June 5, 1998

UMCOR staff members are following up with the conferences affected by tornadoes this past week. Areas in the Baltimore/Washington, Western Pennsylvania, and Wyoming Conferences suffered damage. There were no United Methodist Churches in or nearby the town of Spencer, South Dakota which was all but destroyed by a tornado, however United Methodists in the Dakotas Conference are joining ecumenical efforts to respond to that disaster. UMCOR has sent a grant to the Southwest Texas conference to assist with response from a recent tornado there. Your gifts to UMCOR's Domestic Disaster Response, Advance #901670 ensure that UMCOR has the resources to respond to these and other disasters within the U.S.

UMCOR has sent a grant to Bolivia for humanitarian relief following an earthquake which killed more than 100 persons, and razed two towns. People left homeless are at great risk from the freezing Andean conditions. UMCOR is also responding, through ACT (Action by Churches Together), to the earthquake in Afghanistan which killed several thousand people and left sixty thousand homeless. You may join in these responses by giving to UMCOR's International Disaster Response #982450 and designating your gift either Bolivia or Afghanistan earthquake.

Please remember those who suffer from hunger, poverty, disasters, and war in your prayers.

UMCOR Hotline:
Phone: 1-800-841-1235
Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/UMCOR-Hotline/
E-mail: umcor@gbgm-umc.org