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| Photo via Twitter |
How to Help |
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1. Pray for the people of Chile their leaders and emergency and emergency response workers. 2. Please help the people of Chile by sending gifts payable to your congregation marked for Chile Earthquake and Tsunami with the request they be sent through your Conference office on to Wider Church Ministries. OR Send gifts, made out to the "Missionary Society of Connecticut" and marked in the memo portion "Chile Earthquake & Tsunami" to Connecticut Conference UCC, United Church Center, 125 Sherman St., Hartford, CT 06105. OR 3. Make a secure online donation through the Connecticut Conference toward Chile earthquake relief efforts. |
CONCEPCION, CHILE (03/01/2010) -- Just six weeks after the Caribbean nation of Haiti suffered a major earthquake, 7.0 on the Richter scale, another tremblor with 500 times the force brought down buildings in the South American country of Chile. The Feb. 27 quake scored 8.8 on the Richter scale, making it one of the most powerful ever recorded. Within hours, emergency staff from Church World Service (CWS) and the United Church of Christ began their work to bring aid to the stricken area.
The death toll, mercifully, so far looks to be far lower than in Haiti due to Chile's earthquake-aware building codes, the greater depth of the shock center, and its distance from major population areas. Chilean officials report confirmed casualties of over 700, which may rise as teams search collapsed buildings for survivors and victims. Elena Huegal, a Global Ministries Missionary serving with the Pentecostal Church of Chile (IPC), is safe, along with the IPC leaders with whom she was meeting when the quake struck. CWS has reported that their colleagues on the ground are also safe.
"The news this morning of a devastating earthquake and its possible consequent tsunami make us all gasp in astonishment," wrote Conference Minister the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree on Saturday, before she began a vacation. "I urge you to continue in your generous gifts for Haiti and now to respond with added generosity for those affected by this earthquake.
"Most importantly, I ask you to pray. I have experienced a 6.0 earthquake and this quake at 8.8 is over a thousand times stronger. A quake is not only devastating and dangerous; it is disorienting and emotionally draining beyond understanding for those who have not experienced one. Pray for the wellbeing of all!"
Susan Sanders, the UCC's Minister for Global Sharing of Resources, said that messages of care, concern and support have already been sent to UCC/Global Ministries partners in the country: to the Rev. Ulises Munoz of the IPC; to Rosario Castillo, Educacion Popular en Salud; and to Dora Canales, Comunidad Teologica de Chile. One Great Hour of Sharing grants have already been approved for these Global Ministries Partners in Chile, and to Church World Service, to support immediate response initiatives.
