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Ss Alban and Stephen
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The December 2004 Asian Tsunami Disaster
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Special Service to remember the victims of Asian Tsunami. Many thanks to all who came to the Church on Wednesday 12th January at 8pm to join in our candlelit ecumenical service of prayer and reflection. We joined together with friends from other churches in St Albans to remember the
thousands who died and the millions who have been left with nothing. To read the Service Order sheet click here. Also, for those who have enquired about music references, click here.
Bishop James O'Brien who was unable to attend gave us these words of hope.
I very much regret I cannot be with you this evening because of previous commitments. I have been immensely heartened by the overwhelming
response of the British people to the Tsunami disaster. That response, it
seems to me, is a proof of our common humanity and is immensely encouraging.
Furthermore, the disaster has had another consequence. The whole issue of
the imbalance between the developed and developing countries has received
greater attention than I can ever remember before. It is possible
that the long term effect of this disaster will be a new awareness of the
present injustice and the existing poverty of millions of our fellow human
beings. Please God, this will be of permanent help and value to our brothers
and sisters in these affected areas
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Candle Burning brightly to
remember the victims of the Tsunami and their families
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Ss Alban and Stephen
| From the Service |
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How We Are Helping |
Lord
you have been our refuge, age after age.
Before the mountains were
born, before the earth or the world came to birth, you were God from all
eternity and for ever. God you are our shelter, our strength,
ever
ready to help in time of trouble, so we shall not be afraid when the earth
gives way, when mountains tumble into the sea, and its waters roar and seethe,
the mountains tottering as it heaves. “For the mountains may fall and
the hills turn to dust, but my steadfast love has no end, and my covenant
of peace with you shall never fail” says the Lord, who is compassionate always
 Christian Aid is the agency of all the churches in the UK and Ireland again updates on what's happening with your generous donations Click Here
Sermon given by His Eminence, the Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor about the Tsunami, on the Feast of the Epiphany - click here
Prayer to accompany CAFOD's Asia Disaster Appeal
John 1:5 - A light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower.
Loving, ever-living and compassionate God, You understand the pain of loss, the heartache of bereavement, May we hold in our hearts all those whose families or friends have died.
You are a light that shines in the darkest times, Guide us and heal us in
our sorrow. You comfort us in times of fear, May we comfort each other,
even across the miles that keep us apart.
You console and lead us in times of doubt and confusion, May we follow the light of your love, and spread hope.
You move our hearts to acts of generosity, May we be led to share what we have with those in need.
God of life, We thank you for the signs of your light in the midst of our
darkness, May we be signs of your compassion in the heart of your world.
Amen.
Reproduced, thanks to CAFOD
© Linda Jones/CAFOD
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The CAFOD
box at the back of the Church will also be for donations towards this appeal from now until Easter. The victims of this disaster need assistance now and
even small coins will help.
You can also donate online on the CAFOD website or by phoning CAFOD on 0500 858 885 - If you're a UK taxpayer, you can Gift Aid your donation, increasing its value to the relief fund by 28%.
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CAFOD is asking us to help with funds following the disaster in South East
Asia. On the weekend of 15th/16th, at Ss Alban & Stephen Church we held a special collection on Sunday, 9th January 2005 - this totalled £6,577. Many thanks for your generosity. And here's what CAFOD are doing ...
CAFOD
is working hard to deliver aid in the most badly affected areas of India,
Sri Lanka, and Indonesia following the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunamis.
CAFOD staff report the destruction across affected coastal areas of the Indian
Ocean is “cataclysmic”.
In Sri Lanka, CAFOD’s Emergency Officer Alistair Dutton said, “People have
lost everything. Schools, hospitals, homes, businesses, even whole villages
have been washed away. They have lost family members and friends. At least
9000 children have been killed. People are living in camps dependent on outside
help. Many people I have met are highly traumatised. Many children have lost
both parents. There is a great need for counselling.”
