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February 15, 2002: UMCOR has sent generators to the Oklahoma and Kansas East Conferences where some communities are expected to be without electricity for up to 6 weeks due to the recent ice storms. At the request of the bishop, UMCOR has also sent an emergency response grant to Kansas East which will help provide additional generators and food for people who lost food that was stored in freezers. It will also help with the cost of clearing trees that fell in the storm. Your gifts to UMCOR's Domestic Disaster Response, Advance #901670-1 make this response possible.
Violence has erupted again in Liberia displacing additional people, and causing those who were already displaced to move yet again. UMCOR and General Board of Global Ministries staff are monitoring the situation and are in daily communication with United Methodist staff in the country. All UMCOR staff have been pulled into the city of Monrovia. United Methodist missionaries and Missioners of Hope will be moving to safe areas as necessary and are preparing to evacuate if necessary. Your gifts to UMCOR's Liberia Emergency, Advance #150300-7 will enable UMCOR to continue its war recovery ministries and respond to this latest crisis with humanitarian assistance.
UMCOR staff traveled last week to Tajikistan and Afghanistan to participate in the distribution of shelter kits to villagers in the Hazer Bogh region of Northeastern Afghanistan. This area was a front line between Taliban and Northern Alliance forces. In the fighting, peoples' homes were all but destroyed and their belongings looted. Their homes are no longer habitable, and UMCOR and Mercy Corps have delivered shelter kits consisting of a winter tent, mattresses, sleeping pads, blankets, and pillows. Household and kitchen items will also be distributed. UMCOR anticipates a long-term response to the suffering of people in Afghanistan as we assist them in rebuilding their country. You can join in this response by giving to Love in the Midst of Tragedy, Advance #901125-3 and designating "Afghanistan."
In the future, it is likely that health kits and school kits will be sent to Afghanistan. If you would like to participate in this material resource ministry, please call the UMCOR Depot (800) 814-8765 for instructions on assembling and shipping kits. You may also find instructions on the UMCOR website http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kits.cfm
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.
Photo: UMCOR shelter kits arrive in Northern Afghanistan. Credit: UMCOR/Tajikistan, February 2002.
