In Today's Hotline:
Central America: Hurricane Felix Response
Liberia: A Better Life
Worldwide: Medicine Box Supplies Are Still Desperately Low
Resources: Welcoming Sojourners—New Report to Donors
CENTRAL AMERICA: HURRICANE FELIX RESPONSE
UMCOR is assisting Hurricane Felix survivors in Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras through Church World Service.
Hurricane Felix hit Central America coastlines on Sept. 4 impacting at least 35,000 people. Nicaragua was the most affected. There is special concern for the 14,000 Miskito Indians who were not able to evacuate. Some 5,500 homes have been destroyed in that region. Relief to the Miskito area—the far eastern and mountainous part of the country—will require expensive airlifts to bring relief.
UMCOR received ground reports from United Methodist missionaries in Honduras, who said “all UMC pastors and families are fine.”
Please continue to pray and help by giving to
Hurricanes 2007, UMCOR Advance #982511.
When Beyan Ketty, a fire coal burner in Liberia, joined the Integrated Crop and Pest Management training provided by UMCOR’s Sustainable Agriculture and Development program, he retired from his job as fire coal burner for the more rewarding vegetable harvest.
The program supports efforts like the Farmer Field School which introduces local farmers to new agricultural techniques and new crops. Beyen and his wife Anita entered the vegetable farming business as a result of the training Beyen received. Now the family is able to raise enough money to send their young children, Dwanah and Theresa to school for the very first time. They also have been able to pay for their housing a full year in advance.
Programs like this transforms impoverished areas by introducing new methods of farming. The result is healthy crops, market goods and steady income to families.
You can help with a gift to UMCOR’s
Sustainable Agriculture and Development Program, Advance #982188.
WORLDWIDE: MEDICINE BOX SUPPLIES ARE STILL DESPERATELY LOW
UMCOR needs your help to restore Medicine Box supplies which are severely low. Medicine Boxes are often sent to places where medications and pharmaceuticals are not easily accessible to people. These basic medical supplies can often mean the difference between life and death.
The Medicine Box helps the day-to-day treatment of common ailments that plague babies and their mothers, children, and adults. The Box contains 18 essential medicines and medical supplies that are enough to respond to illnesses and injuries in a population of 1,000 people for a period of three months. Because of the low supply of Medicine Boxes, UMCOR has not been able to fulfill requests for them. Obtaining basic medicines are extremely difficult in countries where there is growing economic crisis. Help us get supplies to those in need.The cost of the Medicine Box is $425.
Learn how your church or community group can be involved in this life saving program, visit
UMCOR's Medicine Box web page
. You can send a life saving gift to
UMCOR Advance #982630, Medicine Box
.
RESOURCES: WELCOMING SOJOURNERS—NEW REPORT TO DONORS
Just, compassionate advocacy and low-cost legal services are the Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON) arms that welcome and hold immigrants through the process of understanding their rights as they enter citizenship status and endure the wait of reuniting with their families. After two years of intense work by a JFON attorney, a Mexican woman finally receives her legal status, her green card and joins her family once again. United Methodist gifts go to work as Justice for Our Neighbors’ arms extend in 21 communities around the US. Download the report and learn about UMCOR’s JFON program.
UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online by clicking on any of the "Give Now" links. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.
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United Methodist Committee on Relief
General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
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Email: umcor@gbgm-umc.org
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UMCOR. Be There. Be Hope.
UMCOR's mission is to alleviate human suffering-whether caused by war, conflict, or natural disaster-with open minds and hearts to all people.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
