Kairos time

1.18.2005
Velankani, India

Two brilliantly white basilicas--one impressive and the larger one beyond impressive--bookend a long mall (think Washington DC). The basilicas honor two apparitions, one when Mary appeared to an Indian "sheep boy" (I'm assuming shepherd) and the other when Mary appeared to Portuguese sailors in trouble, and saved them by calming a troubled sea.

This is a place for pilgrim and tourist, usually teaming with both. After the last mass on Christmas Day (11:00 p.m.) thousands of both spent the night outside, next to the church. And then, the wave came--just before 9:00 a.m. the next morning.

The water took the path of least resistance, avoiding the Basilica on higher ground and rushing around it, gathering force and sweeping everything out to sea. Over 600 bodies were recovered, but it is estimated that thousands perished.

How very sad to see the pictures of the unidentified dead up on bulletin boards near the smaller basilica. Remember, many here that fateful morning are devout pilgrims from far away.

Pilgrims like S.C. Dsouza, from Bombay. He's here again, three weeks later "to give thanks to God for saving me and my family." He, his wife, and two children were on the beach that morning. "At 8:30 a.m. I took a picture. Then it came." All survived.

It is eerie to see such a place with so few people. The offerings center (one queue for silver offerings, others for other types) is closed. The kiosks nearest the beach are covered with blue and yellow tarps, but amazingly there are many stalls between the basilica and the sea open again for business (although no one seemed to be buying).

There was one group, all in orange and red. Think congregational youth gathering tee-shirts. There were a few, gathered by the shore, just looking. Grita, a lovely young woman, said she "came to pray and to see this place."

A couple of people searched under a tree to see if they could find something that remains. A woman showed me a shell decoration that she found.

There were two young women with shaved heads. Fred Rajan explained, "They prayed for something to happen...a job, a marriage, a baby...and promised to shave their heads in gratitude if their prayer is answered."

Mostly there is nothing left. "See those three palms? There was a huge restaurant there. This whole place was full of shops."

Everyone in the south of India (and perhaps all of India) knows this place and knows that here was the site of massive loss of life. Some point to this place with derision: "Mary couldn't save you." Others find their faith strengthened here, in tsunami's aftermath.

It was noted as we flew to India that we were flying east, and would fly east around the globe. It occurred to me that it was very appropriate to head east in Epiphany. Perhaps this tragedy and its aftermath compresses all the times of the church year into Kairos--God's time. It was Christmas when it happened. In Epiphany we seek the light of understanding. It is most certainly Lent...a journey of sorrow. This is a Lent that can't be rushed through. God is risen indeed, and Easter alleluias will ring out, and when they do it will be with the great joy experienced after great sorrow. And, finally but not least, it is a time of Pentecost. How we see the spirit of God move through God's churches and God's people.

God's spirit moved Kamueavalli Peter, a professor of Tamil studies at the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church college, to volunteer to administer the church orphanage's response, serving girls age 5--15 orphaned by the tsunami. "It's important to keep the girls safe," she said, keeping them from sexual exploitation. Peter had finished opening files for 90-some girls. Each one has a picture of the girl stapled to what's left of her home. If nothing is left, there is a picture of the ground where it stood.

God's spirit moved six women to volunteer to sew school uniforms at the tsunami response center across from New Jerusalem Church. Three women worked at peddle sewing machines and three doing the hand work. They had some tsunami damage themselves and wanted to help others.

God's spirit moved church women to organize feeding centers the next morning. God's spirit moves church people to organize the distribution of relief materials. Without exception, everyone is so very proud of the church's immediate, organized, and effective response.

Tsunami waves compressed the church year into a kairos time. God's spirit empowers and encourages God's people to do what is humanly impossible, to see Easter amid the wreckage of Lent.

Grace-filled, hopeful signs

I have been struck by both the sadness and hopefulness among the families I have met in the Tsunami affected fishing villages. Each visit has been with Indian Lutheran church related people who are readily greeted and welcomed by the village people. The interactions are about what the tsunami did and what the people need. One fisherman I spoke with told how he ran to save his boat, but was swept away by the wave and was thrown against the side of his cement house. He held on, but has cuts on his face and leg. His boat was swept away and the motor was caught up in a palm tree. The waves were above the palm trees --trees about 40 feet tall.

