ELCA NEWS SERVICE April 30, 2004 Lutherans Participate in Food Aid to North Korea 04-085-MR CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have contributed $60,000 for food aid in North Korea. Since 1995 North Korea has experienced natural disasters, crop failures and economic decline. The government has not been able to provide assistance for people, especially children, in North Korea. "While tensions between North Korea and the United States remain, millions of people in North Korea rely on donated food to stay alive," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for leadership development, ELCA Division for Global Mission. Through its International Disaster Response, the ELCA sent funds to Church World Service (CWS), which has extended humanitarian assistance for the past eight years in North Korea. Coordinated by the ELCA Division for Global Mission, International Disaster Response often channels its funds through international church organizations and relief agencies. CWS is a global humanitarian agency of Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican communions. The ELCA contributes funds and participates in the work of CWS. "Church World Service is one of the very few humanitarian organizations in the United States that has permission from the U.S. government to work in North Korea," said Belletech Deressa, director for international development and disaster response, ELCA Division for Global Mission. _ _ _ INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS: Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include: ELCA International Disaster Response PO Box 71764 Chicago, IL 60694-1764, 1-800-638-3522, or at http://www.elca.org/scriptlib/dcm/giving/idisaster.asp on the Internet. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news