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Dear Christian friends,

I spent the first day of spring looking at 245 miles of fence posts. As I
drove from a meeting of the Lutheran Disaster Response coalition in Fargo,
North Dakota, to a similar meeting in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, my visual
key to the potential flooding was the fence posts along Interstate 29.

As I left Fargo, I saw only a few inches of fence post tops above the snow
that spreads across the fields and drifts over farm buildings.  Over the
next several hundred miles, more and more of the fence posts stand clear
above the snow.  Seventy miles from Sioux Falls I saw the first complete
fence post from top to ground, and I could see the rich, black, fertile
soil in some places.  As I approached the Sioux Falls area, the posts stand
in pools of melted snow waters, as swollen streams flood fields.

When I first entered South Dakota, I stopped in Sisseton, an area where the
snow still stands higher than I do in most places. I stopped at Grace
Lutheran Church and spoke with Garnette Aas, the parish secretary.  People
are coping as best as they can, she told me, and hoping that--with warm
days and cold nights--the snow will melt slowly and cause minimal damage.
Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota has a deployed counselor who works
out of Grace Church once a week.

Today the Lutheran Disaster Response coalition in South Dakota (including
LSS South Dakota staff, ELCA South Dakota Synod, LCMS South Dakota
District, AAL and LB general agents, and ELCA conference representatives)
met to develop some strategies to respond to issues related to the
record-breaking blizzard and the flooding that is to come. In the north and
to the west, I was told, cattle ranchers have lost over 100,000 cattle, and
the isolation and deprivation are causing severe emotional strains.
Widespread financial crises are developing in the agricultural community,
cows are calving prematurely, the planting of small grain cannot be done,
rural roads are flooded and people are isolated, other roads are still
drifting closed, and mud is beginning to be a major concern. It is unclear
yet how this southeast corner of the state will be affected when the waters
from the north and west funnel toward the James, Vermillion, and Big Sioux
rivers.

As the snow recedes and problems emerge, this coalition will provide
information for congregational leaders and individuals about local and
statewide responses efforts being organized, as well as how to respond and
organize on a local level. I participated in a TV interview that will air
in several places in early April. This broadcast not only underscores the
presence and support of the whole Lutheran church and its response to
members and communities, but also will scroll toll-free numbers for people
to call so they can talk with counselors and financial advisors.  A
coordinated response is being prepared with statewide farm agencies.  If
serious flood develops in the next weeks, plans are in place to add
part-time staffing at LSS South Dakota to coordinate Lutheran volunteers to
help in cleanup efforts, distribute emergency supplies, and developing
congregational communication.

In these first days of spring, as fence posts and challenges emerge from
the Dakota snows, let us pray God's strength and presence with these
brothers and sisters...and prepare to show our faith active in responsive
love.

In Christ,
Gil Furst

GILBERT B. FURST (written on Fri, Mar 21, 1997, at  5:55 pm)
Associate Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
Internet address: [log in to unmask]