Upper Room plans long-term spiritual tsunami assistance

By Linda Green

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The Upper Room, a United Methodist ministry that provides spiritual resources to people around the world, is focusing on the emotional needs of the victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The Upper Room, is "seeking the best ways that we here can support our colleagues there (in the Indian Ocean area) to respond to the emotional and spiritual needs of their people and support the efforts of their churches," said the Rev. Stephen Bryant, editor and publisher.

The Upper Room, housed here at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, is a global ministry that meets the spiritual needs of people through devotional magazines, books and printed resources. Its devotional guide, The Upper Room, is published worldwide in 73 editions and 44 languages.

When the tsunami hit more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean, Upper Room officials immediately tried to contact their editors and partners in the affected areas, Bryant said. "It took several days, but we eventually heard from all of them about their well-being and the conditions of their countries."

The Upper Room has editions and partners serving people in nearly all of the Indian Ocean areas affected by the tsunami, including Indonesia, India (Tamilnadu state and Kerala state in particular, on the eastern and southern coasts) and Sri Lanka, as well as in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and elsewhere. The Upper Room is localized, printed and distributed in each of these areas in conjunction with the ministries of the churches.

In each of the affected countries, partners and editors are focusing on the basic survival needs of the people. "At the same time, we are talking with them about the next layer of relief - emotional and spiritual support for those traumatized by their severe losses," Bryant said. "The spiritual healing, along with the physical reconstruction, will be the long-term ministry that the Upper Room in those areas must help support."

Immediately after the tsunami hit and news of the devastation crossed the globe, the Upper Room hosted a public prayer service in Nashville. Upper Room staff prayed for colleagues, those killed, survivors and those providing rescue and relief. The prayer service is posted at www.gbod.org.

Church leaders in Sri Lanka want a small booklet of Scripture and prayers to help with pastoral care and trauma efforts, Bryant said.

"We are making such a booklet available and helping them locally print a large quantity. Our contacts have also told us they need teams of people trained in dealing with trauma to train others, an aspect of the relief effort that they say has been missing thus far."

In other areas, Upper Room editors are considering larger-than-usual print runs of The Upper Room in their languages for wider distribution to those in need. Each of these editions will need additional support, Bryant said. "We want to make sure they are able to equip the churches to maintain strong ministries in the face of the dire need (of) their people."

The Upper Room is self-supporting, so its staff is seeking financial support through donations from individuals and churches that want to help tsunami survivors.

Linda Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Last updated on 25 Apr 2008

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