In late February and early March, a profusion of strong winds, tornadoes and flood waters ripped through the southeastern region of the United States.

The impacts of the storm and flooding were so severe that on March 13, the state of Louisiana received federal disaster declaration. As of March 20th, we know that more than 18,000 people registered for FEMA assistance in Louisiana and that number is climbing.  On March 19, Texas received its federal disaster declaration.

And as the days continue, more flood waters are coming in and continuing to displace families with homes being destroyed and entire highways being inaccessible.

Through congregations, synods and Upbring (formerly known as Lutheran Social Services of the South), our disaster affiliate organization, Lutheran Disaster Response is working to assist those who have been affected by the flooding. Lutheran Disaster Response’s coordinator is present, working with local community leaders and officials to begin planning the proper responses, particularly the long-term recovery efforts.

Pastor Anna-Kari Johnson, Associate Program Director for New Congregations, recently gave a sermon on John 12: 1-8. In it she spoke about Mary’s joy at Jesus’ gift of resurrection of Lazarus. Mary was so elated that she breaks open the expensive nard perfume and anoints Jesus’ feet. Johnson said, “Some criticize her, but I ask you—when your own eyes see the person you love most and Jesus by your side—what are you going to break open at Jesus’ feet?”

As we commemorate Holy Week, let us reflect on the gift of life that Jesus gave us, through his death, and what we are willing to break open at His feet.

We know that this will be a long road to recovery. As survivors begin to pick up the pieces of their lives and strive for a new sense of normalcy, we will be there to assist through every phase of this disaster recovery process. Your gifts are needed to continue Lutheran Disaster Response’s relief efforts.

Be a part of the response:

Your gifts to respond to these U.S. spring storms through Lutheran Disaster Response will work to bring God’s hope, healing and renewal to those who have been affected.

Gifts designated for U.S. Spring Storms will be used in full (100 percent) until the response is complete to help disaster survivors recover and rebuild their lives. Your generous offerings of prayer and financial support will help address the unmet needs of those affected.

Join me in prayer and partnership, and use this bulletin insert in your congregation to help spread the word and support those who need rest.

Can We Talk About Climate Change?

By: Hannah Mornement

After an intense two weeks of negotiations at the climate change summit in Paris a historic agreement was reached but for the people of Northern Ethiopia it is already too late. They are already experiencing the effects of El Niño, a global climate phenomenon which has already driven up global temperatures and was made worse by climate change. Experts say that 2016 will leave millions hungry and cause water shortages and disease outbreaks.

In addition to their usual struggles Ethiopians many of whom already live in poverty are experiencing the additional effects of global warming. A country whose economy heavily depends on agriculture, with over 80% of its 93 million population small scale farmers and pastoralists, it is now bearing the brunt of this negative impact leading to increased poverty, water scarcity and food insecurity. By January 2016 the United Nations predicted that 15 million people will need food aid. This current drought is set to be the worst in 30 years.

Failed harvest

“This is the worst harvest I have seen” said Woday Gelaye, 75, who has been farming in this area for over 60 years. “Because of the recurrent drought and the heavy, short rainy season even his chickpea crop has been put back.” Extending his hand he shows me just a few small chickpea pulses. This crop too is meager. Having had to sell his ox to buy additional food for his wife, eight children and four grandchildren he no longer has the help needed to plough his other 2 small fields – and nothing left to sell.

After the failure of his crops earlier in the season the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) provided Woday with 31kg of seeds.

His situation sadly is no exception. It is estimated that 73,000 people in this region of Ethiopia have been affected by the failed harvest due to the unpredictable climate, and will need emergency food aid to tide them over before the next harvest in a few monts. There are currently 768 people benefiting from the LWF Emergency Seed Program. Mr Gelaye is one of the lucky beneficiaries.

Just 2 hours down the dusty road from Meket to Lalibela, blending into the thirsty landscape a brother and sister live on a small farm with her 3 year old child. Debre, 21 and Baye, 19, are not part of the LWF Food Security Project and just weeks away from having absolutely nothing left. “The rain started late, we thought we were managing well, but when the crops were at knee level. The heavy rain came and destroyed everything. To survive we started to sell our goats, sheep and cows. My biggest fear now is that if the government doesn’t help soon we will have to leave – migrate to a nearby district or perhaps Sudan.”

Livestock are the life of these arid lowlands, but more and more families have to sell their cattle, leaving them even more vulnerable than before.

New farming techniques

Things have to change if the people are going to survive generation after generation in this region. The LWF, who have been working in Ethiopia for 43 years and in this region for the last 10 years, are doing just that – with their Food Security Project. Budgeted for 3 years it was started at the end of 2014 and is benefiting around 4,670 people, just 2.7 percent of the district’s population. It is comprised of an irrigation scheme, irrigation agronomy and crop production, vegetable production, compost technology, conservation agriculture – introduced by CLWR (Canadian Lutheran World Relief) – water management, seedling production and distribution amongst other agricultural related tasks. All these projects are using tools that are available to the farmers, like manure. A team of LWF experts are teaching them how to get the most out of the land.

