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Flooding Relief Fund Created to Help Churches in Ecuador

QUITO, ECUADOR (March 12, 2008) – Covenant World Relief (CWR) has established the Ecuador Relief Fund to provide emergency relief on behalf of four Ecuadorian Covenant churches ministering to people displaced by some of the worst flooding to strike the country in nearly three decades.

Conditions in the country resemble those of New Orleans after Katrina, says Dave Mark, regional coordinator for Latin America in the Department of World Mission of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC).

More than 300,000 people have had their homes destroyed due to rain and subsequent flooding that has drenched this country since mid-February. “These refugees are facing hunger, respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, skin disease and the loss of all they own,” Mark says.

More than half of the nation’s provinces have experienced flooding. Hardest hit have been the coastal areas of Manabi and Guayas, says Mark. According to the United Nations, the rains are expected to continue until April. To see additional photographs, please visit Flooding in Ecuador.

The Executive Council of the Covenant Church of Ecuador is asking all Ecuadorian Covenant churches to gather food and medicine for the four Covenant churches affected by these floods – the churches are located in San Nicolas, Milagro, Mejia, and Chilintomo.

The council also is asking for financial aid from Covenant churches in Sweden and North America to help the four churches distribute food to at least 300 families who attend the Covenant churches and at least 1,200 other families in their respective areas.

“The churches have always responded well when there have been times of natural disaster,” says Baxter Swenson, former ECC missionary to Ecuador and current co-director of missionary personnel. Covenant missionaries are part of the medical team who will distribute medicine and give basic care as well as help with distribution efforts.

To contribute to the emergency fund, send checks made payable to Covenant World Relief in care of Covenant World Relief, Evangelical Covenant Church, 5101 North Francisco Ave., Chicago, IL. 60625. Gifts should be designated for "Ecuador Relief."

To donate online using a credit card, visit Ecuador Relief Fund.

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