March 2, 2004
Haiti: In Transition
As Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled Haiti for a second exile, some Haitians in Port-au-Prince emerged from their homes and returned to work and school. UMCOR underwrites a number of health, education and agriculture projects-- many in rural areas-- in Haiti or in the adjacent Dominican Republic for Haitian residents. The Methodist Church of Haiti supports school lunch programs, water and sanitation projects and community health clinics in remote areas as well as in urban centers. Church leaders there have requested prayers for the people of Haiti as they face the issues of transition. A gift to your favorite Haiti Advance or to UMCOR Advance #418325, Haiti Civil Emergency, will also be meaningful.
Mozambique: Demining Transforms Land Use
The United States' landmine policy now allows the use of "smart," or automatically defusing, landmines. The new direction, announced last Friday, marks a retreat from the pledge to ban all landmines by 2006. UMCOR and the General Board of Global Ministries collaborate in a landmine removal program in Mozambique, where "dumb" mines have caused an estimated 10,000 casualties since 1992. UMCOR's contribution to increase humanitarian demining capacity in the southern third of Mozambique improved the annual clearance rate of 1.7 million square meters per year to 3 million square meters in 2003. Demining has opened land to safe uses such as schools and health clinics. Your generous gift to UMCOR Advance #982575, "Landmine Removal," will assist with lowering the devastation of these weapons.
Florida: A Drill Goes Live
A severe weather awareness drill coinciding with Severe Weather Awareness Week turned into the real thing in Florida last week as wind and rain tore through the northern part of the state. When natural disasters cause trauma, UMCOR provides immediate relief, assistance with cleanup and rebuilding, pastoral counseling and psychosocial support systems for children and youth. Your donations to UMCOR Advance #901670, Domestic Disaster Response, assures that if requested, UMCOR will be able to make a generous and timely response to alleviate suffering.
UMCOR Benefits from One Great Hour of Sharing Offering
Participating in the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) on March 21 "adds legs" to your prayerful support of UMCOR's programs. When you give to this annual Lenten offering, you help to keep United Methodists' hearts and hands feeding, sheltering, reconciling and healing or comforting those in crisis. You enable the United Methodist humanitarian aid agency to continue to deliver resources that enable the transformation of entire communities. Donations to OGHS help underwrite UMCOR's administrative costs, undergird its Advance projects, and provide funds for quick responses to emergencies. If your church hasn't ordered its One Great Hour bulletin inserts and offering envelopes, posters and worship resources, please call toll free 1-888-862-3242 today.
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.