In the same village I met an older couple who now live on the concrete floor of what used to be their home. Their home and belongings were swept away, now they cook on a make shift brick stove -- using supplies they received from the church. They said, "We used to have a nice life here, now everything is gone." As we spoke, their grand daughter returned from school and was smiling and excited because she had received from the school some books and a uniform; but she still does not have a pen or pencil. Her smile and excitement about beginning to get back to "normal" brought a sense of hopefulness.

The relief workers working with these people are so committed. Church leaders here organized quickly. They were in the villages within hours of the tsunami. They come daily to bring supplies and now are working with villagers to construct temporary homes. It is amazing to watch as they all talk and work together to reconstruct lives. The church is helping everyone in the villages regardless of religion or background. It is also reassuring to hear them say they will be part of helping these people for a long time -- maybe three years -- and will be helping with counseling as well as with material needs. They will also help the fisherman get back to fishing so they can once again support themselves and be a source of income for the others who work with the fishermen. One of the goals is to help the fisherman and their families stay here where they and their families have lived for many, many years. Fishing is their way of life.

So, although I feel sad and in awe of the destruction wrought on these people's lives, I feel hopeful that we - members of the ELCA -- are a part of reconstructing these peoples' lives. The children in the villages are beginning to go back to school are smiling more frequently and are playing; these are grace-filled, hopeful signs.

Leslie D. Weed-Fonner, MEd, MSW
ELCA Division for Global Mission
Asia Pacific Regional Representative

Seeking normalcy

Jan. 19--1 p.m. writing from Chennai

Velankani--A sprawling Roman Catholic basilica, shining a brilliant white in the morning sun, marks the shore here, celebrating apparitions of the Virgin Mary to both farmers and sailors off these shores. This is a major pilgrimage site for India's Roman Catholics.

On the evening of Dec. 25, a midnight mass was celebrated then people scattered into nearby district. Hundreds, if not thousands, slept on the grounds around the complex that includes shops, cafes and the sellers religious paintings and icons.

Early the next morning, the tsunami swept ashore pulling hundreds of the pilgrims to their death in the sea. No one seems entirely sure how many died here.

A block from the basilica two plywood walls bear photos of the dead still unidentified. Many may never be known by name because they are not local. People come here from more than 1000 miles away, so the local population doesn't know them.

Most people who wander by stop for a moment and peer at the photos of the dead. Two men hold each other as they study each photo, perhaps seeking someone they know. The faces, bloodied and bloated, stare lifelessly back. The two men walk away, obviously unsatisfied. Nearby another man points to a photo and is taken into a makeshift room by a police officer. For him, the lost may be found

S.L. Dsouza, a railroad worker from Bombay, has returned to the scene of the destruction. While other pilgrims stare at the sea, as if to look their fear in the eye, some pick through the debris of smashed homes and shops.

Dsouza, though, has a special purpose. He is here with his wife and two children the morning of Dec. 26. They left the area where hundreds drowned not 30 minutes before the wave struck. He has come back to give thanks for his life and the wife of his children.


Chatraeaddy--Nevada, 8, stands quietly among a throng about 150 elementary school children receiving school supplies through the United Evangelical Lutheran Church India. In this tiny village, perhaps a kilometer from the ocean shore, the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church is handling local aid and distribution.

The children each smile as the supplies and a new school uniform are handed to them. Many in the already noisy crowd shout for attention and shoulder each other out of the way when cameras appear to document the event. "Snap me. Snap me," they cry.

This scene is being lived out along the Indian Ocean coast as church groups and relief agencies distribute the goods that enable people to live and attempt, at least, to return to something like "normalcy," a word that comes up frequently here.

A few miles away at an orphanage of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church, one of about 20 in the church, Kumudavalli Peter looks over photos and records of children orphaned by the tsunami. She has a photo of each child stapled to a photo of what was left of their homes, which typically is nothing but a pile of thatch and bamboo sticks.

Peter is a professor of the Tamil language at the church's college a few yards down the road. But the orphans have captured her: she spends most of her time here now, managing the effort to care for the children.

There are 90 tsunami orphans among 238 served by this facility. The church's other facilities also are caring for orphans, which is important for the safety of the children, Peter says.

"We are careful especially with the girls so that they don't get sexually exploited," she said.

A few miles away at Tranquebar, other life-saving work is being carried on by the UELCI through the Tamil church. Tranquebar is the site of the first Lutheran mission in Asia established in 1706. New Jerusalem Church, built in 1716, towers over much of the village.