Shamble, 46, has already profited within the first year. He has been part of LWF’s Food Security Project in Midaghe for a year and was trained in irrigation agronomy along with crop and vegetable production.

“I was also trained in compost production and given an improved variety of drought resistant teff.” Teff is an important food grain in Ethiopia which is used to make the typical injera bread. “I have also benefited from the cash for work scheme, digging the irrigation trench, and working as a guard overnight. My life and my family’s life has really improved, I have built a new house and been able to buy some sheep and cows.”

Development projects like these are crucial if the future generations are to survive. Climate phenomena like El Niño are not new occurrences, but scientists say that global warming has contributed to making them larger and more damaging. Without projects like LWFs Food Security Program the people of Ethiopia face a bleak future. This is a country that has suffered for decades but is desperately trying to help itself. We cannot afford turn a blind eye. The lives and livelihoods of millions of people are at stake.

Hannah Mornement is the daughter of Adrienne Mornement who worked with LWF in 1985 in the Nekemte region, in Ethiopia. She went back to visit the program after 30 years.

Edited by LWF Communications.

Lutheran Disaster Response has already committed $70,000 to this project. It is our hope that as the need rises, we will be able to continually accompany out partner, Lutheran World Federation in creating food-secure communities.

Be a part of the response:

Pray

Please pray for all those affected by this crisis. Remember those who have lost everything and all those who are working to respond. You can use these prayers and resources in your worship services.

Give

Your gifts are needed now to help with immediate relief to assist those directly impacted by the droughts and other climate change related disasters. Gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be used to provide immediate, life-saving aid.

Connect

• Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
• Subscribe to the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
• Like our Facebook page.

To Learn More:

Visit the Lutheran World Federation’s website.

Read our past blogs

• Until All are Fed
• Needs of the Afflicted: Drought in Ethiopia

Upbring Disaster Response Update: Feb. 23 Severe Weather Event

One week after a long and difficult stretch of severe weather throughout the South and tornadoes in Louisiana, initial recovery efforts continue across impacted areas. The U.S. Storm Prediction Center confirmed that the 13 tornadoes which hit Louisiana on Tuesday, Feb. 23, set a record for the most occurring in one day during the month of February.

Jessica Vermilyea, Director, Upbring Disaster Response, the new LSSDR, reported that St. James and St. John the Baptist Parishes were the hardest hit in Louisiana, with Assumption and Livingston Parishes also receiving substantial damage.

St. James Parish
Specifically at Sugar Hill RV Park in Convent, St. James Parish, there were two confirmed fatalities, 31 people hospitalized and seven listed in critical condition. In total, 100 trailers were damaged at the trailer park of approximately 160 homes and 300 residents.  Outside of the RV park area, more than 50 homes were also damaged or destroyed – efforts for clean-up are currently underway.

St. John the Baptist Parish
Only a short four years after Hurricane Isaac caused more than $2 billion in damage to Louisiana and Mississippi, the community of St. John the Baptist Parish is once again rebuilding their lives. Initial estimates are that approximately 400 homes have been impacted.

During the first 24 hours, Upbring Disaster Response was on the ground meeting with parish officials and community partners to help coordinate the opening of the Volunteer Reception Center (VRC), distribution and feeding efforts. In addition, volunteers are now working on clean-up and debris removal.

Although damage assessments are still underway, the Long Term Recovery Committee reconvened earlier this week to begin plans that will address needs based on the extent of damage and to identify those who will require additional assistance. Jessica, who served as a member of the Executive Committee during Hurricane Isaac, will continue in the same role for this event.

Upbring Disaster Response – who responded during Hurricane Isaac’s recovery efforts – continues regular communication with our Lutheran partners, community and governmental partners and is working with Louisiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) to assist in immediate recovery efforts.

Emergency Declarations
Nine parishes have received emergency declarations:

Texas Update
Although storms were not as devastating in Texas, two school districts canceled classes after power outages and damages made it dangerous for students to attend in Brackett and San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated ISDs. It was reported in Del Rio that approximately 10,000 customers were without power Feb. 23.

Long-Term Plans
As we continue to gather information and determine what the long-term recovery plans are, we promise to share it with you. We do know there will be a need for financial assistance to aid in rebuilding and replacement of household and personal goods.

We ask that you continue to pray for the storm victims and their families.

Lutheran Disaster Response will continue to accompany Upbring Disaster Response as they continue to be present in the communities affected by the February 23 Severe weather event.

Here’s how you can be a part of the response:

Pray

Please pray for all those affected by this crisis. Remember those who have lost everything and all those who are working to respond. You can use these prayers and resources in your worship services.

Give

Gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be used to provide immediate and/or longer-term recovery relief.

Connect

Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.

Subscribe to the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.

Like our Facebook page.

