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Tsunami victims pull together to rebuild, church executive says

 


Tsunami victims pull together to rebuild, church executive says

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
A UMNS photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International

The Rev. Jedarani Peter carries a box of toothbrushes for survivors of the tsunami.

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.

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
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.

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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