PDA Network Update 4/8/09
Pray and give thanks for National Response Team members
As we enter Holy Week and meditate upon both the glory and the passion of Christ, PDA asks that you offer prayers for disaster survivors and prayers and thanksgiving for those ministering to them. This week, volunteer members of the National Response Team are witnessing to the healing love of Christ in Binghamton, New York, and in Fargo, North Dakota.
Assistance continues in Darfur, Sudan
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is still able to provide assistance to the people of Darfur. PDA works in Darfur as a partner in the Action by Churches Together (ACT) International global aid alliance. Since 2004, ACT – in a unique alliance with Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of Catholic relief, development and social service organizations – has been working with partners on the ground to provide health care assistance, peace/conflict resolution training, seeds and supplies to farmers, and help reconstructing and rehabilitating schools, among other activities. Fortunately, at this time our ACT/Caritas partners have been allowed to remain in Darfur and continue to assist the millions of Darfuris in need.
The latest developments in Sudan’s western region of Darfur do not affect PDA’s work in south Sudan. PDA continues to support returning refugees displaced during the North/South conflict that ended in 2005 through agricultural and conflict resolution initiatives. Give today to help the people of Darfur.
Response to drought and famine in Kenya
The Government of Kenya estimates that about one-third of the population is suffering from massive food shortages; in January 2009, it declared the famine situation in the country a national disaster.
One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds are helping our mission partner, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, and other local partners to minimize the human suffering for more than 38,000 households in the worst hit areas and to prepare communities to withstand future droughts. Give today to relief efforts in Kenya.