The UMCOR Hotline

Note: This edition of the UMCOR Hotline is a special update about the tsunamis catastrophe. For more about UMCOR's current responses, read the hotline for January 4.

January 7, 2005

UMCOR Provides $750,000 in Asian Tsunami Relief
The United Methodist Committee on Relief has provided about $750,000 in relief to the tsunami stricken Indian Ocean region. On December 26, a powerful earthquake triggered tidal waves that swept away the lives of at least 150,000 people and the homes and livelihoods of millions more.

So far, UMCOR has sent:

• a truckload of health kits, which contain a hand towel, washcloth, comb, nail file or fingernail clippers, bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste and adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages;
• a grant to Churches Auxiliary for Social Action in India to help them distribute food, emergency supplies, and tarpaulins;
• a grant to the Christian Medical Association of India, which has deployed 12 health teams to provide acute health care and longer-term trauma counseling for affected families;
• a grant to Church World Service supporting a shipment of shelter kits to Sri Lanka; and
• a grant to the Methodist Church of Singapore to assist in delivery of antibiotics to affected areas.

Recovery from the tsunamis will take several years. UMCOR is carefully assessing how it will proceed after survivors' immediate emergency needs are met. This process will include face-to-face meetings with people in affected regions like Sri Lanka. UMCOR has successfully run large-scale rebuilding projects in Turkey, Afghanistan, and Bosnia; its expertise may also be needed in Asia.

United Methodists Have Been Generous: Much More Is Needed
"United Methodists have been incredibly generous," says the Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's chief executive. "But much more is needed."

Cash gifts will help UMCOR continue to assist its ecumenical partners who are working in the disaster area. Long term recovery support, such as rebuilding homes, hinges on continuing generosity. As of January 6, United Methodists had contributed more than $1 million to "South Asia Emergency, UMCOR Advance #274305" online at http://MethodistRelief.org. Money continues to pour in through Web, mail, and church offerings.

Every dollar given goes directly to aid for the affected region. Such 100 percent giving is possible because UMCOR's administrative costs come from other undesignated sources, including the annual One Great Hour of Sharing for UMCOR. Resources for this March 6 observance are online.

UMCOR needs Medicine Boxes and health kits in addition to cash donations. "We'll be able to use every box and kit our congregations can make,” the Rev. Dirdak says. For contents and other requirements for these material resources, go to UMCOR's web site.

Three Church Bulletin Inserts and Other Resources
Three different bulletin inserts on United Methodist response to the Asian tsunamis disaster are ready for congregations to download and print locally. "After Walls of Water, Hope in Half a Dozen Countries" provides details on UMCOR's initial activity in disaster-stricken regions. It was updated with a new photo this week. United Methodist Communications, in cooperation with UMCOR, has produced two inserts, "Hands Already at Work" and "Be the Answer to Somebody's Prayer." Get under "Church Resources" on UMCOR's South Asia Emergency page.

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.

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Featured Photos
United Methodist Committee on Relief

A woman salvages a few of her belongings from the ruins of her house, smashed by the tsunami when it hit the town of Moratuwa, south of Colombo on the island nation of Sri Lanka.Credit: Paul Jeffrey/ACT International, January 1, 2005.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the disaster along the length of the coast of India, like in the village of Kokkirammedu, where 20 people lost their lives out of a small population of 120 families. Women burn what they can on the beach. Credit: Hege Opseth NCA/ACT International, January 4, 2005.

The theme for One Great Hour of Sharing for UMCOR, which will be on March 6, 2005 is "Be There."

More Information About UMCOR's Work

• Indian Ocean Tsunami: UMCOR's Response.
• Asian Tsunami Emergency: Three Bulletin Inserts.
• Medicine Boxes: Contents and Instructions.
• One Great Hour of Sharing, March 6.
• UMCOR to Consider Additional Services in Tsunami Disaster.
• UMCOR Emergency Kits: Health kits, school kits, flood buckets, and more.
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