The church stands about two kilometers from the ocean, and two feet of water entered the church during worship on Dec. 26 when the Tsunami came. Worshipers climbed the stairs into the balconies to escape the waters. Some church families lost belongings, but no family members. The remainder of the community was less fortunate: 600 died here; 300 were children.

Across the street in the church's training and continuing education center, a new office was dedicated Jan. 18 by Bishop Aruldoss of the Tamil church and Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director of the ELCA Division for Global Mission, who is leading an ELCA delegation in solidarity with Indian Lutherans and their ministries in the wake of the tsunami.

Behind the center three young church women sow new school uniforms for children. Fifty feet toward the sea a crowd gathers before an open double door where men from the church are preparing for an aid distribution, part of the UELCI's tsunami response.

More than 1,400 people have been served through this facility, receiving 25 kilos of a high quality rice, a stove, utensils, cooking supplies, clothes, blankets and other goods.

A few blocks away the church operates an elementary school where school supplies and uniforms are being distributed. Many of the children's families lost nearly everything they had. The scene is bedlam until teachers shout for the children to line up to receive replacement items for what they lost.

The scene bristles with life. The children are alive and vibrant. Twenty bodies were discovered on school grounds after the tsunami. The situation could have been much worse. Had it come on a school day, many of the 200 or so children receiving aid today would not be here.

The spirit of love

Today is Wednesday, January 19, 2005. Yesterday our team visited some of the most affected areas in India during the Tsunami. In the seaport of Nagaparttinam, many fishing boats (good size, 50 to 60 feet vessels) that were swept onshore are still resting on dry land. Two of these good size vessels are "parking" right next to a three story building about 400 feet from the ocean. A large area of land where houses were built is now flattened. The horror of those few moments in the morning of December 26 will be remembered for many generations to come.

But with unprecedented destructions also came unprecedented manifestations of human kindness. What our Lutheran brothers and sisters did and continue to do is a great example. Immediately after the disaster, members of the churches in the affected areas went to work voluntarily. Some went to the beach areas and helped recover the bodies of victims...some church women volunteered to cook for and feed the survivors. People they helped are from different religious backgrounds and social classes; but that didn't matter, they act because there is a genuine human need. The good news is, that story is repeated many times in many communities; people of different faith and creeds come together to deal with the calamity.

The responses of the various Lutheran churches in India was particularly impressive. Not only did they provide instant relief to those who needed help most, they went into high gear and organized themselves in very methodical manners. We were all very impressed by how systematic the relief work has been.

As we ponder about this event, we could keep asking the age old question of why God lets terrible things happen to humans. But I am not sure we will ever find an answer that is at all satisfying. Instead, we can look at the power of love. When the spirit of love moves among humans at times of tragedy, good things happen. With the help of God, regenerations and new life will come in spite of ashes and destruction.

Rev. Joseph Chu
Program Director, Asia Pacific
Division for Global Mission --- ELCA

I see the water coming

11:55 a.m. writing from Cheannai

Nagaparttinam--Pastor Richard Anbunathan bends over a woman who kneels before him at the altar rail of Trinity Lutheran Church, Nagaparttinam. The woman, a police officer, comes to the church each morning seeking prayer and blessing so she can face her day.

It does little good for her to close her eyes to the massive destruction and suffering around her. Indelible images are burned deeply into her mind, even haunting her sleep.

Her closed eyes see the faces of grotesque suffering--the battered, bloodied and bloated bodies of dead men, women and children, hundreds of children.

She has seen too much to live comfortably with her own soul. The woman, a Hindu, comes to the church each day for prayer "to calm her to go back to work," Anbunathan says. She comes here because the church was a place of sanctuary, where people were fed, clothed and allowed to sleep in the days and weeks immediately following the disaster.

Three weeks after towering waves pummeled the waterfront markets, homes and fishing port here, dozens of boats--40 and 50 foot wooden trawlers--are randomly strewn along dirt streets. More are smashed and piled willy-nilly atop each other, clogging the harbor. Others are thrown over crushed bridges and retaining walls into a lagoon.

People walk from food and medical distribution sites past boats that were lifted and tossed over two and three story concrete buildings that still stand, though most are shattered or badly beaten. One man distractedly rakes pieces of trash from the dirt in front of a shop. The apocalyptic destruction that surrounds him makes his efforts appear absurd.

More than 6,000 were killed in the Nagarparttinam region, more are missing. Here in the harbor area, more than 500 died; more than 280 of these were children. It could have been worse. The tsunami hit on a Sunday morning. Large elementary and secondary schools right off the water were empty.

