9 LWF manages camp in Mauritania T
he Lutheran World Federa- tion, known for its expertise and work with refugees, has
transitioned from an assisting role to managing Mbera, a U.N.-run refugee camp in Mauritania. About 40 miles from the bor-
der with Mali, the desert camp is home to 50,000 people, mostly those displaced by a 2011 con- flict in Mali. About 20 percent are Mauritanians affected by drought. Recently the Mauritanian gov-
ernment removed its people from the listed refugee population. Yet the LWF knows local Maurita- nians are nearly as vulnerable as the refugees from Mali. Many of the Mauritanians originally came from Mali. The situation is “sensitive,”
said LWF country representative Kasongo Mutshaila. The area is “not far from where the Malian
chapter of al-Qaida has tried hard to recruit young boys and men to join its forces. It is important that we seek to maintain peace and stability between the camp population and the vulnerable host community,” he added. The LWF will distribute food aid
designated for refugees while offer- ing special programs and projects to support the Mauritanian host com- munities, Mutshaila said. That the LWF was asked to man-
age the camp “is a sign of continued confidence and appreciation by the U.N. system for the work LWF has done in Mbera so far,” said Anne Caroline Tveoy, LWF program offi- cer for Mauritania. LWF staff coordinate humanitar-
ian efforts, organize refugees, assist with cultural life, and assess current and future needs, which may include plans for repatriation to Mali.
Elizabeth A. Eaton wrote to U.S. Sec- retary of State John Kerry, asking that the U.S. government allocate part of its bilateral support to the Palestin- ian Authority toward unpaid treat- ments in 2013 for patients referred to Augusta Victoria. With support from the U.S. Agency for Interna- tional Development and the Euro- pean Union, the Palestinian Authority was able to pay its outstanding bills, although LWF General Secretary Martin Junge warned that “all receiv- ables are not fully paid.”
Attacks condemned
The Lutheran World Federation con- demned the Jan. 7 killings of 10 jour- nalists and two police officers at the offices of the French magazine Char- lie Hebdo, and urged rejection of any claims of religious justification for these attacks. “Do not be overcome by these attacks,” Martin Junge, LWF general secretary, wrote to LWF mem- ber churches in France, assuring them of the prayers of Lutherans around the globe. He offered condolences to the families and communities affected, and emphasized the need to resist the intention behind the attacks—frag- mentation, division, blanket stigmati- zation and the condoning of violence.
Publisher restructures LWF/SANDRA COX
Welcome relief Ashook Mate Moshtak escaped with her children last August when the Islamic State militant
group entered Bartella, Iraq. They fl ed to Kani Mase in northern Iraq, where she now lives with her children, Sara, 2, and Sedra, who was 7 months when this photo was taken in December. Their family was among 188 households who each received $300 in relief goods from the Lutheran World Federation and its partner, CAPNI.
10
www.thelutheran.org
Nazarene Publishing House, which in October announced it would cease operations and lay off all 60 employees by Dec. 1, now says it’s restructuring, not closing down the 102-year-old publishing arm of the Church of the Nazarene. The publisher also said Beacon Hill Press continues to publish theological books, sell books, and dis- tribute Sunday school curriculum for adults and children.
For more news, visit
www.thelutheran.org/feature/ february
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52