LONDON - The Rev Will
Morrey and Deacon Myrtle Poxon, President and Vice-President respectively
of the Conference of The Methodist Church in Britain, issued the
following statement on Dec 31, 2004 regarding the Asian earthquake
and its aftermath.
"On close inspection the picture on the front of the Christmas
card received on Christmas Eve depicted the Madonna and child
with the child bearing the stigmata, the marks of the crucified
Christ. The artist was trying to express the intertwining of belief
in a loving creator who in love becomes human and the awful reality
of desertion and pain known through crucifixion.
"Two days later tsunami struck and an unprecedented humanitarian
disaster began to unfold along the coasts of Asian and African
countries. As the magnitude of what has happened continues to
grow daily, many questions, some unanswerable, confront us.
"As we struggle in our response we look again at the Madonna
and child and believe that a Christian response essentially issues
from a belief in divine responsibility that is expressed too in
divine involvement in the suffering and pain of our troubled world.
"We are called to respond to the tragedy before us with the
fullest possible expression of our common humanity.
"The immediate responses of individuals, charities and governments
have enabled vital practical aid, but the enormity of the task
is stressed by the World Health Organisation's plea to attend
to the need for urgent work to prevent yet more thousands of people
dying of communicable diseases because of the lack of sanitation
and clean water supplies. If you have not already responded to
the appeals for financial support please respond now.
"We are in touch with Methodist and United Churches in the
affected countries and will continue to offer our prayers and
support for their relief work. In all the horror there are glimpses
of hope. In Sri Lanka we hear of remarkable local acts of courage
and generosity as Sinhalese and Tamil, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim
and Christian come together in common need and support. We ask
your continuing prayers." - The Methodist Church in Britain.