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June 13, 2003: The Liberian capital of Monrovia was quiet yesterday, but, according to the United Nations, nearly 50,000 displaced people are living in extremely difficult conditions at a sports stadium and several schools. The Liberia United Methodist Church, led by Bishop John Innis, has been providing food and blankets to displaced people in the city and need financial assistance to continue this work. Please give generously to Liberia Emergency Advance #150300-7.
UMCOR continues to respond to needs in Central America. CORCRIDE is a small grass-roots organization working among the impoverished agricultural villages of southwestern Honduras. With a small grant from UMCOR and in partnership with the local community, CORCRIDE built an irrigation system for farmers, which will help an area wracked by cyclical drought and famine be less dependent on rainfall for crops. Please support Advance #501300-0, Central America Emergency.
In the United States, cleanup and recovery continue from the widespread tornados and storms that struck in May. UMCOR will be receiving requests for major grants from conferences in Tennessee, Kansas, and Missouri. Please help by giving to Spring Storms 2003, Advance #901680.
The United Methodist Church in the Philippines is providing relief to families who have fled their ancestral homelands due to intensified militarization in Oriental Mindoro Province. For over 17 months, uprooted people have lived in makeshift shelters on property of the Union Theological Seminary in Dasmarinas. They need food, seeds, tools, medicine, improved shelter and, most of all, hope. You can assist in this ministry by giving to Philippines Emergency Advance #240235-3.
The third annual World Refugee Day is observed on June 20th. UMCOR urges you to remember the world's 13 million uprooted people. Resources are at: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/refugees/worldrefugeeday.stm. Many refugees have lived in camps for years without hope of returning home. Among these are the Somali Bantu whom the United States has agreed to accept for resettlement. The Bantu have started to arrive in the U.S. To learn how you might be involved in outreach to them and other refugees, contact UMCOR at 212-870-3807. Please give to Global Refugee Response Advance #982540-1.
Material resources are always needed at UMCOR Sager Brown. Health, School, Layette, and Sewing Kits provide comfort, dignity and a bond of friendship with those living in difficult circumstances. Instructions for making kits are found at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kits.cfm. Donations of raw materials for kits are also welcome. To assist in shipping kits overseas, Please include a cash donation of $1 per kit to Advance #901440-5, Material Resources Ministry.
UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.
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.
