The UMCOR Hotline
June 26, 2007
In Today's Hotline:
US: UMCOR Responds to Floods, Tornadoes Nicaragua: Improved Sanitation for a CommunitySwaziland: Food Security During DroughtSouth Africa: "Ray of Hope" for Refugees
US: UMCOR RESPONDS TO FLOODS, TORNADOES
Southwest Texas, the Dakotas, and Kansas East annual conferences are recipients of aid for ongoing relief of damage caused by severe weather. The April tornado that displaced 700 and killed ten in the Eagle Pass, TX, area, is the focus of an UMCOR grant to assist with long-term recovery. The plan is to assist vulnerable families on both sides of the border. In the Dakotas, UMCOR is helping to fund the recovery from flooding in Aberdeen. More than 300 volunteers have cleaned out homes and the conference plans to assist with case management and spiritual care. In Kansas East, where 14 counties were declared disaster areas due to spring floods, UMCOR is assisting with a start-up grant to help the conference in its response. Your gifts to UMCOR Advance #901670, Domestic Disaster Response, are critical to these ongoing efforts of recovery and rehabilitation. 
NICARAGUA: IMPROVED SANITATION FOR EL BONETE
Residents of El Bonete, a remote village near Terrabona, Nicaragua, are enjoying a new system of latrines, thanks to an UMCOR grant. Some 680 people expect to see improved health and cleaner water as a result. Community members improved a roadway into their village as part of the project. Please help with your gifts to UMCOR Advance #501300, Central America Emergency.
SWAZILAND: FOOD SECURITY DURING DROUGHT
Poor rainfall during the past four years has led to drought in the tiny country of Swaziland in southern Africa. Adding to the people's woes are severe economic conditions and the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS. UMCOR is working with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa to distribute emergency food to school children. Your gift to UMCOR Advance #101250, All Africa Drought and Famine, will help in a meaningful way.
SOUTH AFRICA: "RAY OF HOPE" FOR REFUGEES
"The church is doing what it's really supposed to do," says Bishop Paul Verryn, whose Central Methodist Mission in the heart of Johannesburg is hosting some 900 Zimbabwean refugees. "We're speaking grace rather than judgment on a busy street corner of a big city." With funding from UMCOR Bishop Verryn and the Mission's "Ray of Hope" program are offering preschool, infant care, legal aid, literacy classes and a free health clinic to refugees. In addition, the temporary residents have a safe place to stay while they search for permanent housing and work. Please help with your gift to UMCOR Advance #982540, Global Refugee Response.
UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online by clicking on any of the "Give Now" links. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.
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