People here echo fears heard up and down the south Indian coast, showing obvious signs of post traumatic stress: They fear the water. They fear the night. They have trouble sleeping. They don't want to close their eyes. When they do they "see the water coming."

The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church is the Lutheran body that serves this area of India. It continues to provide food, rice, clothes, stoves, utensils, school supplies and uniforms--and spiritual care--for thousands, through its partnership with the United Evangelical Lutheran Church India. It is also building temporary shelters.

The UELCI is a partner with the ELCA and other Lutheran agencies, including Lutheran World Federation World Service and Lutheran World Relief.

While such physical needs continue, issues of the restoration of livlihood and psychological care will increasingly come into focus. The UELCI has developed a multi-year plan for dealing with these issues.

Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director of the ELCA Division for Global Mission, said building the capacity of villages to deal with continuing health, stress and community development issues will be a priority for ELCA partnership in Tsunami relief.

The ELCA has sent an initial $40,000 directly to the UELCI, and has pledged its continuing support as specific rehabilitation work is planned - for the months and years recovery will take. This is in addition to the $320,000 that the ELCA has dispersed through other partners in the Action by Churches Together (ACT) disaster response network, as of this date.

Justice in Disaster

January 19, 2005 Our last day in India

Hello from an internet cafe in Chennai. We arrived here about 1:30 a.m. This is a mail-only cafe, so once again no pictures.

And, my, there are pictures. I took 240-plus images yesterday. To set the scene, Leslie and Belletech went elsewhere to visit food distribution and other relief sites supported by the ELCA through CASA (Churches Auxiliary for Social Action, the Church World Service of India). So, it was just me and the guys.

On our way out of Karaikal we passed the big fishing vessel tossed on shore--I scrambled to take a shot. I did not know that this was just a foretaste of what was ahead.

We stopped at what used to be a busy fish market. There are vessels (50' to 60' long holding 25 people) thrown about every where. The 20' high waves tossed them over two-story buildings. The fish market was open on the 26th, and busy. Children were playing as their parents tended to business. Five hundred people died here, more than half were children.

[Interestingly, from a previous day we talked to fisherfolk who were out on the sea fishing during the tsunami. They did not know anything was wrong until they came in to shore.]

We talked to Sarela, a Roman Catholic nursery school teacher. Nine of the children in her school were killed and most were affected in some way: "Their mother, father, sister, died."

I took a picture of a man praying, crouched low on a bridge so he was near the sea, but could avoid looking at it.

I don't want to forget to say how beautiful it all is here--the beach front is heartbreakingly beautiful, and now so empty. I'm mostly recalling previous days in the rural areas. We are worried, then, that the government insistence that all most move 500 kilometers away from the shore might make way for land developers to claim this oceanfront for tourists and restrict access to it for the fisherfolk, especially the Dalits who are not fisherfolk, but depend on the fish business. We've heard talk of "Dignity in Disaster," and I also hear real concern for "Justice in Disaster." It's all very complex, especially in relationship to the caste system in India.

Many of the fisherfolk affected, especially those who own the big vessels and the fiberglass, motorized boats, are upper class. I think about the Towers. The wealthiest perished along side with those who served them coffee and the civil servants who raced up the steps to save them. At the relief stage--food, water, clothes, medicine--rich and poor are most alike. At the restitution stage, it is a more complex matter. There are no simple ways to achieve justice in disaster. It is important to note that the UELCI churches, NGOs, and others are keeping the lights up on the issues of justice.

We will be there

It was an adventure making the journey south to Tamilnadu on roads filled to overflowing with competing traffic of every sort. We arrived late, to meet the Bishop of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Rt. Rev. Dr. T. Aruldoss -- along with his wife, Mrs. Hepziah Regina, and a young history professor at a church college (TBML College, Porayar), in a hotel room. We were all weary, but it was a profound conversation.

The waves came in 1.5 meters, over 1.5 meters of coastline. As of January 7 the count of actual bodies recovered was 6,035; forty of these were children. In the waning light of dusk we were stunned to see large fishing vessels tossed up on shore like bath toys. This will be the hardest hit of the areas we visit.

The Bishop welcomed us: "Thank you for this model of support. When the people see you, they will be encouraged."

The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) began their feeding efforts the day after the disaster. They operated four centers for eight days. Between the church and other agencies, "no one went hungry," said the bishop.

