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Dear Christian friends:
George, a frail elderly man, turned to me and said, "I never could
understand why these people here come to help me." George, a resident of
Little Rock, Arkansas, has been watching in disbelief as volunteers from
across the country come to his little house and help make it livable again.
It has been eight months since a record setting 38 tornadoes struck
Arkansas, destroying 427 homes, severely damaging 900 others, and killing
at least 7. Since then, hundreds of volunteers have worked through with
Lutheran Disaster Response efforts, which are managed by Lutheran Social
Service of Kansas/Oklahoma (Ms. Bernice Karstensen, President) and
coordinated locally by Mr. Hal Shope. Working closely with the
Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod (ELCA) and with the Mid-South District (LCMS), LDR
is concentrating efforts with people who live on incomes as low as $300-500
a month in the Royal Oaks area (southwest of the city) and in the Quapaw
Quarter of Little Rock.
I recently made a "whirlwind tour" with Ms. Karstensen, whose agency is
managing tornado disaster responses in Wichita, Kansas -- Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma - and Little Rock, Arkansas. All three areas have been affected
by killer tornadoes this year, and in all three areas the church continues
to be present and responding, offering help and hope in the name of Jesus
Christ.
In Little Rock we spoke with 19 youth and 7 adult advisors from Paradise
Lutheran Church, Thomasville, Pennsylvania. This group had driven in their
church school bus through the summer heat to Arkansas. They spent a lot of
time and energy working with people affected by tornadoes in the Little
Rock area, including George. As they helped others, their own lives were
transformed and changed.
As I meet with volunteers in many places of the country - people who travel
at their own expense to help disaster survivors - I believe I have an
answer for George's question. "These people here come to help" because
they are responding to others with the same love that Jesus Christ has
responded to them. Those who respond to any disasters - with fervent
prayers, with generous contributions, with hands-on volunteering - are
really living out their faith. "We love, because he first loved us" (I
John 4:17).
As we enter the height of hurricane season, people of faith stand ready to
respond, even as they continue to respond in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma,
Iowa, and Texas. If you are interested in volunteering, please call
1-773-380-2822. If you would like to help support present responses, or
enable immediate responses to new disasters, please send your contributions
to:
ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
LCMS 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 Sat, Sep 11, 1999, at 11:43 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
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