Missouri Synod team prepares to deploy to the Philippines

For Immediate Release

Contact: Vicki Biggs, 314-996-1236, 314-556-3829 (cell), @thelcms

The disaster-response team plans to leave Nov. 15

ST. LOUIS, November 14, 2013—A team from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) plans to depart for the Philippines Friday, Nov. 15, to provide immediate relief and begin planning for the long-term recovery in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

The objectives of the trip are to begin working in collaboration with members of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP), an LCMS partner church, and LCMS staff located in the region, as well as to get a firsthand accounting from the field of the needs.

The LCMS eight-member team will include the Rev. Glenn Merritt, director, LCMS Disaster Response; the Rev. Ross Johnson, co-director, LCMS Disaster Response; the Rev. Michael Meyer, manager, LCMS Disaster Response; the Rev. Steven Schave, associate executive director, LCMS Office of International Mission; Sean Harlow, LCMS missionary to the Philippines and Taiwan; Deaconess Pamela Nielsen, associate executive director, LCMS Communications; Rick Steenbock, an LCMS missionary communications specialist based in Germany; and Erik Lunsford, associate editor of Stakeholder Information, LCMS Communications.

During a Nov. 13 sending service at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis, Mo., LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison led a prayer for safe travels for the team.

“Through [the team] may the suffering ones experience Your tender love and see not only hope for this present crisis but the joy of Your forgiveness in Christ Jesus,” Harrison said.

The team will operate out of the LCMS field office in Manila and make trips into the affected areas from there. Team members will take only basic essentials in their carry-on backpacks, including anti-malarial medicines, mosquito nets, boots, durable clothing and some food.

In the Philippines, leaders of the LCP are working to coordinate lodging, transportation and security to accompany the LCMS-LCP joint team into the zones hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded.

To make a gift in support of LCMS Disaster Response, visit http://www.lcms.org/disaster.

About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a biblical, confessional, witness-oriented Christian denomination with 2.3 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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