This morning's news of a devastating earthquake in Japan leaves us all reeling from the suddenness and tragedy of a high magnitude disaster. Hundreds have lost their lives and hundreds more are missing. The resulting tsunami has affected many others on the Pacific Rim as well, bringing waves of tragedy to many places.
When things like this happen, we all wonder what we can do to be helpful to the many victims of the tragedy. I want to offer two suggestions for things you can do today to show your concern.
First, I invite you to pray. Spend some time in prayer for all those affected, and for those who will be helping them in the days to come. Wherever you find yourself today, take the opportunity to pray for God's guidance, peace, and comfort upon those who have lost loved ones, property, and their livelihood.
Second, one of the best ways that we can begin to help the recovery effort is to give to organizations that can make a difference in a short amount of time. Our United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is geared toward providing help where it is needed most. UMCOR's overhead costs are paid for by our One Great Hour of Sharing offering each fall, thus 100% of whatever money is donated for relief during a particular disaster goes to directly to aid those affected.
UMCOR has a dedicated fund for Asia-Pacific emergencies, which you can access here:
http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=3021317. You can donate by credit card on this site, or you can write a check and drop it in the offering plate this Sunday, when we'll have a special second-mile offering for UMCOR. Just write Advance number 3021317 on your check and we will make sure it gets there as soon as possible.
Our spring break mission team will also be heading to the UMCOR Depot in Salt Lake City in just a little over a week. They will be packing supplies that may be used to support the relief effort, including health kits, layette kits, and other kits that will be of immediate use. If you'd like to make a kit, you can find the specifications and contents at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/. Bring your completed kits to the church between now and Friday, March 18 and the team will take it with them to the Depot.
May we all remember that wherever the world is in pain, God is already there. May we join Him as the healing begins.
