ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 2, 2006
ELCA Supports People with Disabilities in Lebanon
06-116-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) sent $30,000 Aug. 1
to support the work of the Contact and Resource Center, an
institution designed to enhance the future of people living with
disabilities in Lebanon. Located in Beirut, the CRC office has
moved its services north of the city due to military
confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant
group.
A "companion" ministry of the ELCA, staff of the CRC
reported that people with disabilities are often left vulnerable,
physically and emotionally. The CRC is responding to meet their
needs during the military confrontation.
"War planes bombed Byblos, Lebanon, where the apostle Peter
founded his first church, leaving devastation and death all
around," said Agnes Dagher, director of CRC. "Among the victims
lay two dead truckers in their burnt vehicles that were carrying
emergency relief goods and medication" for families that have
been displaced from their homes, she said. "This happened five
miles away from our home. The explosions rocked" Byblos, a
"quiet town by the sea, scattering glass and rubble everywhere,"
Dagher said.
In a letter to the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive
director, ELCA Global Mission, Dagher wrote, "I cry for my
country, I cry for the children, for the mothers, fathers and for
our young people who spent their childhood in war and now again
are spending their youth in war." She said, "Soli Deo Gloria,"
because God "keeps us sane in this terrible war and at these
terrible times."
"CRC serves a very specific segment of the Lebanese
society," Malpica Padilla told the ELCA News Service. "CRC now
has moved from their office in Beirut to a location in Byblos,
north of Beirut. This location will serve as a distribution
center for medical supplies, medicines, and other basic needs for
people living with disabilities. We continue to pray for staff
of CRC, who are working under extreme circumstances. Many of
them are displaced victims of the conflict having lost their
homes to air strikes," he said.
ELCA International Disaster Response sent an initial $15,000
July 28 to the CRC. It had also sent $50,000 July 17 to Action
by Churches Together (ACT) and the Middle East Council of
Churches (MECC) in support of relief work in Lebanon.
Coordinated by ELCA Global Mission, International Disaster
Response channels its funds through international church
organizations and relief agencies. Funds provide for food,
medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials
for survivors of disasters.
MECC is a member of ACT -- a global alliance of churches and
related agencies working to save lives and support communities in
emergency situations worldwide. ACT is based with the World
Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF), both in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of ACT,
LWF and WCC.
"The escalation of violence in the region is troubling,"
said Kathryn Wolford, president, Lutheran World Relief (LWR).
"Through ACT, we are able to assist the civilians who have been
forced to flee their homes, and we pray for a swift end to the
fighting." LWR is a ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod, individuals and parish groups in international
relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
Humanitarian crisis in Lebanon
Most of the casualties in Lebanon have been "innocent
civilians," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for
international leadership development, ELCA Global Mission. More
than 499 people have been killed in Lebanon, about 90 percent of
whom were civilians. The United Nations reported that about one-
third of those killed or injured are children. As of July 30, 34
Israelis have been killed, including 15 civilians killed by
rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
Tens of thousands have had to leave their homes in Lebanon,
causing a humanitarian crisis, said Ishida. Food, medicine,
water and accommodations in some places are running out, he said.
Israel has enforced a complete blockade by air, sea and land. In
some safer districts in Lebanon, both public and private schools
have opened their doors to receive families displaced from their
homes.
MECC is responding to this crisis with humanitarian relief,
reported Ishida. The most concerning issue is the lack of safe
passage to deliver humanitarian aid, such as food and medical
supplies, to people as communication and transport routes between
the different Lebanese regions are hindered. U.N. agencies have
been advocating for the opening of corridors to secure
humanitarian aid but that has not yet materialized.
MECC reported that the lack of food and medical supplies is
starting to be felt, said Ishida. Lebanese civilians residing in
so-called "safer areas" have mobilized themselves, volunteering
to assist and offer all kinds of help to the displaced, hoping to
receive rapid aid from local or international organizations, he
said.
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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 and
http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/idrgive on the Internet.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
