restored, and now the issues of loss and grief
need to be addressed. Local folks are "stressed to the max." Andy Hill, a
staff member and editor of the Ironwood Daily Globe, told Pastor Heintz,
that the last time a flood like this affected this area was 1916. Lutheran
Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan (Robert Duea, Director) is
managing LDR efforts. Sandra Potts is serving as coordinator. She is
working with the ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod (Thomas Skrenes, Bishop)
and LCMS Northern Wisconsin District (Arleigh Lutz, President).
Yesterday a deadly tornado tore through the Maryland community of La Plata.
The category F-5 tornado (winds between 261 and 318 miles per hour) damaged
or destroyed about 100 homes in this town of 6,000 residents as it cut a
twenty-four mile-long, 400 yard-wide path of destruction. There were two
fatalities in La Plata and one in Prince Frederick in Calvert County. The
Charles County Sheriff's Office reports ninety-five people were injured.
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (Mark Cooper,
Executive Director) is managing the LDR response. The Rev. David L. Pearcy
is serving as coordinator. He is coordinating the church's response with
the ELCA Metropolitan D.C. Synod (Ted Schneider, Bishop) and LCMS
Southeastern District (ELCA Synod (Art Scherer, President).
You can support the survivors of this latest disaster with your prayers.
Please pray for the safety and well being of those affected, as well as for
those who are responding. Your donations will help the church offer God's
help and hope now and for the long haul.
Designate your donations to "Michigan floods" or "Maryland tornado." Send
your contributions to:
ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via the web: www.elca.org/disaster
LC-MS World Relief
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-9810
Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438
Yours in Christ,
Gil Furst
GILBERT B. FURST (written on Tue, Apr 30, 2002, at 3:08 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
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