PC(USA) dispatches trio to tsunami disaster zone

Trip aimed at assessing needs and boosting aid

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has sent three representatives — two of whom are disaster relief specialists — to South Asia to meet with church partners, lobby for more relief aid, and further assess needs in the wake of last month’s quake-tsunami catastrophe.

       The focus of the trip is on Sri Lanka and Indonesia, the countries hardest hit by the devastating Dec. 26 disaster, which wrought death and destruction across 12 countries from Thailand to East Africa, killing at least 160,000 people.

       As the death toll continued to climb, two of the PC(USA) officials arrived last week in Colombo, Sri Lanka, capital of that battered island nation, where they met with representatives of the National Council of Churches of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) and other ecumenical and denominational leaders.

       The two are Luke Asikoye, Associate for International Disaster Response for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), and the Rev. John A. Robinson, PDA’s Associate for Government Relations and a spiritual-care specialist.

       PDA coordinates the Presbyterian Church’s disaster-response operations in the United States and around the world.

       “The visit pertains to PDA’s ongoing assessment of damage and needs for relief aid to tsunami victims,” Susan Ryan, PDA’s coordinator, told the Presbyterian News Service. Leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) recently met with PDA in Louisville to discuss how the PC(USA) can support its member churches in the affected areas.

       Asikoye and Robinson discussed with the NCCSL the possibility of expanding its current response. They also met with members of the Dutch Reformed Church in Sri Lanka, with which church PDA plans to partner in providing tsunami relief aid.

       The two spoke with Reformed churches in Sri Lanka about how PDA might support the relief efforts that they were doing in addition to the ongoing work of the NCCSL.

       Robinson also met with tsunami survivors and visited relief shelters while in Sri Lanka, where some 30,000 people were killed by the disaster and nearly a million have been made homeless. In neighboring India more than 15,000 people were killed, but the worst hit country was Indonesia, where more than 100,000 people have lost their lives.

       Ryan hopes the trip will lead to other efforts, such as combating the sexual abuse of women and child trafficking following the tsunami.

       “A key piece we’re looking at, and another reason Luke and John are on this trip,” she said, “is to look at the issues of protection for women and issues around the potential of sex trafficking of children. Those are all issues that are part of our response right now.”

       Asikoye and Robinson traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia, on Jan. 17, where they joined the Rev. Raafat L. Zaki, the PC(USA)’s area coordinator for Central, South and Southeast Asia, who departed for the region Jan. 15.

       “We will work as a team so that we achieve synergy and maximize our ability to respond,” Zaki told the Presbyterian News Service on Jan. 14.

       All three men plan to return to the United States Jan. 23 or 24.

       While in Indonesia the trio hopes to meet with leaders from the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (CCI), a longtime partner representing some 78 Protestant denominations, the majority of them Reformed.

       Also planned are meetings with representatives from the Central Java Indonesian Christian Church, another PC(USA) partner, and the Karo Batak Protestant Church (GBKP), a Kabanjahe City–based denomination with which the PC(USA) recently forged relations.

       The PC(USA) delegation plans to visit the island of Java and Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, in the northern part of Indonesia’s Sumatra island. It was off the Sumatran coast last month that a magnitude 9 earthquake triggered the destructive tsunamis that ripped across the Indian Ocean, slamming a dozen nations and killing tens of thousands.

       The representatives hope to travel to Aceh province, in the northwest part of the island, which sustained the most highly publicized damage from the disaster. However, Ryan said political strife in the region may prohibit a visit there.

       Meanwhile both Zaki and Ryan cautioned that the response required for a disaster of this scope will be long-term.

       “This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Zaki said, “because the impact is going to stay with us a decade or so, I think. So after we recover from the shock, if we ever do, and especially for the people who are in the area, what is next in terms of rebuilding, in terms of rehabilitation?”

       Ryan recently attended a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a global alliance of ecumenical agencies and churches, including Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Through ACT many faith-based organizations are coordinating their work and resources to help bring relief to affected areas.

       Ryan said ACT and its partners are currently looking at a two-year response budget for the disaster but anticipate the time frame being expanded.

             Ryan said money channeled through ACT members in the affected countries will go for disaster mitigation and prevention, including building new cyclone shelters in impacted countries.

       “In Bangladesh, which has regular flooding, we’ve dramatically reduced life lost because of the building of cyclone shelters,” she said. “All of these are coastal areas. So we’re going to be looking at things like cyclone shelters, disaster preparedness training, developing and strengthening the capacity of our church partners in the field for the future. All of that will be part of that full recovery for the future as well.”

       PDA, which works ecumenically with other partners such as the National Council of Churches–related Church World Service (CWS), has been active in the tsunami relief effort since it began.

       PDA has already dispatched $520,000 in emergency assistance to impacted areas from One Great Hour of Sharing funds and designated gifts. A total of $1.1 million has been received as part of a $2.5 million churchwide appeal.

       So far money has gone for such items as medicine, blankets, clothing and dry food rations.

       PDA has also lined up disaster relief specialists in the United States who are from Sri Lanka and who are ready to assist in the response there.

       Ryan noted that the backgrounds of both Asikoye and Robinson made them logical candidates for assessing the devastation in South Asia. Robinson is active in various areas of providing spiritual care to disaster survivors and others affected by trauma, and he provides linkage to government agencies and other important groups in Washington, DC.

       Robinson also works to engage Presbyterian congregations in the ministry of pastoral accompaniment for refugees being resettled in the United States. He represents the PC(USA) on the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program Committee and serves as PDA’s liaison to the Interfaith Spiritual Care Givers network providing care to immigrants and refugees in detention centers.

       Asikoye’s work with PDA involves working with various councils of churches and  church partners to strengthen and coordinate their disaster responses. He also monitors and evaluates PDA’s relief efforts, as well as working in-country to ensure that systems are in place and able to deliver the relief assistance being provided.

       Contributions for tsunami relief may be sent through normal mission giving channels. Gifts by credit card can be made by calling PresbyTel at 800-872-3283 or online at www.pcusa.org/pda. Checks payable to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can also be mailed directly to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Individual Remittance Processing, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.