The handsome young history professor, D. Julius Vijayakumar, led the youth of the church in an effort to recover bodies from the sea. "We would reach for an arm; it might come off." Bodies were found in trees. Two more bodies were found yesterday, 1/16.

The second phase of the effort, after the feeding centers, is distributing relief kits. The third phase focuses on children, through the church's orphanages and schools. The fourth stage, a dream, is to build a clinic or hospital.

"The sea is the source of life for these people," said the bishop, "but now they can't even see the sea." Tsunami proved that anything can happen--life is unpredictable.

The New Year's Eve service is a big event in the church. Usually 4,000 faithful attend. This year four came. The bishop reflected: "I am supposed to say something encouraging at the start of the New Year. This year, what can I say to my people?"

The experience has deepened prayer life. "Now are prayers are offered with much concern. We pray for others very much...especially the victims," said Bishop Aruldoss.

Might anything good come of this? we asked. The professor said, "we say 'natural calamity for development.' We don't refer to Tsunami anymore."

"No fish came in from the sea. No animals were killed; they moved away three hours before. God, I think, sounded the warning, but we are too far away from nature. Shoes come between us and the ground." Humans missed the message.

The bishop asked, "help us get a warning system, this should have never happened."

Tomorrow we will visit the oldest Christian church, founded by Lutheran missionary Ziegenbalg in 1706; it suffered some damage. "Before tsunami we talked of many plans for the celebration next year," said the bishop. "Now, nothing. Can we celebrate, here?" he wondered.

"You are kindly welcomed to come, it would be good for you to come," he invited.

DGM staff are careful not to make promises when they are out on visitations. "In this case, though," said Rafael Malpica-Padilla, "I will promise. We [the ELCA] will be there."

Two Portraits

Karaikal, 10:55 p.m. Monday, 1/17

* Ramadoss

Ramadoss, 48 walks the beach at Samiyarpettai. Walking through the light surf, he looks over the Indian Ocean waters his family has fished for three generations "Yesterday I heard news on the TV," he says through an interpreter. "The tsunami may return on the 21st or the 26th [of January]. So we are waiting for this."

The news comes from the government, he adds. Like other fisherfolk here he's confused, wondering whether to believe the reports or not.

But the source of his anxiety is easy to grasp. This village of 1850 lost 23 members during the tsunami, 17 were children. Of the 560 homes, more than 200 were totally or badly damaged.

Ramadoss' own home, a tile and concrete structure, withstood the wave's force, but he lost all his belongings. He was in another village the day the water came.

Now, he wants to return to his boat, but it thinks it will be two months before new boats and nets will be available to the village committee that oversees the village fishing efforts.

Ramodoss is a Hindu, his walking partner this day, Basha, is a Muslim. Both say the disaster has strengthened their faith in God. But neither man seems to comprehend the question of whether anything good can come from this disaster. "We have confidence to get back the things we've lost," Ramadoss says. "A year, a year and a half and help will come from the government, the church or other agencies.

"They say [those who lost homes] will be given better houses, but not by the sea."

Many in the village currently live in temporary, traditional houses of bamboo and palm leaves. These will be replaced by permanent housing built with assistance from the United Lutheran Church in India, a partner of the ELCA.

The UELCI, a council of 11 Lutheran church bodies in India, and one of its members, the Arcot Lutheran Church, provided food and clothing aid here immediately following the tsunami, continuing for nearly two weeks. The new houses will be constructed at least 500 meters from the water, following a new government ordinance.

* Bishop T. Aruldoss, Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church

"I had many plans," says Bishop T. Aruldoss, head of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church. Those plans were for a much-anticipated celebration of the 300th anniversary of his church to be celebrated in 2006. That celebration will focus on the beginning of Lutheran mission work in Asia.

"As a bishop, I shouldn't be discouraged," he continues, but he doesn't finish the sentence. He doesn't need to. His discouragement is palpable as he greets a visiting delegation from the ELCA in Nagapattinam and describes the affects of the tsunami.

More than 6,000 people were killed in the Nagapattinam district; thousands more are missing. Forty school children alone from this immediate area were lost. Two of the Tamil church's schools were damaged.

"We are here to show solidarity and to make initial personal contact," said Rafael Malpica-Padilla, executive director of the ELCA Division for Global Mission. "We are here to define how the ELCA will live in partnership with brothers and sisters in India."

The Tamil church swung into action the day of the tsunami to feed and provide for the immediate needs of the survivors. "No one was hungry," Aruldoss says, describing the early days after the disaster.

