NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
October 19, 2000
For more information contact Jonathan Frerichs at (410) 230-2802.
In this news release:
- A "Mustard Seed" Movement for Debt Relief Becomes a "Big Tree"
- For Suffering People in Serbia, Democracy May be Near But so is Winter
A "MUSTARD SEED" MOVEMENT FOR DEBT RELIEF BECOMES A "BIG TREE"
Baltimore, October 19, 2000 -- A major milestone in the campaign to forgive the debts of poor countries came into view this week, and will in all likelihood be reached in a matter of days. Congressional leaders announced Tuesday that they agree with the White House on the need to pay the first installment of the U.S. share of a global debt relief plan. The bipartisan decision is a culmination of years of work by the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which has church roots and has broadened into an unusual consensus.
"This is like a mustard seed planted years ago by the faith community that is now a tree with big branches," said LWR Director for Public Policy, Jim Bowman. "We are very encouraged to see how much broader it has become in the last moments of the current push." Transnational corporations like Motorola and Goldman Sachs, Bowman noted, have recently joined a list of supporters that includes Pope John Paul II, the televangelist Pat Robertson, both of the current Presidential candidates, the Irish rock singer Bono.
Jubilee 2000 seeks the cancellation of the unpayable debts that burden dozens of the world's poorest countries and then re-allocation of their spending from debt service to education, health care, and development projects that benefit people. Lutheran World Relief, a member of the campaign, has worked for years in about half of the 41 countries targeted for relief.
This $435 million allocation by Washington will put the United States in line with other major industrial nations already funding a $90 billion debt relief plan. Some $375 million more will have to be passed by the next Congress to cover the second and third years of the plan.
FOR SUFFERING PEOPLE IN SERBIA, DEMOCRACY MAY BE NEAR BUT SO IS WINTER
Baltimore, October 19, 2000 -- Church relief work in Serbia and Montenegro has continued during the current democratic upheaval. However, in refugee shelters and homes for the elderly, the onset of winter looms larger than whatever benefits my ensue from the advent of democracy. The living conditions of hundreds of thousands of people uprooted or impoverished in
recent years indicate that church assistance may be required for months and even years to come. These assessments are from Lutheran World Relief partner organizations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Refugees, internally displaced people and residents vulnerable because of age or disability are the beneficiaries of programs run by International Orthodox Christian Charities and Hungarian Interchurch Aid. Both organizations will continue to run soup kitchens, help farmers, and deliver food aid, hygiene items, warm clothes and firewood to the needy. A winter appeal for more help is expected shortly via the international aid alliance, Action by Churches Together.
