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To: [log in to unmask] Dear friends in Christ, "The arms of God were around me," is how a survivor of the central Florida tornadoes describes her close brush with death last week. "As the ceiling in my bedroom began to break up, I was getting ready to duck into my bathtub - a safe place to be during a tornado. As I went to my closet to grab a housecoat, my house disintegrated around me. When it was all over, my roof had collapsed on my bed, and a large beam was wedged into my bathtub. God surely watched over me." Lutheran Disaster Response is coordinating relief efforts in Kissimmee and St. Cloud, Osceola County, following last week's series of powerful tornadoes that tore through Florida with winds as high as 210 miles per hour. Forty-one persons were killed, hundreds were injured, and thousands of houses were damaged or destroyed. Yesterday Leon Phillips (Director of LDR), Elaine Richter (Director of LCMS World Relief and Associate Director of LDR), and I returned from site visits to Osceola County, to take a first-hand look at the devastation. At a meeting Monday, March 2, a local Lutheran strategy team was established. Ms. Judith Bunker, Florida Disaster Response Specialist (Lutheran Services of Florida) will manage the disaster response efforts. Partners in this strategy team include representatives of AAL, LB, Lutheran Services of Florida, the Florida-Georgia District (LCMS), and the Florida-Bahamas Synod (ELCA). Fiscal management will be provided by Lutheran Counseling Services. Damage assessment continues and the local relief operation is being set up. Initial assistance has already begun. Grace Lutheran Church (LCMS) and Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA) are serving as distribution points for food and emergency supplies. As soon as the specific needs are identified and an office established for Judith Bunker, I will provide details on how you can help. Meanwhile, your prayers for the survivors of this latest disaster - many who have lost loved ones in addition to losing their homes - will be powerful and helpful. Your contributions will also help in the response effort. You may send them to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response - "Florida Tornadoes" PO Box 71764 Chicago, IL 60694-1764 Help the church put its arms around those who are suffering from these devastating tornadoes, to provide relief and love and care in God's name. Yours in Christ, Gil Furst GILBERT B. FURST (written on Wed, Mar 4, 1998, at 2:24 pm) Associate Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response Internet address: [log in to unmask] For more information, click on our web site: www.elca.org/dcs/disaster