03-22: Chile Assessment Team Reports Situation “Far Worse Than Imagined,” Donations Urgently Needed

The Chilean government set up 6-foot by 8-foot wooden homes for earthquake refugees in Constitución, Chile. LCMS World Relief and Human Care, in partnership with the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile are ministering to the people and offering food and electricity assistance.

“This event in Chile is far worse than ever imagined,” said Rev. Glenn Merritt, director of Disaster Response with LCMS World Relief and Human Care, who arrived in Chile March 19 with WR-HC's Rev. Carlos Hernandez to assess earthquake damages with the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile (IELCHI).

The death toll has reached 800 in Chile since the Feb. 27 earthquake and tsunami, and an estimated 500,000 homes were destroyed. Earlier this month, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet reported that rebuilding could take up to three years and cost as much as $30 billion.

In the coastal town of Constitución, near the epicenter, four tsunami waves, one reaching 30-feet, washed away the first 6-8 blocks of beachfront property. Merritt said military divers searched Monday for more than 300 people still missing – many who were attending a party on an island peninsula as the waves hit.

Upwards of 2,500 displaced Chileans are living in six-by-eight-foot wooden structures at one government-run refugee camp in the coastal city. In the weeks following the earthquake, IELCHI pastors have gone door-to-door in these camps, assessing how people are doing and identifying what aid is needed.

“There is no water, no sanitation, no power, and not adequate food,” said Merritt of one emergency camp in Constitución. LCMS World Relief and Human Care, in partnership with the IELCHI, will explore beginning a feeding program at the camp and providing limited electrical services to each structure. Refugee families who do not qualify for government assistance are filling out grant applications with the IELCHI. The church will provide grants as it is able.

With fewer than 10 professional church workers, the IELCHI's man-power is stretched thin. Merritt says the IELCHI's pastors and church members are bringing vital assistance as quickly as they can and asked that the LCMS keep them in prayer. “It's an opportunity for the church to be present,” said Merritt, “but unless we have the resources to actually assist the people, it makes it very, very difficult.”

“The earthquake in Chile is one of those events which just breaks our hearts. The effects are horrible and the need profound, but because it fell just after Haiti, and the death toll was far, far smaller, the assumption is that the need is insignificant by comparison. And because the event was quickly eclipsed in the news cycle, the giving has been completely overshadowed by Haiti. But the Lord's timing is His and His alone. And He knows well how to bring blessings out of the worst crosses. That I don't doubt for a moment,” said Rev. Matthew Harrison, executive director of WR-HC.

To date, LCMS donors have generously given $23,768 for Chile earthquake response efforts, but Merritt urges donors to continue to share their financial gifts. “Materials are readily available in Chile, what we don't have are the dollars to get the materials that are needed to assist these people,” said Merritt. “And right now the resources we have for responding to the earthquake in Chile are rather limited.”

To make a gift, click on the Give Now button below, call toll-free 888-930-4438, or mail donations marked "Chile Earthquake Relief" to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861.

On behalf of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, LCMS World Relief and Human Care (the mercy arm of the LCMS) will work cooperatively with LCMS World Mission (the mission sending arm of the LCMS), LCMS congregations and districts, and U.S. and international partners to provide immediate and long-term relief for the people of Chile and the Confessional Lutheran Church of the Chile (Iglesia Luterana Confesional de Chile).

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Any funds not needed for this relief effort will be used for other disaster purposes as determined by LCMS World Relief and Human Care. Your gift is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.