October 28, 2010

CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will send up to $46,280 to provide immediate relief to communities affected by a tsunami that struck the Mentawai Islands off of Sumatra's western coast Oct. 25. The ELCA responded to a specific request for funds from a relief agency working in the area, the Nommensen (Lutheran) University Center for Disaster Risk Management, said Megan Bradfield, ELCA associate director for International Development and Disaster Response.

At least 340 people died and hundreds are reported missing as a result of the 10-foot tsunami, spawned by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. The Indonesian government also reported that about 20,000 people were displaced by the tsunami.

Indonesian disaster officials reported at least 10 villages on the Mentawai Islands, known as a destination for surfers, were swept away by the tsunami. Among the villages hardest hit were Sikakap, Tikako and Malakop, said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, ELCA director for Asia and the Pacific.

The Nommensen University Center for Disaster Risk Management was initiated after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Bradfield said. That disaster resulted in at least 230,000 deaths in 14 countries and caused significant coastal destruction throughout the Indian Ocean region.

The ELCA is working alongside 12 Lutheran churches in Indonesia, the Lutheran World Federation, Lutheran World Relief and Australian Lutheran World Service to provide, "quick and much-needed relief to communities underserved during times of disaster," she said.

The Nommensen University Center is the only nongovernmental organization based in Sikakap, Ishida said. It was stationed there to help rebuild from the 2004 tsunami and help people prepare for and mitigate similar future disasters. The Nommensen University Center is working in collaboration with the Protestant Christian Church in Mentawai, a Lutheran Church, to respond to people affected by the tsunami, he said. Church members resided in most of the affected villages, Ishida said.

The center, with the Protestant Christian Church in Mentawai, is distributing food and other items such as kitchen supplies, plastic sheeting, blankets and hygiene kits to nearly 200 families in the worst affected households, Ishida said. Eventually it expects to assist as many as 500 families.

Gifts in response to the Indonesian tsunami may be contributed at https://community.ELCA.org/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=492, on the ELCA website.

ELCA News Service