Church of the Epiphany

Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting the rescue and relief efforts of the Nippon Sei Ko Kei (NSKK; the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan) following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Japan.

Damage to transportation and communication infrastructure has made information collection difficult, so the full scope of the disaster is not yet known. It was two days before the bishop of the most severely affected diocese, the Rt. Rev. John Hiromichi Kato of the Diocese of Tohoku, was able to communicate with provincial leadership, and he himself had not been able to find out much about the other churches in the diocese.

Haiti Relief - An earthquake hit the west of Haiti’s capitol, Port-au-Prince. At least 28 aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 or greater shook the country in the hours immediately following the quake.

Episcopal Relief and Development has reached out to its Haitian partners in an effort to determine the extent of the damage and coordinate a swift response. The agency has already disbursed emergency funding to the Diocese of Haiti to help them meet immediate needs such as providing shelter, food and water, and stands ready to support their ongoing recovery as they rebuild their ministries,” said Rob Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief & Development. “As communication improves and recovery plans develop, Episcopal Relief & Development will continue to provide updates.”

Interim Director for International Programs Kirsten Muth commented, “We are committed to a long-term response and recovery effort with our partners in the Diocese of Haiti. It is one of the largest and perhaps most socially engaged dioceses of the Episcopal Church with an extensive network of schools and health services.

In addition to other programming, the agency has supported the Diocesan Development Program for many years through a central Development Office and network of 28 development agents, all of whom have received training in disaster response and management,” Muth continued. “We know that in the wake of this disaster, these community agents will use this training to coordinate their efforts with local authorities.

To donate, please go to
http://www.er-d.org/HaitiEarthquakeResponse