Dear friends in Christ,
As we looked out the city hall windows to severely damaged buildings and
scraped-bare lots, we spoke with the woman behind the counter. "Our town is
more than buildings," Julie Johnson told us. "Our town is people. And our
town will recover."
I have just returned from three days in Missouri, where Larry Gustafson
(LDR-Missouri Coordinator) and I visited tornado-affected areas and met with
Lutheran pastors. Our travels took us from St. Louis to Springfield, Pierce
City, Joplin, and Kansas City.
Pierce City, a community of 1,800, had a downtown business area of historic
buildings. On Sunday, May 4, tornadoes tore through and destroyed
approximately 100 homes and up to 40 percent of the downtown businesses.
While most of the town survived, it's heart has been damaged. But, as Julie
reminded us, the town is more than buildings. The town will recover. And
Lutheran Disaster Response, a cooperative ministry of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, will be
part of its recovery.
LDR is managing the Missouri response through Lutheran Family and Children's
Services of Missouri (Alan Erdman, President). Larry Gustafson, LDR-MO
Coordinator, notes that disaster recovery efforts are in full swing. Much
has been accomplished in terms of restoring utility services, removing debris
and trees from roads, personal and business properties, schools and churches.
But there still is a vast amount of work to do.
A total of 74 counties in Missouri have been declared federal disaster
sites. LDR is working with the federal, state, county and local governments,
the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the University of Missouri, many
community-based and faith-based organizations. LDR will also provide
assistance and resources to the local or county based "long-term recovery"
committees over the next years.
Pastor James Banner, Prince of Peace (Springfield) described how a group of
congregational volunteers helped to clear field debris for a local farmer.
"It was a transformational experience," he said. "Our folks came back tired
and faith-enriched." Pastor James Schnackenberg, Good Shepherd (Joplin) told
of his congregation's outreach to people in their neighboring community. "We
didn't sustain any losses ourselves, but our friends and neighbors did." As
Larry and I met with the pastors, they all expressed interest in how they
could help in this disaster response and how they could prepare their
congregations for future disasters.
How can you help people like Julie and her neighbors in the 74
tornado-affected counties of Missouri?
You can pray, as individuals and as congregations. I have seen again and
again how disaster survivors are strengthened when they know people across
the country are praying for them.
You can volunteer. Contact Larry Gustafson for current information, at
1-314-754-2782.
You can provide financial support.
ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response - "Midwest Tornadoes"
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 and Human Care - "Midwest Tornadoes"
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 07/10/03, at 4:15 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: 773-380-2719 FAX: 773-380-2493
Please visit our websites: www.ldr.org www.elca.org/dcs/disaster
|