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My dear Christian friends,
I am haunted by the image of shoes and dry dog food. As I looked at what
had been a house - located in what used to be Bridge Creek, Oklahoma - the
random destruction of tornadoes was imprinted on my heart. Most of the
house and its contents had been scattered by 300 mile per hour winds,
perhaps for miles. Yet there in what may have been a kitchen closet stood
shoes - of a mother, father, children - and small pieces of dry pet food.
Where are those parents? How are their children? Did their dog survive?
Last week an estimated 34 deadly twisters tore through Oklahoma, the
strongest and most devastating since the 1940s. Our local newspaper
reports as many as 76 tornadoes traveled from Texas to Kansas during that
outbreak. The American Red Cross states more than 9,000 houses were
damaged or destroyed around Oklahoma City and about 8,500 buildings were
damaged or destroyed in the Wichita, Kansas, area. The death toll stands
at 46.
I spoke today with Bernice Karstensen, President of Lutheran Social Service
of Kansas/Oklahoma (the agency managing our LDR response). Today there was
another meeting of pastors who provide spiritual support. Local LDR
staffing is being hired. A steering committee (of local ELCA and LC-MS
pastors, AAL and LB representatives) is strategizing a coordinated Lutheran
response to the wider community. Thousands of children's materials have
been distributed, and new resources are being written this week. Orphan
Grain Train has delivered 30,000 pounds of groceries to rural families.
Health kits are being assembled and distributed locally. Lutheran Disaster
Response is also a working with the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army,
FEMA, and Church World Service.
We are receiving calls from across the country offering help and
volunteers. Thank you for your heartfelt outpouring of Christian love! At
the moment it is difficult even for local volunteers to provide direct
services. The Corps of Engineers is already picking up debris. Volunteers
will certainly be needed when their work is done, to assist in working with
what remains. For now, please call this office (1-773-380-2822), and
Johanna Olson, Assistant for ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, can provide
you with information and take your data.
Most needed are cash contributions to help meet individual and family
needs. Rather than incur the expense of shipping items from great
distances, it is better stewardship to buy items in the disaster community.
This not only uses funds more efficiently; it also supports local
businesses impacted by the disaster, and maintains jobs for the people.
You can help in this moment with your sustaining prayers for those affected
by the storm and for those working with them. You can help with your
generous gifts. Many groups, individuals, and organizations are asking for
money to help the tornado survivors. Every dollar you contribute to ELCA
Domestic Disaster Response or LC-MS World Relief designated for this
tornado will be used 100 percent by the Lutheran Church in a coordinated
and equitable distribution. That may not be true for contributions made to
other groups or entities.
ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response - designated "Tornadoes"
PO Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
LC-MS World Relief
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-9810
Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438
Scattered houses, scattered shoes, scattered lives. Please support the
efforts of the church to bring lives together, as help and hope are
extended to others in Jesus' name by those who know and live his love.
Yours in Christ,
Gil Furst
GILBERT B. FURST (written on Thu, May 13, 1999, at 3:14 pm)
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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