9/11 "Comfort and Renew" - New Jersey Update

Dear friends in Christ,

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." This text was part of the Gospel reading on October 27, Reformation Sunday. On this special day I had the privilege of worshipping with the members of Locasha Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Newark, New Jersey. Locasha Church is a mission of the African Immigrant Ministry of the New Jersey District-LCMS (William Klettke, District President). Brother Garswa Yarmeto, pastor, invited me to receive the congregation's thanks for Lutheran Disaster Response and to share an African meal.

Locasha is a Liberian storefront congregation in Newark that began ministry in August 2001. Locasha Evangelical Lutheran Mission provides computer training, after-school programs, and fellowship to refugees who are making transition from war-torn African countries to life in the United States. Their building, which was a center for illegal drug dealing and prostitution, now provides five housing units and worship space for refugees, the majority from Liberia, with some from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. When the World Trade Center towers were attacked, the members could see the flames and destruction that was occurring across the river. They, and those to whom Locasha ministers, were traumatized again. They came to the US from war-torn countries to find safety and stability. That day they experienced the feeling of vulnerability and tragedy we all felt. "9/11 re-ignited everything," Brother Yarmeto noted. "The people felt unsafe. Many immigrants lost jobs. A woman from our congregation lost her son in a WTC tower. The pastor next door was also killed."

Here in Locasha Church Lutheran Disaster Response is supporting an on-going counseling presence. That presence was especially helpful during the recent shootings in the Washington D.C. area. "People were afraid to sleep in their beds," Brother Yarmeto told me. "In Africa, sleeping on a bed near a window meant that you could be shot by a stray bullet. So when the sniper shootings were going on, the people slept on their floors for safety, just as they do in Africa. Some slept on the floor of the church."

But the people of Locasha are not without hope. They give thanks to God for God's presence and goodness. They praise God for the strength to make a difference in their community. Three weeks ago members of the congregation went to the World Trade Center site "to reassure the people there that all is not lost." Last Friday they sent essential items to African refugee camps.

I was privileged to worship with the members of Locasha Church on Reformation Sunday. As I reflected on the text, I spoke to them about how people feel as a result of such tragedies, how their neighbors and they themselves were experiencing normal reactions in an abnormal situation. I also reassured them that as they were working their way through times of depression and despair, God had not abandoned them nor had God's people. The love and presence of God - and the activity of God's people - is part of the Gospel truth that sets us free from our helplessness and hopelessness.

I want to thank you for your prayers and generosity, which help deliver and sustain that message of truth, that presence of hope. Because of you, LDR is able to live out that freeing Gospel message directly to immigrants and refugees in New Jersey, New York, and Washington D.C. who have been impacted by last year's terrorist attacks. Because of you, God's people are present with traumatized refugees in New Jersey, joining them in their fears and living out the freeing word of God's truth.

In New Jersey the efforts of Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) are managed by Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey (Roger Arnholt, executive). Jack DiMatteo serves as LDR-NJ coordinator.

To continue your support, please send contributions to:

ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response - "September 11: Comfort and Renew"

PO Box 71764

Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764

Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522

Credit card gifts via the web

LC-MS World Relief - "September 11: Comfort and Renew"

P.O. Box 66861

St. Louis, MO 63166-9810

Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438

Yours in Christ,

Gil Furst

Gilbert B. Furst (written on November 4, 2002 at 4:00 pm). Director for ELCA Domestic Disaster Response (Division for Church in Society) and Lutheran Disaster Response (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LC-MS) 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631 PHONE: 773-380-2822 FAX: 773-380-2493 Please visit our new website