National Council of Churches: The media blitz is over, but the pain of thousands of tsunami survivors goes on. Shanta Premawardhana, NCC's Director of Interfaith Relations, has prepared guidelines for U.S. churches that want to continue to be engaged with Asians in rebuilding their communities.
The needs remain especially severe in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province and Indonesia's Aceh Province, where recovery will take years.The guidelines, Listening to, Learning from and Living into Asia's Pain, were prepared in consultation with ecumenical leaders in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and are informed by Premawardhana's own experiences as a native of Sri Lanka.
He says "building relationships through religious institutions seems to be one of the best ways" to maintain a continuing commitment to the rebuilding effort. The guidelines include practical ways for churches to get involved, advocacy concerns, cautions about the use of money, background on Asian Christianity, and even several denomination-specific ideas.
