Lutheran Disaster Response

Today marks my last day working as the Program Interpreter for Lutheran Disaster Response. Over the past 2+ years I have had the great honor of helping share with you all our work responding to disasters in the United States and internationally. Searching to find the words to describe how disasters have affected those impacted and how the church is playing a role in there recovery has been at times difficult as I realized behind each word I write is a community, a family, an individual whose world has been torn apart.

Yet, the humbling gift of being present in those moments where the hope which cannot be contained shines through the actions of neighbor helping neighbor, whether next door or across the globe, is one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. To witness as the church continues to be church in times of disaster, declaring “Here we stand. Our building and homes may be flooded, destroyed by earthquake, wind or rain, but we are not defined by this building. We are the body of Christ and whether we are at the cross or the tomb we lean on Christ and find comfort and the ability to comfort.”

As I think of this, two memories come to mind. First, are the words of Pastor Livenson, president of the Lutheran Church of Haiti: “We will not be defined by rubble but by restoration, for we are a people of the resurrection.” And the second is the worship of Peace Lutheran Church in Joplin, MO held in their parking lot the Sunday after a tornado destroyed their building. These bold words and actions, quietly spoken and solemnly engaged, stand for me as some of the truest examples of what defines church.

For these memories and the countless others that stand behind them, I am grateful. May God continue to bless this amazing ministry and the cloud of witnesses who find in this work the call God has put on their lives. Through your actions the love of Christ and the work of the kingdom have been made known. To this I add my most heartfelt Amen.

- Matthew Ley

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August 29, 2005 is a day that is seared into the memory of the people in the New Orleans area. That was the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Exactly seven years later, on August 29, 2012, Hurricane Isaac impacted the same area. Isaac was not as powerful as Katrina, and the primary area of damage was a bit different from that of Katrina’s. But as I often say, “It may not be a huge disaster, but to the people impacted, it was a life changing event.”

I visited the areas impacted by Isaac about a month later. Plans were being made to help the families recover from the storm. The Monday after my visit, Super Storm Sandy hit the East Coast (October 29). Since then, the majority of the disaster community’s attention has been on our Sandy response. This past week, I returned to New Orleans to check on the state of the recovery after Isaac. You see, we at Lutheran Disaster Response are concerned about all those impacted by disasters; we are committed to helping communities recover even when they are not in the media’s attention.

Through our affiliate, Lutheran Social Services of the South (LSSS), we are working to provide disaster case management in two of the twenty-six Parishes receiving these services, namely St. Tammany and Washington. Washington Parish has some 27% of the households living below the federal poverty level and nearly 24% of the population has a disability. Due to all of the economic and storm related stress, St. Tammany has recently experienced a rash of suicides. So while there are other areas of need in the state, by focusing on these two Parishes, LSSS will be making a huge impact on the lives of those affected by Isaac.

Our local Program Director is Jessica Vermilyea. Jessica, along with Mark Minick from LSSS, has many years of experience working in the Louisiana area following Katrina. They are uniquely positioned to be able to navigate the complex nature of this recovery since many of the people impacted by Katrina were also impacted by Isaac.

Some of the unique challenges to this recovery work include the fact that homeowners are facing high deductibles, from 3 to 5% of the cost of their homes. Many of the people did not receive any assistance from FEMA because either they were not able to keep up their flood insurance because of cost, they did not know they had to do so, or because insurance companies are asking for Katrina repair verification before paying claims. This verification can be a difficult thing to come up with—how many of us can find all of our home repair receipts from 6 years ago?

Despite these challenges, Mark and Jessica are hopeful they will be able to help dozens of people with their recovery, help people return to their homes, help people find the new normal for their lives. While the country has shifted its attention to many other disasters, we at Lutheran Disaster Response US will not forget the people impacted by Hurricane Isaac—please join us in remembering these folks in our thoughts and prayers.

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In the morning of April 20, local time, an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hit central China, Sichuan Province. Along with its thousands of aftershocks, the earthquake has caused heavy damage in the affected areas. The death toll has risen above 200, with more than 11,800 people injured. There have been over 2,000 aftershocks, leading to continued damage to structures like homes.

The ELCA has been in communication with our partner in the region, the China Christian Council, and has committed $15,000 to the relief effort. The immediate response has involved the delivery of food, tents, quilts and medicine. Future plans are to organize the distribution of relief materials, medical services and psychological care.

One of those churches involved in the response is one of the ELCA’s companion in the region, Luzhou Church. This church has built up a response team through past ELCA assistance and was able to send immediate response teams of pastoral staff, hospital personnel and teams with rescue dogs. This is a great example of why we continue to engage in disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts with our companions around the globe. The ability to respond quickly, efficiently and fully can make the difference in how wide the damages of disaster affect a community.

Let us hold those affected and those responding on their behalf in prayer. May we also give thanks for the ability of churches like Luzhou Church to engage in disaster preparedness activities and their ability to quickly respond to the needs of their neighbors.

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Gifts to ELCA Disaster Response allow the church to respond locally and globally in times of need. Donate now.

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When we give a gift to say, Lutheran Disaster Response, it feels good. We most likely have read a story that made clear to us the need, connected with us and called us to action. Then we go on with our lives, work calls our attention, events with family and friends fill up our calendar; life keeps moving. Possibly from time to time we think back and wonder what may have happened with our gift. This is one of those times.

