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Dear friends in Christ,

A Pennsylvania pastor wrote to me, "I read your disaster reports all the
time about floods and too much water.  We don't have ANY water.  Can you
help?"

Pennsylvania is not alone in being affected by a major drought.  The
American Red Cross reports that Mid-Atlantic farmers are suffering from one
of the worst droughts this century.  Drought disasters have (or will be)
declared in a number of states, including Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, the District of
Columbia, and the New England states.  "From Boston to Miami, rainfall
totals are 50-80 percent below normal levels.  Farmers throughout the
region have written off many summer crops."  Half of Connecticut's farmers
could lose their crops.  In New Jersey, more than 7,000 family farms have
reported crop losses.  In West Virginia it is predicted that 1,000 to 2,000
fewer farmers will be in the beef and dairy businesses next year.  In many
states corn stalks that should tower overhead stand only knee high.
Farmers using the last of their hay are wondering how they'll feed their
livestock this winter

What can Lutheran Disaster Response (and other faith-based disaster
organizations) do for drought-affected farmers?  LDR responds to "event"
disasters - tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, mudslides, ice storms, etc.  LDR
does not have the resources to respond to "on-going crises" (such as the
decades-long Midwest farm crisis).  The crisis of drought occurs somewhere
in our country each year.  Of itself, LDR does not have the capacity or
funds needed to provide any meaningful assistance.  LDR works with Bishops,
District Presidents, and pastors to encourage meeting with farmers and
rural community leaders to listen and discern ways to work together to help
each other, and to work with their Farm Service Agencies, US Dept. of
Agriculture, and other state/federal entities to access the assistance
designated for these agricultural crises.

This does note mean the church stands by idly in this time of great need.
Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) is
presently working together with the Orphan Grain Train (a LDR Coalition
Partner) to respond to the drought.  Preparations are being made for the
delivery of hay to farmers in the LC-MS Ohio District (Ronald L. Bergen,
President) and the ELCA Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod (David R. Strobel,
Bishop).  Orphan Grain Train is organizing a haylift of three huge
truckloads from North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  In Pennsylvania,
the drop-off point will be in the very same location that hay was collected
for the Midwest in 1988.  This may be only a symbol of assistance, but it
will let people know their brothers and sisters in Christ are not
overlooking their crisis.

Orphan Grain Train is a volunteer network that gathers donations of
clothing, medicine, food, literature, and other items in response to real
needs around the world.  The ministry was founded by Rev. Ray S. Wilke, a
LC-MS pastor, after he visited Riga, Latvia in 1992 and saw the need for
spiritual and humanitarian aid in countries of the former Soviet Union.
This ministry has sent millions of pounds of supplies to needy people in
Eastern Europe and elsewhere in the world.  Orphan Grain Train has worked
with Lutheran Disaster Response to share personal and material resources to
people affected by floods, blizzards, and tornadoes in such places as
Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma.

In addition, Ms. Bonnie Turner (LDR-North Dakota) and Sandra Simonson Thums
(Rural Specialist) are heading to Pennsylvania help the church work with
farmers and government agencies to deal with the drought.

Bonnie Turner of Fargo, North Dakota, has directed efforts of LDR-North
Dakota to respond to floods that devastated most of the state and left much
of the agricultural community in shambles.  She leads "Lutheran Rural
Response," a new and special effort by LSS-North Dakota to help farmers
hurt by both the natural disaster and the ongoing Midwest farm crisis.

Sandra Simonson Thums of Wisconsin, a farm wife, has worked with Lutheran
Disaster Response to help farm families recover from drought, floods,
tornadoes, and the ongoing Midwest farm crisis.  She is known nationally as
an originator of the "Farmer to Farmer" program that spread through the
farm belt during the farm financial crises of the 1980s.  She is presently
working with farmers and ranchers affected by floods in North Dakota, and
in the past few years has helped respond to rural disasters in Oregon,
Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, and Minnesota.

In addition to your prayers for rain relief in the east, please remember
all farm families who are affected by the on-going economic challenges and
the hardships of weather crises, as well as those who are present in the
name of Jesus Christ to offer care and help for it's farmers and rural
leaders.

Yours in Christ,
Gil Furst

GILBERT B. FURST (written on Fri, Aug 20, 1999, at 11:01 am)
Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response (Division for Church in Society),
Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LCMS)
8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631   PHONE: 773-380-2822  FAX: 773-380-2493
Visit our website:  www.elca.org/dcs/disaster