Gifts from afar We ache with [you],” wrote Mary Mikhael, president of the Near East School of Theology, Beirut, Lebanon, after Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. “And we pray for healing to all those who lost loved ones and property. ... And to those who are helping, we pray for strength and wisdom.” After the hurricanes, such condolences and even gifts poured in from church partners in Japan, Tanzania, Brazil, Geneva and elsewhere. “This is accompaniment at its best,” said Rafael Malpica-Padilla, executive director of ELCA Global Mission. “Mission is always a two-way street where both companions are givers and receivers.” Madagascar’s Malagasy Lutheran Church wrote: “We know exactly how such [a] disaster is lived by the people. ... Though we have [little] to share with you except prayers, we would like to symbolize our concern by a check of $250.” A Lutheran parish of English-, German- and Spanish-speaking congregations in Quito, Ecuador, sent $1,000. “It is not the money that we want to have noted,” wrote member Sandra Edwards, “but the fact that this is a rare opportunity for our congregation to contribute to a church in the North.” Expressing “great sorrow and pain,” the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church gave $4,500. “Although the amount is small compared to the size of this disaster, please see it as an extension of our caring, thoughts and prayers for you, our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,” wrote Masatoshi Yamanouchi, church president. And in Indonesia, Neni Nasita from Meulaboh, Aceh Barat—where ELCA partners provided aid after the 2004 South Asian tsunami—wanted to send a letter when she heard U.S. children had lost homes, families and more in the hurricanes. Nasita was one of many children who came to a center run by Yayasan Tanggul Bencana Indonesia, a partner of Action by Churches Together, to ask for water after the tsunami. Nasita’s letter said: “We have experienced the same thing. ... Even though we have different religions, we are all human beings, so can I be friends with you without caring about our different religions? ...We will always pray for you. There will be a blessing in disguise.” |
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