Winter Solstice
Chile Reconstruction	Six Companion Synod Congregations in Need: Read About Their Earthquake Damage and How You Can Help February 29, 2010	March 4, 2010 ELCA Chile Earthquake Relief   In Spanish: IELCH May 2010 Newsletter "En Comunidad"
Earthquake Relief Bulletin Insert	Hand in Hand blog with update from ELCA missionary Kate Lawler serving as ELCA regional representative for South America	Pastora Gloria's statement regarding the earthquake

Chile Earthquake Situation Reports

May 20 Situation Report #9

May 6 Situation Report #8

April 22 Situation Report #7

April 8 Situation Report #6

April 1 Situation Report #5

March 25 Situation Report #4 On March 20, the Chilean government released a list of 342 names of people whose deaths were directly caused by the February 27 earthquake and tsunami.

March 18 Situation Report #3 From ELCA missionary Kate Lawler: An image that strikes me from this week's update are the ever-present earthquakes and aftershocks in the games and artwork of children at EPES Center in Concepcion.

March 11 Situation Report #2

March 4 Situation Report #1

As part of the ELCA’s Companion Synod/Church program, the Indiana-Kentucky Synod is a companion relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile (IELCH). Guided by a mutually agreed upon covenant which is rooted in an accompaniment model of relationship, the IN-KY Synod and IELCH walk alongside one another in mutual encouragement, learning, and support. We trust that through our relationship with one another God’s Spirit will empower and equip us to be faithful stewards of the mission God has entrusted to us, each in our context.

IELCH has 13 congregations and missions throughout Chile and about 3000 members. The denomination has about twelve pastors serving these congregations/missions. Pastora Gloria Rojas serves as their Presiding Pastor (similar to ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson). The Indiana-Kentucky Synod has hosted a number of visitors from IELCH over the last nine years, including Pastora Gloria, who preached for the 2005 Synod Assembly Sending Eucharist. A number of delegations from our synod have also visited IELCH in that time, most recently a 2007 group of folks from various synod congregations who spent a week getting to know the congregations and people of IELCH and a few congregation-based micro-businesses whose beginnings were funded by the IN-KY Synod and the Indiana-Kentucky Synod Women of the ELCA.

See a map of Chile and locations of IELCH congregations.

Rooted in this relationship, Pastor Bill Gafkjen (Assistant to the Bishop and Director of Global Mission) will work with Pastora Gloria Rojas over coming weeks to determine the best ways for us to embody our companionship as IELCH, its congregations, people and leaders, live into God’s promise to bring resurrection from the rubble of this historic earthquake. Along the way, we will provide periodic updates like this one through synodical communication channels.

The information contained in these updates will be collated from various sources, most of which are expressions of the wide circle of our companionship with IELCH: Kate Lawler, ELCA missionary serving as Latin American Regional Representative in Argentina; Odette Salman, the IN-KY Synod Global Mission Committee’s Spanish-speaking communication liaison between Pastora Gloria and Pastor Bill; various churchwide staff from the Latin America desk in Chicago.

Sunday evening February 28, 2010

Pastor Gloria was able to visit a number of congregations in Santiago today.  Structural damages will be evaluated in the coming days. In the majority of IELCH congregations, the homes of members have suffered fallen walls, bricks and adobe blocks, making them vulnerable to theft and injury. For example, Buen Samaritano Congregation (whose pre-school the IN-KY Synod has assisted in the past) probably lost a couple of walls.

In the IELCH Santiago offices shelves, books, papers, etc. were thrown to the floor in the quake and many things broken, but overall the office is okay. The domestic violence shelters (like pre-schools, a core ministry of IELCH) have only suffered minor damages. Continued aftershocks have everyone anxious.

There are places without water and electricity. Some supermarkets are only operating with cash. Speculators are selling bottled water for 5 times the price and there is looting in the most affected areas. As it has been announced that there is enough gas for two more weeks, people are starting to hoard it. 

Pastora Gloria spoke with Pastor Oscar Sanhueza this evening. Pastor Oscar lives in Concepcion and serves Comunidad Vida Nueva in the town of Chiguayante, near Concepcion. The situation in Concepcion is chaotic, with much destruction. Pastor Sanhueza was able to speak with Pastor Eduardo Rojo (Martin Lutero Congregation, Concepcion) who said that there were no victims among his congregation’s members and that his family was fine. Pastor Oscar was able to travel to Chiguayante where two families who have lost everything and will be sheltered in the Church. Pastor Carlos Caamaño and his family are fine and it seems that the community (San Pablo Congregacion en Haulpen, near Concepcion) is fine as well. Pastor Oscar’s own home has been severely damaged and he and his family are sleeping temporarily in the street. 

It is not possible to get to the fishing village of Coronel where the IELCH’s San Pedro congregation is located. The IELCH does not have information from the congregation or pastors there since communications have been down. People in that area have evacuated to the highlands for fear of a massive ocean waves. 

On Tuesday March 2, Pastora Gloria will be part of an ecumenical assessment team that will conduct visits to congregations and communities in the Concepcion area. Other members of the team include the bishop of the Methodist Church in Chile and Church World Service. The assessment is being conducted in coordination with the Interior Ministry’s National Office of Emergency Response. It has also been reported that some doctors who had been in Haiti are on their way to Chile; Pastora Gloria is working with another ELCA-supported ministry Eduación Popular en Salud (EPES) to register such doctors and put them to work.

Pastora Gloria conveys the IELCH’s deep gratitude for all the prayers and concern that they are receiving from brothers and sisters around the world. 

March 4, 2010 ELCA Disaster Response in Chile

Unlike other aid organizations, ELCA Disaster Response works through long-standing partnerships on the ground that are prepared and able to reach the most affected communities. One such partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile, reports that church buildings are already being used to shelter the homeless.

Our partners are in need of water, water filters, food, shelter and personal hygiene items to distribute to affected communities. 

Your donations are needed to bring these life-saving supplies to those in need. Will you help today?

100 percent of your gifts designated for Chile Earthquake Relief will be used for this response effort.

Give today online (www.elca.org/chiledonate) or call 800-638-3522.

Download a bulletin insert to share with your congregation.

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