Tsunami victims pull together to rebuild, church executive says
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A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International The Rev. Jedarani Peter carries a box of toothbrushes for survivors of the tsunami.
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Near
Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, the Rev. Jedarani Peter, a Methodist, carries
emergency supplies - a box of toothbrushes - destined for survivors of
the Dec. 26 tsunami. The supplies were provided by ACT through the
National Christian Council of Sri Lanka. Peter's church served as a
distribution center for refugee shelters in the Batticaloa area. A UMNS
photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International. Photo #05-023. Accompanies
UMNS story #017. 1/10/05 |
Feb. 17, 2005 By Linda Bloom* NEW
YORK (UMNS) — When Shanta Premawardhana visited Sri Lanka on behalf of
the U.S. National Council of Churches, he was amazed by the resilience
of its people. Although
the Dec. 26 tsunami wreaked havoc along the Sri Lankan coast, a strong
determination to rebuild exists, he told members of the NCC’s governing
board during their Feb. 14-15 meeting in New York. “Despite the devastation, there were smiles,” he said. The
country has pulled together across ethnic and religious lines,
according to Premawardhana, an NCC staff member and native of Sri Lanka.
But he expressed concern about any foreign Christian organizations that
proselytize while dispensing aid. Such action puts that unity in
jeopardy and makes local Christians the possible targets of Buddhist
extremists. “What happens is that churches get attacked, and pastors get killed,” he explained. After
consultation with the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka,
Premawardhana believes there are several ways that U.S. churches can
offer solidarity to their counterparts—including Methodist, Anglican,
Baptist and Presbyterian congregations—affected by the tsunami. For
example, four villages, where more than half the population is
Methodist, were destroyed One
option for solidarity is the development of sister church
relationships. Such partnerships, he explained, would not just mean a
flow of monetary aid from the United States to Sri Lanka, but the chance
for Sri Lankan Christians to show U.S. church members “a new way of
understanding their faith.” He plans to develop guidelines on such
relationships for NCC members. Other
options include working with housing projects—possibly using Habitat
for Humanity models—and promoting micro-credit programs for income
generation, he said. The
Rev. John McCullough, a United Methodist pastor and chief executive of
Church World Service, told the governing board he expects a minimum
10-year recovery period for the tsunami-stricken region.
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A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose A lone palm tree stands amid the wreckage of beachfront homes that were flattened by the tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
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A
lone palm tree stands amid the wreckage of beachfront homes that were
flattened by the Dec. 26 tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. A delegation
of United Methodist mission and communications leaders visited areas of
Sumatra, Indonesia, near the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered
the waves. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo #05-074. Accompanies UMNS
stories #034-040, 1/18/05 |
As an example, he
cited the devastated city of Banda Aceh in Indonesia, where perhaps as
many as half of the population of 400,000 may have perished in the
tsunami. “A community like Banda Aceh is going to have to be completely
rebuilt,” he said. “They will, in a very real sense, be rebuilding on a cemetery,” McCullough added. “That’s why trauma counseling is so critical.” Because
Church World Service has its largest overseas operation in Indonesia,
it is prepared for the work there. “We have more than 100 persons on
staff, and almost all of them are Indonesian,” he said. Both
Church World Service and the United Methodist Committee on Relief are
working in the region as part of Action by Churches Together, an
alliance of faith-based relief organizations. “We
appreciate opportunities to work cooperatively and collaboratively
(with UMCOR), especially in light of a disaster of this magnitude,” he
told United Methodist News Service. “The participation of United
Methodists in our collective effort is critical.” More information on relief efforts by both agencies can be found online at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor for UMCOR and at www.churchworldservice.org for Church World Service.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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