In January the ELCA, working through our membership in the Lutheran World Federation, responded to the needs of Syrian refugees in Za’atri camp on the northern border of Jordan. (see previous post) The main purpose of this need was around the harsh winter and its affects upon particularly children within the camp.

“We received the shelters during the rains, but before the snowfall. Our first night in the prefabricated shelter was the first night we felt safe and warm in Za’atri refugee camp.” – Omar Yaser, Za’atri camp resident

This effort made it possible for children and families to find warmth in the midst of the cold as well as a sense of peace and home in the midst of uncertainty and fear. And thus seemingly small gifts, easily forgotten, and seemingly commonplace items, like insulated walls and blankets, have been transformed into safe and potentially life-saving spaces for families in need. A true moment of neighbor helping nameless neighbor.

To learn more about this effort, check out the LWF post Winterization Kits Make Camp Life “More Bearable” for Syrian Refugees.

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Gifts to ELCA Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

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This past week some of you may have noticed a “slight” difference in the look of our disaster response communications/media. This is because ELCA Disaster Response has now been re-branded as Lutheran Disaster Response! Or another way of looking at it is that Lutheran Disaster Response will now designate both the ELCA’s disaster work in the U.S. and internationally.

Our main reason for this change was to lessen the confusion which has existed between these two labels/brands of our disaster work. It is also a way of strengthening the connections between our work internationally and in the U.S. Though our responses around the globe may all be local the way the ELCA engages them includes some strong similarities whether in the U.S. or internationally. Being able to highlight this joint understanding of our disaster response work is something we are very excited about.

So please join us in lifting up and celebrating this new, and historic, way of identifying our work. To learn more, check out the newly redesigned Lutheran Disaster Response portion of the ELCA website.

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It was two years ago today that a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan and triggered a massive tsunami that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing and displaced another 300,000. Since then the ELCA has been walking with companions like Japan Lutheran Emergency Relief (a joint ministry of four Lutheran churches in Japan formed after the disaster) and the Asian Rural Institute in their response.

In the past two years much work has been done, from immediate housing and feeding for affected individuals to debris removal and spiritual care for survivors and victims. With disasters of this scale the recovery will be one of many years, so as these individuals and communities continue to rebuild their new normal, let us today raise our prayers in solidarity and remembrance.

As we do so, one get a sense of the damage caused by the tsunami and the large amount of recovery work done is presented by The Telegraph newspaper in a series of photos of affected areas title Then and Now. In this small glimpse you can sense the gravity and immensity of the what people in the affected areas and those who have been working on their behalf have been dealing with. You can see the photos here:

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: Photographs of Devastated Areas Then and Now

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Gifts to ELCA Disaster Response allow the church to respond locally and globally in times of need. Donate now.

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For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under the sun. Ecclesiastes 3:1

I had the chance to visit Camp Victor at Ocean Springs, Mississippi, twice in the last three months and was deeply moved by its leaders and the ministry each time.  Camp Victor in its current location was started by Christus Victor Lutheran Church in 2006 as the continuation of its disaster recovery ministry for communities affected by Hurricane Katrina and Rita.  Not only has it been a sizable hospitality center, housing volunteers engaged in disaster recovery work, it has also been a service center providing case management and construction management for those deeply affected by the disasters. Here are some facts about Camp Victor: 

• It is housed in a county-owned 50,000 square foot box-shape building located in the middle of the tourist district of Ocean Springs, MS. It formerly belonged to the Swinger Garment Factory.
• It has dormitories and beddings for up to 250 volunteers.
• Through the years, it has received 50,000 volunteers from 50 states and 20 countries.
• Together, volunteers have provided 1 million service hours on more than 2,000 homes, translating into $19.5 million worth of labor.

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Committee meetings are rarely interesting material for storytelling. But how a meeting is conducted and how participants interact with one another during the meeting can help tell the bigger story of the personalities of those involved and the level of their collective accomplishments. In the past few months, I have had the opportunity to attend and observe a number of Long Term Recovery Committee meetings that seek to help those affected by disasters in various communities. I am truly amazed by how different these committees can be: Some are highly organized and effective and some are dominated by one or two strong personalities. Unfortunately, some are still finding ways to become a coherent body after a long period of time.The board meeting of Schoharie Area Long Term (SALT) at Cobleskill, New York, in the early morning hours of February 5, 2013, definitely belongs to the first kind – highly effective and exciting.

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In late January/early February heavy rains in region of southeastern Africa led to swelled rivers and heavy flooding in Mozambique. One of the hardest hit areas has been the Gaza Province in the south of the country, particularly along the Limpopo River. Over 140,000 of the nearly 170,000 people displaced country wide are from this province, as well as 38 of the 55 deaths. The situation is distressing since this is still early on in the rainy season for the region, which extends from January to April. As of this past week there have been reports of coming rains continue to affect the region, with fears of even further flooding.

The Lutheran World Federation, of which the ELCA is a member, has been responding. In fact, the LWF was the first humanitarian actor to reach some of the more affected areas, helping to assess the extent of damage and needs in affected communities. The response has also involved distributing mosquito nets, blankets, kitchen equipment, water purification and hygiene kits. The LWF is also looking into supplying seeds to affected farms, since 40% of crops have been destroyed by standing flood waters. There has also been a spike in cholera cases in affected areas.

To learn more about the situation and the LWF’s response, check out their blog: Mozambique Floods Feb 2013.

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Gifts to ELCA Disaster Response allow the church to respond locally and globally in times of need. Donate now.

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