Earthquake in North Sumatra: UEM Communion supports with 17,500 euros

Damaged houses and churches,

Photo: HKBP

In the early morning hours of October 1, 2022, the earth quaked with a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter Scale in the northwest of the Tapanuli administrative district at a depth of 10 km. This was followed by numerous aftershocks with a magnitude of up to 5.1 on the Richter Scale. People fled their collapsed homes. Many were traumatized and spent the following days and nights outdoors for fear of further aftershocks.

Hundreds of buildings and a total of 65 churches in the region were severely damaged. Many are in danger of collapse due to the depth of the earthquake. The Tobabatak Protestant Church, Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP), a UEM member church in North Sumatra, was particularly hard hit.

The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck and the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) are supporting the diaconal emergency relief with a contribution of 17,500 euros.

In addition, there are further contributions from churches in the global south, for example from the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka (MC-SL) and the Christian Protestant Angkola Church (GKPA) from Indonesia.

The financial resources are used to provide emergency shelters for the affected people, where they receive psychosocial care. Children and elderly people in particular experience the escape and the fear of further earthquakes as traumatic and need professional immediate support to help them overcoming the loss of their home.

The "Secretariat Bersama (SEKBER UEM)" organization, an association of UEM member churches in North Sumatra, is coordinating the emergency aid by means of data collection in order to deploy relief workers and measures where they are most urgently needed. The network is also helping those affected by coordinating the upcoming reconstruction effort with local authorities.

The UEM communion asks for continued support through prayers and donations!