December Mission Moment

         We are a Church that Responds

          Lutheran Disaster Response – International is committing $1 million to Lutheran World Relief to collaboratively address the needs of the people impacted by Super Typhoon Haiyan.  

Early Nov. 8, 2013, one of the world’s most powerful storms on record, Super Typhoon Haiyan, swept through the Philippines’ Eastern Visayas Region. Several of the areas impacted by Haiyan include communities with high levels of poverty and regions still recovering from the Oct. 15 7.2-magnitude earthquake.

Approximately 9.5 million people have been impacted by the storm, and local officials estimate that up to 10,000 people have died in the Leyte Province city of Tacloban alone.

Lutheran Disaster Response – International is working with ACT Alliance partners—Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Philippines ACT Forum Coordinator, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)—to coordinate response plans. The LWR Philippines office in Mindanao is in communication with other ministry partners, non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and local government officials.

LWR is responding. Here’s what LWR is doing with your generosity:

Shelter: The typhoon damaged at least 244,000 houses. LWR will help families rebuild by supplying the tools and materials needed to get them back into their homes as soon as possible. The shelter repair kits include plywood, lumber, corrugated metal sheeting, nails and other tools. To the extent possible, materials are procured locally, thereby stimulating the local economy.
Clean water: LWR will provide high-capacity water filters to ensure communities have access to safe drinking water. These refillable water tanks hold 45 liters of water (about 12 gallons) and can filter 12 liters per hour.
Debris removal: In a disaster of this scale, many people have also lost their means of livelihood. Farmers have lost crops and livestock; merchants have lost their inventory. In order to provide a source of income, and simultaneously clean up public areas, LWR will offer a cash-for-work program, in which participants are paid a daily wage for removing storm debris from schools, parks and other public spaces. These short-term work opportunities give families the cash they need to buy food or other necessities, while performing a much-needed service to their ravaged communities.
Distribution of essential household items: When people have lost everything, they have to rebuild from scratch. Organizations such as the World Food Programme and others ensure that people have food. LWR is making sure people can cook that food for their families. LWR will distribute baskets of kitchen supplies including pots, pans and utensils. To the extent possible, materials are procured locally.
LWR Quilts and Kits: LWR is shipping Personal Care Kits, Baby Care Kits, School Kits and Quilts, which will be distributed to more than 26,000 families.

LWR will be responding in areas hard-hit by the Super Typhoon Haiyan, outside the reach of other relief agencies. LWR’s work will be focused in five municipalities in western Leyte Province and three municipalities in northern Cebu Province.

LWR’s response will not end when these efforts are complete. LWR has been working in the Philippines for more than 25 years and their experience tells them that it will take at least two years for the affected communities to fully recover. When immediate needs have been met, LWR will continue our work to help families who lost their means of livelihood begin earning a living again.

Lutheran World Relief’s skills, competencies and capacity with local organizations in the Philippines make them a trusted partner for Lutheran Disaster Response – International to coordinate with for long-term recovery and rebuilding in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Lutheran Disaster Response – International will also respond within the capacity of our companion church, the Lutheran Church in the Philippines, and in coordination with LWF.

We, as the ELCA, are committed to working through these partners. Their on-the-ground presence will best steward our resources so that our brothers and sisters in the Philippines can be assisted both now and through long-term recovery.

Thank you for your generosity toward the ELCA- we could not make these relief efforts happen without those gifts and without you! Thank you!

We cannot be quiet about what we have seen and heard. Acts 4:20

Christine Donahue

TLGCS ELCA Mission Interpreter Coordinator