MCC appeals for aid following Asia disasters
Mennonite Central Committee has committed $250,000 and is appealing for donations to assist people in South Asia whose homes and lives were devastated by recent earthquakes and flooding. In addition, MCC is contributing $480,000 from its account at the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, raising MCC’s total relief effort to $730,000. MCC is the relief, development and peace agency of North American Mennonites and is supported by many U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
Typhoon Ketsana wreaked havoc in late September as heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding and mudslides across Southeast Asia, followed by two earthquakes that struck the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. MCC is working with partners in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to assess needs and provide short-term relief as needed.
Late September flooding in the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka districts of southern India, the worst in decades, killed more than 250 people, left some 2.5 million homeless and destroyed crops and livestock. According to MBMS International, the global mission agency of North American Mennonite Brethren, over 100 Indian MB churches were affected.
MCC is working through Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India to provide immediate distribution of rice, lentils and blankets to families affected by the flooding. MCSFI is a service and fellowship organization of the eight Mennonite, Mennonite Brethren and Brethren in Christ conferences in India. The MCSFI relief effort is in the heart of the Mennonite Brethren area and is being implemented by Mennonite Brethren churches.
“The destruction, particularly in Indonesia and India, is enormous and for the most part has not been picked up by the media in Canada and the United States,” says Ron Flaming, director of MCC’s International Programs Department. “MCC has an opportunity to support our sister Anabaptist churches and make a difference in these contexts as they offer assistance in the name of Christ.”
For more information or to donate through MCC, see www.mcc.org or call 888-563-4676. To donate through MBMSI, see “Community Development” at www.mbmsi.org.—Linda Espenshade for MCC
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