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The UMCOR Hotline for March 15, 2011

by UMCOR | United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) - USA
Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:30 GMT

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In Today's Hotline: Read how UMCOR is responding to needs around the world:

LIBERIA: REFUGEES POUR IN FROM COTE D’IVOIRE
JAPAN: EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI AFFECT PACIFIC REGION
US: FLOOD CONCERNS RISE IN DAKOTAS AND MINNESOTA
UMCOR: ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING, APRIL 3
HAITI: SUPPORT FOR TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL

LIBERIA: REFUGEES POUR IN FROM COTE D’IVOIRE

At least 80,000 refugees have fled political unrest in Cote d’Ivoire and taken up sanctuary in neighboring Liberia, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In all, more than 450,000 Ivorians have been displaced since fighting broke out following contested presidential elections. United Nations observers of the November 2010 elections certified that Alassane Outtara won the elections, but incumbent Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step down.

According to ACT Alliance, a United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) partner, the number of refugees in Liberia could easily reach 100,000 by the end of April.

UMCOR is assessing the needs of the Ivorian refugees in Liberia. Your gift to Liberia Emergency, UMCOR Advance #150300, will help UMCOR bring the refugees relief and hope.

JAPAN: EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI AFFECT PACIFIC REGION

A huge, 8.9-magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami wracked Japan on Friday afternoon, killing thousands of people. As the tsunami rolled through the Pacific region, developing countries and small islands were especially vulnerable. UMCOR is in contact with partners in the region and is assessing the developing situation. Read more.

Download a church bulletin insert and a worship slide to serve as a resource for your congregation to support the Pacific Emergency, UMCOR Advance #3021317, is urgently needed.

US: FLOOD CONCERNS RISE IN DAKOTAS AND MINNESOTA

Communities in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota are preparing for possible record flooding as they await early spring rains. The National Guard is already contemplating two dozen evacuation scenarios, and local people are filling nearly four million sandbags.

United Methodist Bishop Deborah Kiesey of the Dakotas Area Annual Conference sent out a message of hope and solidarity to the communities, trusting that “the larger UMC is standing with them in the fight” against the rising Red River.

Your gift to US Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670, will help those communities affected by spring floods to weather the storm and recover.

UMCOR: ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING, APRIL 3

When Juma Gul and his family returned to Afghanistan after years in exile in Pakistan, he found his home had been destroyed along with local water sources for agriculture and livestock.

Thanks to an UMCOR program, Gul was able to repair his home, and the underground irrigation system that watered his land was restored. “I am proud to be an Afghan living in my own country, in my own house, and cultivating my own land,” he says.

Your participation in One Great Hour of Sharing on April 3 ensures the success of projects like this one and offers hope and healing to the world’s most vulnerable people.

Gifts to this offering underwrite UMCOR’s cost of doing business so that 100 percent of every other gift you make to a specific UMCOR project will be spent entirely on that project and not on home-office costs.

Order your free One Great Hour of Sharing envelopes, posters, and other worship materials by calling 888-346-3862 or get them online here. Gifts to this fund can be made all year long.

HAITI: SUPPORT FOR TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL

While curing 600 patients a year of tuberculosis, Hopital de l’Universite d’Etat d’Haiti (HUEH) is also training medical students from Haiti and around the world to treat the dreaded disease.

Established by physicians of Meharry Medical College of Nashville, Tennessee, after the January 2010 earthquake, the tuberculosis program at HUEH Hospital is the main referral tuberculosis center in the country.

UMCOR is working through the Tennessee Annual Conference, which coordinates support for the program, to supplement operational costs for the tuberculosis clinic throughout 2011.

Your gift to Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325, supports UMCOR’s recovery work in post-earthquake Haiti.

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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