Youth from the church did more grisly work. Organized and led by Julius Vijayakumar, they gathered, identified and cleaned for burial some of the thousands of bodies that washed ashore here.

Now Aruldoss' focuses his concern on a particularly vulnerable group - orphaned children.

He says the Tamil church operates 180 schools and about 20 orphanages. Aruldoss hopes his church can provide care and schooling for some of the orphans, provided the government gives permission to move them to other locations around the church.

"We want to take care of them so they don't become child laborers," the bishop says. Children as young as eight are sometimes forced to work in factories or as cleaning staff in restaurants, for example, Aruldoss says. They are particularly attractive and vulnerable to businesses because they can be paid less and have no power to defend themselves against unscrupulous managers.

Child labor is against the law here, but the law is widely ignored, Aruldoss says.

The bishop also expresses concern for tsunami widows and for those who have lost their livelihood because of the storm. Agriculture workers, as well as those who work on fishing boats, are unable to make a living in many affected areas. The land can't be cultivated immediately because sea water has salinated it.

"As a church we must do something," Aruldoss, says.

At the beginning of the year, it is customary for the bishop to speak and say something encouraging to the congregation, he adds: "But even I myself can't say anything."

Yet he hopes: "When I travel to the coast, with my own eyes I have seen people willing to offer service in the period of calamity. I see the humanity. I too have the privilege, the opportunity to help others. The tsunami should not take place, OK. But it took place but now there is this opportunity for me to help."

When will you fish again?

Pondicherry--Midnight, Sunday

The second wave that hit Chitrapettai, south of Cuddalore, India was above the palm trees. Fortunately, no one was there.

A first wave came in about eight a.m. on Dec 26, filling most of the concrete houses with four or five feet of water. The traditional homes, constructed with bamboo poles and woven palm leaf roofs, didn't survive the first wave.

But it was warning enough to send the people running for the temple and high ground. The second wave came about three minutes later, engulfing a row of palms that stand 30 feet tall or more about 100 feet from the normal tide line.

The trees frame the Indian Ocean coast, forming a scene of which picture postcards from exotic climes are made. But three weeks later people still look stunned and are anxious to show visitors their homes, or what is left of them, as if to finally make some sense of what happened to them.

Some of the concrete homes still squish muddy beneath your feet as you walk through. It is also obvious that water sat in these homes for several hours, at least, leaving water marks and debris.

What doesn't come out at first is that the people are no longer living in these homes. They won't sleep in their houses, but retreat at sundown to ground near the temple where most in the community prepare their meals in a common makeshift kitchen, before bedding down there for the night.

The tsunami came in the morning when it was light explains Anbumalar, 14, an articulate and pretty young woman, who serves as interpreter for her family and neighbors. "If it comes at night, we can't escape."

"The people suffer very much," she says. "When tsunami came all things are destroyed. They lost so much, food, water, houses, TV clothes, boats, nets."

"The children are suffering, when [the parents] go to the water, they cry. They think it will come again."

But no one is going on water here. Although fisherfolk in other villages have said there is a government ban on fishing, this is not the case. The government did place a ban on fishing for a few days after the tsunami, but that no longer applies. Now the issues are economic and psychological.

This village boasted 63 boats before the disaster. Now they have 17.

One young woman with three children was killed in this hamlet, but the sea dumped eight other bodies on the beach. The woman's husband now carries on, caring for the children. But like everyone else here, when the government grant he received gives out he will need to find a way to restore his livelihood.

"Nets and boats" is the call in many villages along the coast. Although some say they want to move further from the water, fishing is the life they know and no one interviewed seems interested in changing professions. Two months is the typical answer to the question: "When will you fish again?"

That's how long villagers estimate it will take to replace boats and other gear needed to fish. Still, no one is sure what sign will mark the day when it is safe to go back in the water--or when others will want to purchase their catch. An abiding sense of mistrust prevails toward "our mother," the sea

Meanwhile a host of practical questions press heavily on them, such as the need for fresh water.

After leading me through her muddy house, dank from stale standing water, Jayealakshmy walked through the back door of a home of perhaps 250 square feet.

A yellow plastic bag covered the pump handle which she has used for decades. Not today. "Before this the water was sweet," she said. Now it is saline and totally unusable for human consumption. A husk-dry banana palm behind the pump tells the story. Salt water inundated the area, spoiling the well and killing much of the vegetation.

