May 8, 2009
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper

In partnership with Lutheran churches and ecumenical agencies around the world, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) engaged in relief and recovery work in 17 countries in 2008. Through the church's International Disaster Response, more than $1.5 million was distributed to help provide food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials for survivors of natural and human-made disasters. The funds for disaster response are contributions from ELCA members, said Megan E. Bradfield, associate director for international development, ELCA Global Mission.

When disaster strikes somewhere in the world, the ELCA works with Action by Churches Together (ACT), a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergency situations. It's based in Geneva with the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation. The ELCA is a member of both. "Under circumstances where ACT is not present, response may occur directly to companion churches and agencies," said Louis Dorvilier, director, international development and disaster response, ELCA Global Mission.

Key areas of engagement for 2008 included responding to hurricanes in the Caribbean and an earthquake in China. The ELCA supported medical emergency services to people in Gaza, participated in flood relief efforts in India, and became involved in the development of a center for disaster risk management and community development services in Indonesia. The church also engaged in life-sustaining ministries for people across Africa, particularly in response to civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, drought conditions in Eritrea and Ethiopia, flooding in Namibia, peace intervention in Zimbabwe and more. In South America the ELCA provided assistance to families affected by a massacre in Guyana, and the church continued to help reconstruct homes and agricultural systems following a 2007 earthquake in Peru.

ELCA News Service