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March 8, 2002: UMCOR has sent a grant to the Methodist Christian Community in Colombia to assist people that have been affected by the escalating violence between revolutionary, government, and paramilitary forces in the Southwestern and Bogota Districts. Funds will be used to help evacuate people and provide humanitarian assistance to those who have been displaced. Please join in this response by giving to International Disaster Response, Advance #982450-8. Designate "Colombia Emergency."
UMCOR has sent an additional $100,000 emergency grant to support Church World Service's work with the Afghan people-- those who are refugees in Pakistan and those who remain within Afghanistan. This grant will be used to provide food, shelter, and health care and to support the quilt making project with Afghan women. This project provides quilts for those who need them, enables women to earn income, and gives them a place to gather for mutual support. UMCOR staff are currently in Kabul, Afghanistan assessing immediate and long-term needs and exploring opportunities for long-term recovery assistance. Please continue to support relief and recovery work with the people of Afghanistan by giving to Love in the Midst of Tragedy, Advance #901125-3 and designating "Afghanistan." Funds from this Advance have also been used recently to support a dialogue project that is building bridges between Jews, Palestinians, Muslims, and others in Brooklyn, New York.
In February, UMCOR sent emergency grants and generators to assist people affected by the worst ice-storms on record in the Oklahoma and Kansas East Conferences. The clean up of fallen limbs and repair work will take several weeks. Your gifts to UMCOR's Domestic Disaster Response, Advance #901670-1 make this response possible.
The UMCOR Depot needs kits-- especially health and school kits and layettes. Please call the Depot at (800) 814-8765 for instructions on assembling and shipping kits. Instructions are also available 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: An Afghan refugee woman in Quetta, Pakistan, quilting as part of an income-generating program sponsored by CWS/ACT. Credit: Paul Jeffrey/ACT International, Nov-Dec. 2001. Click on photo to see a larger version.