Across the dirt street, UNICEF established a water tank for this village and fills it each day. In other villages the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India has given water tanks, allowing people to have at least a basic ration of water.

Up the street, several men and women are digging holes and putting up metal poles for a temporary shelter being constructed by the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India. Women mix the cement and carry it in pans on their heads to the poles, where the men tamp it down and steady the framework.

Chittrapettai is one of numerous coastal villages where the UELCI, the ELCA's primary partner in this disaster, is active, providing relief and working toward rehabilitation and recovery. The UELCI is currently working with 3,500 families.

The temporary structures--metal frame, asbestos and tin roof, and asphalt sheeting for walls--are 120 square feet and will house families of four or five. Permanent housing will be built by the UELCI and its partners later, as the council of 11 churches and its international partners, including the ELCA, restore livelihoods and help communities return to normalcy. The hope, though, is for something better.

The impact on villages like this one is felt further from the coast among farmers and others economically connected to the fisherfolk. Arumugam, 50, was near the beach just at Ayyempettai, a few miles south of Chittrapettai.

He buys fish on the beach and sells them in his village about eight kilometers inland. He was on the beach to buy fish on Dec. 26. When the waves came he grabbed a coconut palm tree and hung on. He saved his life but lost his livelihood. His money he used to make change washed to sea with the basket he used to carry the fish home.

While the government is giving grants to those who lost loved ones, homes and boats, people like Arumugam will receive nothing, which is why the UELCI is taking a larger view of the disaster, keeping the broader impact on communities in mind as it establishes the second and third phases of its plans for rehabilitation and recovery.

The church, in partnership with the ELCA and Lutheran World Service, is also about to launch a project that will train 2000 volunteers selected from coastal villages for health and trauma counseling training.

In collaboration with Lutheran World Service and ACT, the UELCI has established a well-staffed medical clinic at Cuddalore. It serves 500 patients a day, a third of them at the center and the rest through community outreach.

Dr. Issac Rajesh says the government did a good job inoculating against many infections immediately after the tsunami. The physicians at the center have not seen massive outbreaks of measles or other infections, although the number of respiratory and intestinal infections has risen, especially among children.

Rajesh says the incubation period for Typhoid fever, Japanese encephalitis and other potentially deadly infections will soon mature, so the danger has not yet passed.

The degree of psycho-social issues surprised the medical center staff. Sleeplessness, anxiety disorders, dizziness and a variety of psychosomatic symptoms are common, Rajesh said. "We didn't think we'd need to stock sleep aids, but we do," he added.

With other center staff, he will help train the village volunteers in public health issues, paying special attention to working with those struggling with psychological trauma. This will have long-term impact on the villages, as these skills will remain when the tsunami grows more distant in memory.

"We need some ceremony, some traditional way for people to say, 'it's over,'" said Rajesh. "They need to appease the 'sea god' and reconcile again to their way of life."

Bishop Gideon Devanesan, who heads the Arcot Lutheran Church which serves this area, takes a different approach. We explain that the tsunami is a naturally occurring event, he said, frequently telling those he visits that their misfortune isn't divine retribution.

"God has given us time and knowledge to help," he said, "so God can be glorified."

We want our livelihood back

Tonight we had our briefing with United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Asia staff: The Rev. Dr. Chandran Paul Martin, Executive Secretary (UELCI); Ms. Vidhya Rani, Secretary, Women's Desk; Dr. K.M. Shyam Prasad, Director National Lutheran Health and Medical Board and Chancellor, Lutheran University; Dr. William Stanley, Director Integrated Rural Development; and others. Joe Chu and I videotaped interviews with Chandran and Vidhya.

Rafael read letters from Bishop Mark Hanson, acknowleging the long journey to recovery ahead and promising that the ELCA "will walk with you."

Chandran Paul Martin gave a powerful presentation (we have the powerpoint on disk). "Dignity after Disaster" is key. For example, the churches responded immediately and appropriately with cooked food. "After about a week the cooked food wasn't appreciated. They wanted to cook their own. So, the church provided dry rations (rice, Dhal, oil) and cooking utensils. We saw bags of pots ready to go this morning. The families do not want the cast off clothes of others or the inedible rice of the government subsidy. They want their livelihood back."

Speaking of livelihood, everyone David and I talked to this morning talked about the three month government ban on fishing. There is no such thing. "Eat fish!" we were told at the briefing. It does no good for boats and nets to be restored if there is no market for fish. People are afraid to eat fish from an ocean that swallowed up so many bodies.

