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July 26, 2002: Please remember to take three special offerings for the Churchwide Appeal for Southern Africa Famine Relief during the next three months. Nearly 13 million people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are facing famine, and there are also food shortages in Namibia and Angola. In addition to emergency food assistance, UMCOR will support local organizations in the distribution process, help meet the needs of people infected with HIV and children who have been orphaned by AIDS, and support new agricultural development and educational programs to reduce the risk of recurring famine. Please give generously to Advance #101250-4, Southern Africa Famine.
UMCOR has recently sent a grant to the United Methodist Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo which will be used to provide food to people who were displaced by the war. The church operates feeding centers and clinics that focus on providing food and health care to displaced children and pregnant women. Many of the children are unaccompanied. Their parents have either died or been separated from them as they fled the violence. Please continue your support of Advance #198400-0, "Democratic Republic of Congo Emergency."
United Methodists in many annual conferences are working with UMCOR consultants and local interfaith recovery groups to address the needs following fires and floods in many areas of the United States. In Arizona, Colorado, and South Dakota recovery work is underway following the fires. The response includes assisting people as they rebuild, training in disaster preparedness and response and pastoral care, and assistance to those who have lost their livelihood because of the fires. Flooding has affected other areas, including the Minnesota/North Dakota border, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Texas. In addition there are many areas recovering from tornadoes that struck in the spring. To ensure that UMCOR can provide long-term recovery assistance please give to UMCOR's Domestic Disaster Response, Advance #901670-1.
A separate Advance number has been established for the flooding in Texas, which has affected at least three annual conferences. Tens of thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed and the recovery will be long-term. Significant funds will be needed. Please give to Texas Floods, Advance #901315-0.
Volunteers are needed in Texas, Minnesota, and North Carolina. Please call (800) 918-3100 for further information.
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 Above: Women draw water from a well installed by Action by Churches Together (ACT) in the resettlement village of Luchazes, Angola. UMCOR is responding to the food shortage in Angola through ACT and its United Methodist partners. A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey/ACT. Click on the photo to see a larger one.
