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NEWS: TYPHOON HAIYAN RECOVERY CONTINUES
This week, UMCOR Philippines will deliver approximately 23 tons of food to 7,500 typhoon-affected people in Ormoc City in Leyte Province. This after consultation with the district superintendent and bishop, who helped UMCOR staff identify areas of critical need. UMCOR will be making more food distributions in affected areas in the weeks ahead.
Ormoc City is a port city and is the largest city in Leyte by land area and the second largest in Eastern Visayas. This will be UMCOR’s fourth food distribution since Haiyan struck on November 8. It follows emergency food distributions in Tacloban, Dagami, and Tanauan, all in Leyte Province.
According to the National Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Typhoon Haiyan caused about 5,632 deaths, and affected more than three million families from 12,014 baranggays, or communities. A total of 1,168,909 houses were damaged, including 582,827 that were totally destroyed.
Please continue to pray for the recovery of Typhoon Haiyan survivors and support UMCOR’s relief efforts there with your gifts to International Disaster Response, Advance #982450.
PRAYER: SYRIA
Please pray for peace in Syria, as the ongoing conflict there has caused about 125,835 deaths to-date. More than one third of those deaths were civilians, and more than 6,600 were children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Use this Prayer for Syria during your time of devotion, and remember the more than one million children living as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, and other countries in North Africa.
UMCOR has shipped relief supplies to Jordon, Syria and Lebanon and could use your help in replenishing material resources at the UMCOR depots.
CAREERS: UMCOR AND GLOBAL MINISTRIES
The General Board of Global Ministries and UMCOR have positions open across multiple units, sectors, and countries. Visit the Careers webpage to learn more.
RESOURCE: CHRISTMAS
Rethink Christmas is a United Methodist Alternative Gift Catalog. Celebrate the joy of relational giving by purchasing gifts that will make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable populations all around the world. The items listed in the catalog are examples of what your gift can accomplish in each program. As always, 100 percent of all gifts will go to the listed Advance project.
You can also find Advent and Christmas resources that include video reflections, worship and devotion resources, feature stories, and more, by clicking here.
MEDIA: HIV PREVENTION IN ARMENIA
UMCOR Armenia has been working to reduce the risk of HIV and AIDS through a project called “Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Tuberculosis (TB). Through this program, which provides a full cycle of prevention activities including awareness-raising, confidential health services, and more, women of reproductive age learn the risks of transmitting the HIV virus from mother to child, and receive HIV prevention education, resources, and referrals.
Watch this UMCOR Armenia video now to learn more.
