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January 25, 2002:
UMCOR has sent an initial emergency response grant to provide relief for people affected by the volcanic eruption in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. The lava flow destroyed fourteen villages on the side of the mountain before reaching Goma where much of the city has been destroyed. More than 400,000 people fled across the border to Rwanda and other neighboring areas. Thousands of people have lost their homes, property, and livelihood. UMCOR is working with our ecumenical and United Methodist partners to provide food, water, firewood, shelter materials, blankets, and kitchen utensils. Please give generously to Democratic Republic of Congo Emergency, Advance #198400-0.
People in the Indian state of Orissa are still struggling to recover from last summer's floods, which were the worst in two decades. UMCOR has sent a grant of $100,000 which will be used to help people in fishing and weaving communities as they re-establish their livelihoods, and to provide a food for work program, shelter, seeds for kitchen gardens, health care, and sanitation facilities. To support this long-term response, please give to "South Asia Emergency, Advance #274305-0 and designate your gift, "Orissa Floods."
Many isolated communities in Honduras have received little or no governmental assistance following the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Michelle last fall. UMCOR has sent a grant which will be used to restore agricultural production and provide tools and immediate food assistance for coastal villages. Your gifts to Hurricanes 2001, Advance #982350-4 will continue to help the people of Honduras and many other regions in Central America, the Caribbean, and the United States affected by last year's tropical storms and hurricanes.
Please check next week's Hotline to find out the type of assistance that will be needed following this week's severe storms and flooding in Tennessee and other southern states.
Gifts may be made through local United Methodist churches, or by calling 1-800-554-8583. Credit card donations are accepted. (Read more about how you can help UMCOR's emergency responses.)
UMCOR is providing emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about current UMCOR ministries, please visit the website: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/ .
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.
Photos: Top left-- Action by Churches Together (ACT) partners provide kitchen sets to those who have fled the volcano in Ruhengeri transit camp (Rwanda) in January 2002. Credit: Thomas van Kampen LWF/ACT International. Middle right-- Clothes and bedding are hung out to dry after the floods in Pakistan in July 2001. Credit: Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan.
