Photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International A tsunami survivor walks in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.

Horrified by what they saw and heard of the destruction wrought by deadly tsunamis in South Asia, Methodists across Europe have lined up to help in whatever way they can.

A congregation in the north of England is filling and shipping plastic crates called "aquaboxes" that contain water purification and filter equipment. An elderly Irish Methodist couple donated their government winter fuel subsidy to those they believe have more need of the money.

Lithuanian United Methodists collected a special offering that will go to the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s tsunami response. Slovakian United Methodists are collecting donations for the entire month of January. And in the Czech Republic, where United Methodists remember the devastating effects of recent floods in their own country, congregations have organized a national appeal.

The story is similar in Switzerland, Germany and other parts of Europe.

In a joint statement, the president and vice president of the British Methodist Church called on members to respond to the tragedy "with the fullest possible expression of our common humanity." President Will Morrey told United Methodist News Service that Methodists should use grass-roots networks in Southeast Asia, such as women’s groups, to offer emotional and spiritual support alongside practical help.

British Methodist minister Rosemary Nunn was in Venezuela for her son’s wedding the day after Christmas when the tsunamis struck. Upon returning to her parish in Manchester, England, she suggested a collection be taken. To her delight, she discovered the church treasurer already had sent almost $1,000 to the relief effort and was organizing another collection for the following week.

The Methodist Relief and Development Fund has been overwhelmed by the generosity of many people, said representative Sarah Hagger. The fund is working with global Action by Churches Together International to get aid where it is needed most in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. UMCOR is also a member of ACT.

Many European Methodist churches with special links to Sri Lanka — including congregations in Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Britain — have given aid directly to Sri Lankan Methodist organizations. Acknowledging that his country has been ravaged by 20 years of civil war, the president of the Sri Lankan Methodist Church called the additional damage and loss caused by the tsunami "unthinkable."

Photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International Sri Lankan refugees return home to rebuild their lives.

Since news of the tsunami first reached her in Wales, local people have been "really wonderful," she said. "I didn’t expect such a very personal interest in Sri Lanka from locals."

Molly Jenkins, a member of the Jersey Marine Methodist Church, where Selvaretnam works, said her "heart went out to Selvie" when she heard about the tsunami. Within a short time, two girls had started a collection for Sri Lanka.

"We’re only a small village, with 150 houses, one post office, one hotel, one church and a school," Jenkins said. "One local man gave my husband £50 straight off for the collection."

The Rev. John Kennedy, a former British Methodist missionary to Sri Lanka, said that in the ravaged east coast region of Sri Lanka, Methodists are a strong presence. Along a remote part of the coastline, people live on a strip of land with the sea on one side and a lagoon on the other.

"They would have had no place to run. Every village would have suffered Methodist deaths and will have Methodists survivors who will be motivated to be a resource and help to others," Kennedy said.

Photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International Children walk in a devastated neighborhood of Batticaloa on Sri Lanka's east coast.

"In all the horror, there are glimpses of hope," observed British Methodism’s president and vice president in their joint statement. "In Sri Lanka, we hear of remarkable local acts of courage and generosity as Sinhalese and Tamil, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian come together in common need and support."

French and Swiss Methodists, who have no international relief channels of their own, have donated special collections to UMCOR. United Methodists throughout Switzerland also joined with representatives of other faiths for a Swiss National Collecting Day. A national memorial service was held for disaster victims and 130 million Swiss francs ($110 million) collected in donations.

Even in areas where European Methodists are hard-pressed by economic and political difficulties, people have been keen to join in the relief effort.

In Belfast, Northern Ireland regulars at the East Belfast Mission’s day center are dropping coins into a tsunami relief bucket. Elderly church members ask "Meals on Wheels" volunteers to deliver their relief donations to the church. Teenagers, benefiting from a United Methodist funded Advance Special project, inquire if they can organize a fund-raising event. In Macedonia, where the unemployment rate is between 40 and 80 percent, Methodists are committed to being part of the global relief effort.

In the Ukraine the political landscape remains uncertain, and salaries average about $100 a month. Still United Methodist leaders there hope to consider the possibility of a collection for the tsunami relief effort later this year. Ukrainian Methodist churches have only just finished collecting a special offering to benefit victims of last fall’s Beslan tragedy, in which terrorists took over a Russian school.

During a recent sermon at the Styal Methodist Church in Cheshire, England, the Rev. Charles New pointed to the unprecedented public response to the disaster as "evidence of the image of God on humankind."

"I cannot be indifferent to what has happened because God is not indifferent," New said. "… This outpouring of love that we are witnessing right round the world is a fundamental human instinct that allows us to see, for a brief moment, just how we have been created to be."

Donations to UMCOR’s "South Asia Emergency" relief efforts can be placed in local church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Designate checks for UMCOR Advance #274305 and "South Asia Emergency." Online donations can be made at www.methodistrelief.org. Those making credit-card donations can call (800) 554-8583.

*LaCamera is a United Methodist News Service correspondent based in England.

Suggested Resources United Methodist Committee on Relief Action by Churches Together General Board of Global Ministries Methodist Church of Sri Lanka Country Profile: Sri Lanka

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