Chile faces long road to recovery
The altar of a Methodist Church stands amid the rubble of the
Feb. 27 earthquake. UMCOR is working with the Methodist Church
of Chile to assess need and provide relief. Gifts may be made to
Chile Emergency Advance #3021178. ~umns photo/Nelson Rivera
Two weeks after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Chile, Methodist leaders are helping the country respond in pastoral and practical ways.
On March 7, Chile officially began three days of mourning for the hundreds of people who died during the Feb. 27 earthquake. The Methodist Church of Chile has received emergency grants of $10,000 from the United Methodist Committee on Relief and $15,000 from Church World Service.
Methodist Bishop Mario Martínez and Juan Salazar, president of Methodist Social Ministry, were part of the InterChurch Emergency Committee Chile 2010 that left Santiago on March 4 for the region hardest hit by the earthquake. The committee’s assessments will help guide the responses of UMCOR, Church World Service and ecumenical partners in Action by Churches Together.
“In several of the most affected cities still there is no potable water supply and electricity,” the bishop added. “Also, there is violence, robberies and outages. We pray for the moments we are going through right now.“
Martínez said that faith in God has given church members “strength and confidence to remind us that we are not alone in the extreme situations in life.”
It is a message he intends to carry as relief efforts are put into place. “At all times and in any situation, the Lord sustains us and moves us to serve the need of human beings with love and in his name,” he noted.
Donations to the relief efforts of UMCOR and the Methodist Church of Chile can be made to Chile Emergency Advance # 3021178. Donations also can be sent by check to the West Michigan Conference Treasurer, P. O. Box 6247, Grand Rapids MI 49516. Please indicate in the memo line of the check that it is for the Chile Emergency.
*Reported by Linda Bloom, a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York. Humberto Casanova contributed to this report.
Homepage photo: umns/courtesy of ELCA News Service