To learn more about this situation:

Visit the Upbring Disaster Response Page

On Nov. 8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, crashed into the central Philippines. For the next several days, heavy rainfall and top-speed winds wreaked havoc on the region. The typhoon, one of the strongest recorded storms to ever make landfall, impacted 14 million people, took the lives of 6,300 people, damaged or destroyed 1 million homes and caused $2 billion in damages.

Of the 14 million people affected by the storm, 40 percent were already living below the poverty line. Also, out of the affected population in the 14 provinces, the livelihoods of 5.6 million people were destroyed, lost or disrupted.

It has now been a little over 2 years and we are still present. Thanks to your generosity in giving almost $2.5 million and because of our network of partners on the ground in the Philippines, Lutheran Disaster Response was able to respond to immediate relief needs and continues to address the longer-term recovery needs.  Below is the story of Marilyn Jabilloraga, a survivor and participant in the Livelihood Recovery Program, through our partner Lutheran World Relief.

Marilyn Jabilloraga lives in Barangay Calao, nestled in the uplands of Burauen Municipality in Leyte Province. She is a 49 year-old married mother of two.  

Just like many others in the Philippines, Marilyn and her family were severely affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Although they did not experience the storm surge, the wind was so strong that their house collapsed. They hid under the sink, which was the only part of the house that was left standing.  

Because their house was destroyed, Marilyn’s family slept in a makeshift shelter with only tarp as their roofing for three months. The typhoon also devastated the family’s coconut trees and their livelihoods in copra and rice production. 

However, Marilyn was able to participate in LWR’s project and received vegetable seeds, calamansi1 as well as farm training to revive her family’s livelihood. Being able to grow and harvest her own vegetables for her family’s consumption was a logistical and financial relief for Marilyn. She was also glad to be trained on how to make organic fertilizer and pesticide as well as on improved agricultural practices and marketing techniques. She is hopeful that her calamansi and coconut seedlings will bear fruit in the near future and become a strong source of income for the family. 

She still dreams that, one day, she and her family will enjoy a life like the one they had before Haiyan – or even better.            

Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective, the ELCA’s social statement on the church’s relation to society and its public presence and responsibilities, states, “As a reconciling and healing presence, this church is called to minister to human need with compassion and imagination.” Lutheran Disaster Response answers this call by often being the last ones to leave after disaster occurs. Staying behind to aid those, like Marilyn, who may have otherwise fell through the cracks.

Here’s how you can be a part of the response:

Pray

Please pray for all those affected by this crisis. Remember those who have lost everything and all those who are working to respond. You can use these prayers and resources in your worship services.

Give

Gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be used to provide immediate and/or longer-term recovery relief.

Connect

To learn more about this situation and other LDR response:

Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.

Subscribe to the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.

Like our Facebook page.

According to the UNICEF report, almost one million children are in need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa. UNICEF notes that:

• In Ethiopia, two seasons of failed rains mean that nearly six million children currently require food assistance, with school absenteeism increasing as children are forced to walk greater distances in search of water;

• In Somalia, more than two thirds of those in urgent need of assistance are displaced populations;

• In Kenya, El Niño related heavy rains and floods are aggravating cholera outbreaks;

• In Lesotho, one quarter of the population are affected. This aggravates grave circumstances for a country in which 34% of children are orphans, 57% of people live below the poverty line, and almost one in four adults live with HIV/Aids;

• In Zimbabwe, an estimated 2.8 million people are facing food and nutrition insecurity. The drought situation has resulted in reduced water yields from the few functioning boreholes exacerbating the risk to water-borne diseases, especially diarrhea and cholera;

• Malawi is facing the worst food crisis in nine years, with 2.8 million people (more than 15% of the population) at risk of hunger; cases of severe acute malnutrition have just jumped by 100% in just two months, from December 2015 to January 2016;

• In Angola, an estimated 1.4 million people are affected by extreme weather conditions and 800,000 people are facing food insecurity, mainly in the semi-arid southern provinces.

Isaiah 58:10 says,

“If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.”

Lutheran Disaster Response understands, as part of a community of faith, it is important that we never forget the importance of our presence in the world. How God uses us to feed the hungry and provide for the afflicted.

In addition to the $53,153 committed to Malagasy Lutheran Church in Madagascar, Lutheran Disaster Response has committed $70,000 to accompany Lutheran World Federation in Ethiopia to provide for the immediate hunger needs. The overall goal of the planned emergency response is to contribute to the efforts of saving lives and livelihoods and to mitigate the effects of drought in five districts of Afar, two districts of Oromia, and one district of Amhara region of Ethiopia. Through Cash for Work (CFW) activities LWF plans to reach about 56,866 individuals with about 12,000 of them being children.

Here’s how you can be a part of the response:

Pray

Please pray for all those affected by this crisis. Remember those who have lost everything and all those who are working to respond. You can use these prayers and resources in your worship services.

Give

Your gifts are needed now to help with immediate relief to assist those directly impacted by the droughts. Gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be used to provide immediate, life-saving aid.

Connect

To learn more about this situation and other LDR response:

• Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
• Subscribe to the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
• Like our Facebook page.