ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 16, 2004

Lutherans Continue To Support Relief Efforts In Sudan
04-147-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) have sent a total of $145,000 to support humanitarian
efforts in Sudan, where fighting and militia attacks have led to a massive
displacement of people in various regions of the African country.
     "The crisis in Sudan continues to worsen and the needs are
increasing," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for leadership
development and mission personnel recruitment, ELCA Division for Global
Mission. The situation there is being described as one of the world's
worst current humanitarian crises, he said.
     Through the ELCA International Disaster Response, members of the
church sent funds to Action by Churches Together (ACT) for implementation
by Norwegian Church Aid, which is working to provide adequate water and
sanitation services for Sudanese refugees in Chad.
     In a separate appeal for funds by ACT, Lutherans also sent funds to
support the work of the Sudan Council of Churches, a member of ACT, which
is targeting aid to thousands of people who have been identified as the
most vulnerable, and who have yet to receive any form of assistance in the
upper Nile region of Sudan. The council will provide people with food and
other necessities.
     Coordinated by the ELCA Division for Global Mission, ELCA
International Disaster Response often channels its funds through
international church organizations and relief agencies.
     ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies that
meets human need through organized emergency response. It is based with
the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF),
both in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of WCC and LWF.
     "ACT is teaming up with Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of
Catholic agencies," to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, said
Ishida.

Lutheran World Relief Receives $500,000 Grant
     Lutheran World Relief (LWR) received a $500,000 grant from The Pierre
and Pamela Omidyar Fund of the Peninsula Community Foundation, Menlo Park,
Calif. The Omidyars are the founders of eBay. LWR works overseas in
relief and development on behalf of the ELCA and the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod.
     According to a news release issued by LWR Aug. 5, the grant is one of
the largest gifts in LWR's history. The grant was given to help people
"in greatest danger" in western Sudan.
     "We are honored by the Omidyars' gift and their recognition of LWR's
track record of success and accomplishments in humanitarian work around
the world," said Kathryn Wolford, LWR president, Baltimore.
     "Through the Omidyars' generous gift, we already are providing
life-saving assistance, including water, sanitation and shelter to
vulnerable persons displaced by the conflict. Even as we meet immediate
needs today, it is with a longer term vision of restoring dignity,
livelihoods and re-weaving the social fabric that is torn apart in such
situations," Wolford said.
     LWR is using the grant to "protect people forced from their homes by
raiding militia in the past year. These people, who live under harsh
conditions, now are facing disease and malnutrition," stated the LWR news
release. LWR is also urging the U.S. government and United Nations to
"pressure the government of Sudan to ensure security in Darfur in order to
allow aid to arrive and people to return to their homes."
     LWR, ACT and Caritas Internationalis are seeking $17.5 million for
their work in Darfur, located in western Sudan.
_ _ _

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.

Information about domestic and international disasters and the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America's response are available at
http://www.elca.org/disaster/ on the Internet. Information about Lutheran
World Relief is available at http://www.elca.org/disaster/ on the
Internet.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news