Dream: to restore five complete coastal villages -- with livelihood.

The disaster only exacerbated the tensions between fisherfolk (upper caste) and Dalit (lower caste). Eighty percent of Lutherans are Dalit. Dalits need food and employment security. Fisherfolk need boats, nets, and psychosocial counseling. A HUGE problem for everyone: access to safe drinking water. "Summer is just two months away." Salt has destroyed many existing wells.

They refer to the disaster as "26/12," acknowledging the power of the name "9/11." (In India the day is referred to before the month.)

It's hoped that the Lutheran churches of the UELCI, in cooperation with ACT, LWR, and CASA, will respond to 3500 families.

The UELCI is "a Communion of [11] Churches in the Midst of Struggles." The struggles: poverty, injustice, gender inequity, and Dalit oppression.

Our hotel in Chennai is the resting stop for many people here to help. I waited for a man with the YMCA to complete his turn at the computer. He returned from Pondicherry, one of the places we will visit in the next three days in the field. "It's unbelievable," he said. "Utter devastation." Now, a man from a Dutch NGO connected to Oxfam waits for me.

Good night. We leave at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Will return back to this hotel in three days. Sue

A Walking Letter

Saturday, Sue, Belletech and I walked Chennai beach on the Indian Ocean Coast. About 500 were killed here. Bodies have long since been picked up, but the beach is littered with boats, nets, pieces of wood--the detritus of the little shops, kiosks and shanties that dotted a wide area of sand that stetches for several miles.

Several people were killed here, washed away by the wave that inundated the beach and threw heavy log fishing boats over the road at least a half mile from the waters edge. A long row of worn, gray shanties, constructed of wood, reeds and bamboo survived but are much worse for the exerpience.

People ran from the beach to temples and churches on higher ground when the wave swept across this area. Several said a thousand crowded into one nearby temple.

The people make their life from the sea. The men fish, the women sell, but today they are sitting in boats strewn randomly on the sand, across the road, even just outside the doors of the houses. Colorfully painted in greens and orange, a few boats bear paintings of Jesus, his hand out as if to calm the sea as they fish.

Nets, bouys and floats are bound into bundles, baking in the sun. No one is going to sea these days. The government has not yet given the go ahead for them to resume fishing. No one would buy their catch anyway, because bodies have been in the water.

For now the boats are jungle gyms for little boys and girls, who quickly cluster around us whenever we stop. The government is paying various fees to defray the loss of life, boats and property. Some of the children ask for rupees if we take their photo.

One man, Kumaravel, reported that his father, Durai, was killed here. Durai had been cleaning his nets by the shore when the wave came. They found him later when the sea coughed up the body. This appears to be a typical experience here.

Those we interviewed uniformly said they'd "lost everything." They ran when the wave came, said Ashoke,14. He was playing cricket when the waves came, then ran to the church.
When he returned, "Everyone was very sad; everyone was crying," he said. He saw that "all was gone. They'd lost all their things."

Ironically, one man was on his boat, fishing at sea all day. He didn't know what had happened until he came in with his catch at about 3 p.m.

Today is national holiday, a harvest festival. Children are flying kites on the beach, as people walk by looking at the water, as if trying to make sense of what happened. One man stopped and stared at a lone, black sandle, half buried in the sand, something the sea had thrown back. One can only wonder where its owner is.

Our delegation, a "walking letter," Chandran Paul Martin calls it, will meet representatives of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India later this afternoon. Martin is head of the UELCI, a council of 14 Indian Lutheran churches.

This is David Miller signing off from balmly Chennai; 86 degrees here today.

This blog

Six ELCA staff members left Chicago today to join 4 others in a pastoral visit to India and Thailand. ELCA staff members include: Joseph Chu (Director for Mission Interpretation and Support-Asia Pacific, Division for Global Mission), Belletech Deressa (Dir. for International Development and Disaster Response, Division for Global Mission), Sue Edison-Swift (Assoc. Director for Interpretation, Department for Communication), The Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla (Executive Dir., Division for Global Mission), The Rev. David Miller (Executive Dir., The Lutheran magazine), The Rev. Frederick Rajan (Executive Dir., Commission for Multicultural Ministries).



Other members of the delegation include:
Leslie Weed-Fonner, Asia regional representative for DGM
Daniel Chelliah, Lutheran World Relief
Lowell Gretebeck, mission personnel with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC)
Pr. Tokuhiro, representing JELC