UMCOR has sent an emergency response grant to the United Methodist Church in the Philippines for relief work following the recent typhoon. UMCOR is also responding to a request from the Methodist Church in Haiti for assistance with relief efforts following recent flooding. Your gifts to UMCOR's International Disaster Response, Advance #982450-8 enable UMCOR to respond to these and other crisis situations.

   Volunteers are urgently needed in North Carolina where more than 400 homes are still in need of rebuilding from the floods caused by Hurricane Floyd. Call (800) 918-3100 for further information. UMCOR recently sent a $55,000 grant to North Carolina to support interfaith rebuilding efforts.

   Please continue your gifts to UMCOR's "Middle East Emergency," Advance #601740-2. UMCOR has received several requests for assistance from Palestinian health care facilities who are suffering from a shortage of medical supplies and an economic crisis caused by the current situation.

   The UMCOR Depot urgently needs kits of all kinds, especially health kits. Please give a gift to a brother or sister in another country by assembling kits and shipping them to the Depot. For instructions call the Depot at (800) 814-8765, or visit the UMCOR website at: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kits.html For other suggestions on alternative Christmas celebrations, order the resource "Whose Birthday Is It Anyway?" from the Service Center, (800) 305-9857.

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.)

   Please pray for all who suffer from violence, natural disasters, hunger, and poverty.