Latest Ebola aid: travel scholarships for medical professionals

Synod President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison has announced a new initiative to deliver aid to combat the spread of Ebola.

Dr. Katie Butler, a critical-care surgeon from Boxford, Mass., and a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Topsfield, Mass., listens to a young boy as she and fellow members of an LCMS Mercy Medical Team treat patients June 10 in Kakmega County, Kenya, East Africa. Medical professionals who volunteer to assist in the Synod’s response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may receive up to $2,500 in travel funds. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

“The LCMS has kept our focus on this epidemic and has continued working through our partners since the outbreak began in West Africa,” Harrison said. “I’m pleased to announce that the LCMS is now making travel scholarships available for LCMS medical professionals who go to Africa to work with our Lutheran brothers and sisters to assist in the fight against Ebola.”

The Rev. John Fale, associate executive director of LCMS Mercy Operations, said the Synod will provide up to $2,500 each for reimbursement of personal expenses for travel — including airfare, lodging and food — for the first 20 applicants.

Those who apply “must be pre-approved and demonstrate that they are part of an established group, such as Doctors Without Borders,” Fale said. “This will ensure that they have appropriate licensure and insurance to practice.”

Scholarship recipients will be expected to complete expense-report forms and submit their receipts.

For more information or to apply, send an email to Fale at John.Fale@lcms.org.

Harrison also encouraged congregations to pray for and commend Lutheran medical professionals who choose to respond personally in Africa.

The announcement follows an LCMS commitment in August of providing $51,175 for disease prevention in Liberia and Guinea. Two previous Ebola grants totaling $16,554 were distributed to the Synod’s partners in Sierra Leone and Guinea earlier this year. The Synod also has partnered with the LCMS Atlantic District to match up to $50,000 that will enable one of its pastors, who is from Liberia, to deliver needed supplies to outlying areas of Liberia.

Posted Dec. 1, 2014