Missouri Synod Lutherans continue Philippine disaster-relief efforts

For Immediate Release

Contact: Pamela Nielsen, 314-996-1215, @thelcms

Denomination’s commitment exceeds $1 million

ST. LOUIS, April 30, 2014—Many teams and organizations sent to assist with last fall’s Typhoon Haiyan recovery efforts have already left the Philippines, just four months after the disaster.

But The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) continues to assist in the Philippines, both with dollars and genuine Christian concern.

The Nov. 8, 2013, typhoon caused immense damage, killing more than 6,000 people and damaging or demolishing more than 1 million homes.

Yet, in the midst of the chaos and destruction, “God has been at work through the Disaster Response team of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,” noted the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the LCMS, in a recent letter to the church. “He’s done that most recently in the Philippines, where disaster dollars are changing lives and offering hope.”

In that Christ-centered hope, the LCMS continues to walk alongside its partner church — the Lutheran Church in the Philippines — as well as the church’s members.

The LCMS’ commitment to the Typhoon Haiyan relief effort exceeds $1 million.

Initial grants totaling $250,000 provided funds that assisted with food distribution, shelter kits, temporary shelter and spiritual care. Additionally, $600,000 is being used with sawmill construction, cash-for-work programs, rebuilding homes and livelihood restoration. Another grant of $230,000 is helping Orphan Grain Train with food packs, blankets, and school and hygiene kits.

Funds also have been given to help care for the pastors of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines, who have witnessed death on a seemingly immeasurable scale. Providing for their spiritual care helps ensure that the pastors are, in turn, able to care for the church’s members as they seek to rebuild and restart.

“Join me in supporting LCMS Disaster Response,” Harrison said in his letter, adding “that God may use the Church — That’s us, the Body of Christ! — to carry His Word and His gifts through tornado and hurricane, flood and fire, tsunami and typhoon, so that He may care for our neighbors, heal their hearts, soothe their souls.”

Watch a new video on the LCMS’ relief efforts in the Philippines, and see pictures of how the LCMS is restoring joy there.

Learn more about LCMS Disaster Response at www.lcms.org/disaster.

About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a biblical, confessional, witness-oriented Christian denomination with 2.2 million members — 600,000 households — in 6,200 congregations. Through acts of witness and mercy, the church carries out its mission worldwide to make known the love of Jesus Christ. Learn more at www.lcms.org.

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