CAFOD and the international network of Catholic aid agencies Caritas are
trucking and flying in food, fishing equipment, soap, and clothes to the
Trincomalee, Batticoloa, Jaffna, and Galle areas. At the moment it is estimated
that Caritas will feed 50,000 people for at least two to three months. CAFOD
and Caritas will provide shelter for 12,000 families and toolkits for 6000
families, as well as medicines and medical equipment, and trauma counselling.
CAFOD is committed to working within the local communities on long-term rehabilitation.
In the first year, it will continue with food aid, plus education for 4,500
children, construction of permanent shelter for 5,000 families, provide sanitation
facilities for 4,500 families, and fishnets and boats for 9,000 families.
In India, Caritas Communication Officer Monika Kalcsics said aid efforts
are well underway with emergency kits being distributed to over 200,000 survivors.
She said: “The biggest need is ensuring people have enough to eat and some
shelter. Medical teams are working in the camps in an attempt to stop the
spread of disease.”
Caritas launched a massive relief operation at the outset of the disaster
with immediate vital relief reaching people in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Caritas
has established a total of 211 camps and are serving 226 villages in desperate
need of water, food, shelter and clothing specifically in Tamil Nadu.
This has been followed up with the distribution of special emergency kits.
Each £15 kit consists of rice, dhal, oil tea, salt and milk powder. The kit
also contains traditional clothing, kitchenware, bed sheets, towels and
a tarpaulin. For example, 3,000 emergency kits have been distributed in the
Madras area helping about 15,000 people. The aim is to eventually reach 170,000
people in that region alone.
In Indonesia, CAFOD’s Head of International Programmes Catherine Sexton has
been planning CAFOD's response in Aceh, where 100,000 people have died. She
said, “The people who lived close to the shore did not stand a chance. All
the houses up to 100 metres in from the coast were completely destroyed.
It must have come as a complete shock.”
As well as providing immediate emergency relief – two trucks of fuel, food
and badly needed medical aid and setting up communal kitchens - CAFOD is
supporting tracing operations for lost family members in areas outside the
main towns. Catherine Sexton said Aceh will need huge reconstruction efforts
and CAFOD are committed to staying for the long haul.
For more about CAFOD Click Here.
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Flood Tide of Friendship
We
think it's time for more than money to be sent to the tsnumai disaster victims:
we could encourage children and young people to send a flood tide of letters
to the children and young people left without families and without hope.
It
would not be too difficult if in every school, and college, every after-school
club and any place where children and young people gather, everyine sat
down and wrote a very simple letter to a child or young person far away who
has lost everything. It would remain only to find a contact name in the
affected area so that these letters can be posted.
In
the disaster area, school buildings are being used as refuges: let's send
a flood tide of friendship to these people, to let them know that we care
and we wish to be friends with them and remain friends with them through
the difficult months and years ahead.
In
his long captivity, Terry Waite received a postcard, that somehow got through
to him: he spoke about it after his release, and said it brought him hope
that out there in the world at large there were people who really cared.
At
the moment this disaster is in the news every day, but in time this terrible
tragedy will fade in people's minds. Lets seize this opportunity to reach
out in friendship and forge links with real people in the diaster area.
Who knows what good may then come out of this catastrophe?
There
may be people in St Albans who know how to speak or write some of the many
languages spoken in the affected areas, so that the letters could be translated,
but best of all pictures and photos of smiling children could be sent, maybe
a drawing or a poem: anything really.
There
may be teachers who say that such activities would not be on the national
curriculum, but they would do well to consider that geography, languages
and writing are indeed included. School is about friendship, fellowship and
sharing, in amongst the other academic stuff. When the history lessons are
forgotten the compassion will remain.
December
26th saw a flood tide of disaster: In this new year, let's turn the tide
and make a flood tide of friendship in response.
Anyone interested in following this up can get further information by emailing us on tsunami@altheahayton.com or Tel: Althea Hayton 01727 761719
Marion Burgess, Althea Hayton, 2005
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© Ss Alban & Stephen Catholic
Church, 2004/2005
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This is a very moving set of images ..