Home
Covenant Relief Dollars Already 'Hard at Work'
NEW ORLEANS, LA (September 3, 2005) - Covenant World Relief (CWR) dollars are
already "on the ground" and hard at work providing aid to victims of
Hurricane Katrina, reports Jim Sundholm, CWR director.
A generator provided by CWR could arrive today in Biloxi, Mississippi,
where it will be used to support relief efforts. Fuel to run the
generator was sent with the equipment, which is being driven to that
area by a volunteer who left Chicago on Friday.
"We had some dollars set aside for general disaster relief," Sundholm
said in explaining how CWR is able to respond so quickly in times of
tragedies like this. It was that same strategy that allowed Covenant
World Relief to respond immediately to the tsunami disaster last
December with $50,000 immediately provided from the CWR disaster fund
that enabled relief efforts to quickly get under way. More than $1
million was eventually contributed to that Covenant relief effort.
Many of those left homeless by Hurricane Katrina have made their way to
local churches in eastern Texas and southern Tennessee, Sundholm says.
The challenge is how to provide for the needs of such large groups of
people. CWR is partnering with local churches in those areas, with CWR
dollars used to cover the cost of food and water for those displaced
individuals.
The relationship with one of CWR's newest partners, Voice of Calvary
Ministries, came about after a medical clinic operated by the ministry
lost power. The ministry, located in Jackson, Mississippi, was founded
by Rev. John Perkins. "The ministry's leaders had just walked out of an
emergency planning meeting when I called," Sundholm explained. "They
were trying to figure out how to cope with the loss of power and other
issues." The ministry leaders said they were amazed that Sundholm's
call, offering to work with them to provide relief, came just as their
meeting had ended. "It's a God thing," Sundholm says. The ministry also
is working to make vacant houses in the area available to temporarily
house refugees from the damaged areas.
"We are working with a 'rim to the center' strategy," Sundholm explains.
There are 16,000 refugees in Jackson whose needs can and must be met
quickly. The three-stage approach first focuses on rescue efforts, then
moves to providing shelter and other support for people who are
displaced, and finally focuses on stabilization for these people,
especially in securing longer term temporary housing and support.
Covenant World Relief is exploring what it can do to help orchestrate
housing for displaced people, Sundholm says. "We are aware that
different people are offering longer term space for displaced families,
and we will pay close attention to opportunities to become involved in
matching refugees with available housing."
The primary focus at this time remains one of channeling relief dollars
to the affected areas and supporting displaced people. Donations to the
Covenant's relief effort have begun to flow, including the special
online Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund at the Evangelical Covenant Church
(ECC) website – www.covchurch.org. After only a few hours of operation,
nearly $4,000 had been donated using credit cards. To donate with a
major credit card, go to the Covenant home page and select the relief
fund link.
"I'm impressed with the generous response of Covenant people to this
terrible tragedy in the South," says ECC President Glenn Palmberg. "We
are responding in a manner similar to how we respond to other tragedies
- with resources and a willingness to do what we can to alleviate
poverty and to do it in the name and service of Christ."
While pleased with the response of Covenanters, the president expressed
sadness over the manner in which many of the poorest and most helpless
victims of this tragedy have been treated.
"This is a tragedy that appears to have most strongly affected many of
the most helpless," Palmberg observed. "While there are some who did not
heed the warnings, there are many who could not heed the warnings
because they had no way out."
The president quoted from a prayer offered during a special prayer
service conducted Friday morning at Covenant offices, led by Gary
Walter, executive minister of the Department of Church Growth &
Evangelism, and attended by staff. The prayer expressed the hope "that
the church can rise to the occasion and be the church."
"What that calls us to do is to live out the compassion of Christ in
response to the tragic needs that this incredible storm has created,"
Palmberg said.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
