A MESSAGE FROM
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BISHOP JOHN HENDERSON
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BISHOP DAVID ALTUS
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BISHOP GREG PFEIFFER
Dear members of the LCA/NZ
Yesterday afternoon a catastrophic fire, fanned by gale-force winds, raged out of control eastwards through farmland north of Gawler in South Australia, towards the northern Barossa.
At least two people were killed, and this morning media reports said three people were unaccounted for. Thirteen people have been hospitalised, among them firefighters in critical conditions. Thousands of farm animals have been killed or will need to be put down. The extent of property damage will not be known for some time.
Members of Lutheran congregations, including those at Balaklava, Greenock, Freeling, Eudunda, Gawler and Nuriootpa, have homes or farms in or close to the fire-affected area. Last night LCA SA/NT District Bishop David Altus heard that several homes belonging to Lutherans or to Lutheran school families had been destroyed, with others under threat. This morning he learnt that the churches at Bethel and Nain may have been surrounded by fire but were spared.
Principals and school leaders in or near the fire zone (St John’s Eudunda, Vineyard Clare, Redeemer Nuriootpa, Faith Tanunda, St Jakobi Lyndoch, Tanunda Lutheran and Immanuel Gawler East) responded quickly and professionally to the situation yesterday. Some sites went into ‘lockdown’; others ensured students left with parents to head for a safe refuge as a family.
John Proeve, Director of Lutheran Schools Association SA, NT & WA reports, however, that ‘sadly, there has been considerable loss of property experienced by staff, parents and relatives connected to some of the schools’, but he is thankful that ‘at this stage it appears that no-one in our communities has been injured’.
Farms near Clare and Lameroo were damaged or threatened by fires yesterday also.
Last week, near Esperance in Western Australia, four people died in firestorms that burnt more than 200,000 hectares, including 30,000 hectares of crops. More than 100 properties were affected. Among the Lutheran community, St John’s treasurer Trevor Schutz and his wife Marie were worst hit, with 870 hectares of crop and 670 sheep destroyed. A number of Lutheran families had to evacuate their homes, and some were away from their properties for several days.
St John’s pastor Jason Pokela says that while emotional damage is hard to measure, he is seeing these sorts of feelings:
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grief at the loss of life; in a tight farming community, many people knew Freddy Curnow, a victim of the fire
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grief at the loss of livelihood and livestock, including the pain of having to destroy suffering animals
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guilt over having a full crop left when neighbours were burnt out
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frustration over the loss to crop yields due to the hot strong winds (not an insurable loss) and the conflicting feelings which go with that
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worry about the damage to farming land, with winds blowing soil away
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stress due to living in a dusty ash bowl, a constant and lingering reminder of the fire
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physical and emotional exhaustion for firefighters.
But Pastor Pokela also says the community ‘is really pulling together to help each other out through donations, opening their homes, and volunteering’.
DONATE
The LCA has activated the Disaster and Welfare Fund. Donations will be distributed by the WA and SA/NT Districts. You and your congregation/community members can:
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Donate immediately at donation.lca.org.au
Click on LCA, then Lutheran Church of Australia, then LCA Disaster & Welfare Fund. (Alternatively, clicking on above link will take you directly to the donation page.Links on the LCA website www.lca.org.au will also take you directly to the donation page.)
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Transfer funds to
BSB: 704942
Account #: 13286 (S1)
Account name: LCA Disaster and Welfare Fund
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Phone 1800 556 457 (LLL)
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Mail cheques, payable to ‘LCA Disaster and Welfare Fund’ to:
LLL, PO Box 45, North Adelaide SA 5006.
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Donations of $2 and over are tax-deductible.
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Only cash donations (not food, clothing or other ‘in kind’ gifts) are needed at this time.
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Donations beyond what are needed for this immediate response will be used to help others affected by similar disasters.
APPEAL PROMOTION
LCA Communications has today updated your weekly bulletin notices and PowerPoint slides with information about the appeal. Please use these revised versions on Sunday if you still have time. They will be re-issued next week. They can be found at www.lca.org.au/lca-notice-board.html
MORE INFORMATION
Given that congregations and schools in the affected areas will be under a great deal of pressure, please do not contact them directly. Instead, if you require more information about the impact of the fires or how to help, please contact:
PRAY
In your personal prayer time and during worship on Sunday, please remember those whose loved ones have died or been injured, and those whose homes, livestock, crops and livelihoods have been destroyed. Pray for the people experiencing a mix of emotions that might be hard to explain: fear, guilt, depression, worry, or perhaps anger at God or loss of trust in him.
We thank our Lord for sparing many from harm, and for the way in which people come together to help each other in times of common human need. As we respond to these fire crises in word and deed, may God grant that we will be a church where his love comes to life, as we reach out with compassion and generosity to his suffering people.
LCA Bishop John Henderson
LCA SA/NT Bishop David Altus
LCA WA Bishop Greg Pfeiffer
26 November 2015
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