May 22, 2008

CHICAGO – The Rev. Peter K. Shen, consultant on China, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Global Mission, is in southwest China May 19 to June 1 to learn how the ELCA may effectively support its partners there on the reconstruction and healing of communities devastated by a May 12 earthquake that struck the Sichuan province there.

"Pastor Shen is meeting with the bishop of the Taiwan Lutheran Church and the general secretary of the Sichuan Christian Council to develop a comprehensive plan for engagement in response to the disaster," said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission. The Taiwan Lutheran Church and Sichuan Christian Council are "companion ministries" of the ELCA, he said.

The plan for engagement may include the deployment of "ministry teams" to provide care and support for survivors of the earthquake, said Malpica Padilla, adding that along with members of the Taiwan Lutheran Church and the council, volunteers from the ELCA may have opportunities to join the work of the ministry teams.

The Sichuan Christian Council continues to assess damage to communities 100 miles north of Chengdu, a city located near the epicenter of the quake.

"ELCA Global Mission and the Sichuan Christian Council are working in partnership with local church and community leaders for the near- and long-term community reconstruction and rebuilding efforts," reported Shen. They are working to help restore the water supply, provide support for children, and restore clinics and health care facilities, he said.

In Luzhou, a city in the Sichuan province, other ELCA companions – such as the Sichuan Seminary, and the Luzhou church and hospital – are "all involved and dedicated to immediate rescue efforts," said Shen. Some staff of the seminary and hospital and members of the church are participating in relief efforts in Mianyang, a city located 100 miles north of Luzhou.

"Beichuan is the center of the earthquake region where emergency rescue is taking place. What's happening there is beyond people's comprehension," said Shen. The "Chinese government requested that all people on the ground who are working on need assessment and emergency relief exercise proper self-protection," he said, adding that the Chinese government and non-governmental organizations "are able and willing, with compassion and sufficient resources and tools, to serve as necessary."

ELCA News Service