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Disaster Response Fund Request

A video requesting donations to the BWM Disaster Response Fund to assist the COVID-19 response.

Download PDF of MDR Appeal Letter: COVID-19 MDR Appeal Letter

Donations can be made online here: https://www.moravian.org/mission/give/

To mail in donations:

Board of World Mission
1021 Center Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018

Canadian Churches may send donations to the following address in order to receive full tax credit for your donation and they will be sent along to the BWM:
Moravian Church in Canada
600 Acadia Drive SE
Calgary, AB T2J 0B8

 

Video Transcript:

Hello, I am Justin Rabbach, Executive Director of the Board of World Mission of the Moravian Church in North America.

For many years, the Board of World Mission has used its Disaster Response Fund to support emergency relief efforts and send mission work-teams to areas suffering following earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires. Today the Board of World Mission comes to you asking for your support with a historic and unprecedented pandemic now impacting many Moravian sisters and brothers around the world.

As I film this video, the BWM has disbursed nearly $40,000 in aid to congregations here in North America and our global partners.

In the last few weeks, the size and number of emergency requests have increased as COVID-19 spreads at a horrifying rate, felt most deeply amongst our partners along the Atlantic coast regions of Nicaragua and Honduras.

The BWM, acting in faith, will be sending an additional $50,000 in emergency aid to our partners in August. The primary use of this funding will be to purchase medical supplies like Oxygen concentrators and protective equipment for medical personnel to equip dozens of health centers across La Mosquitia in Honduras. This includes the Moravian Clinic in Ahuas. Additional funding will support purchase and distribution of food and hygiene kits to be distributed by the Moravian church leadership in these areas.

Given the uncertainty of the timing of this pandemic, we are working under the assumption that we will continue to receive emergency requests, at least in the amount already received. And this might be a conservative estimate.

To this point the BWM has utilized reserved funds and looked to offer support in a time of uncertainty for so many individuals, and all of our local congregations. Yet, as we enter the thick of hurricane season amidst the pandemic response, the board and staff of the BWM has agreed it is time to ask for help.

Gifts, both large and small, to the Moravian Disaster Response Fund are needed now. We ask you to give as you are able. Information on how best to send your donations through the mail or by online giving can be found at MORAVIANMISSION.ORG, following the instructions on the website to Give.

As I share this request, I must also share that almost daily, I receive messages from across the Moravian Unity. In these messages are requests for and offerings of prayers. Just as information is shared about situations abroad, the BWM is asked to share about our situation in North America. Each message is reaffirmation of the relationships built over time and held strong by our shared faith.

Please help share this message, and this request, so that together, we can respond to our partners with an offering of HELP and HOPE.