Jessica Foster
Staff Writer

Less than two weeks after a devastating earthquake and tsunami ravaged parts of Asia, local churches are reaching out to help.

The faith community here has responded with money, supplies and prayers in an effort to do their part to help those affected.

At St. Peterís Catholic Church the congregation responded with generosity in Sundayís collection.

Kathleen Lynch of St. Peterís reported the congregation gave nearly $7300 with more still coming in.

The church was prompted by a request from Archbishop Harry Flynn of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The funds will go to Catholic Relief Services to disperse.

ì27 parishes were totally wiped out,î Lynch said. ìThey turn to churches for help but even the churches are gone.î

Hosanna Lutheran Church also is making efforts to help. Raising money to be dispersed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the church has been collecting funds to help with recovering.

ìQuite a bit (of money) came in this past weekend,î said Rev. Michael Sparby.

The congregation, he said, is not done helping those affected by the disaster.

ìIt will go on for quite some time,î he added.

The congregation at Faith Lutheran Church collected $1500 in an offering this past Sunday. The funds will go to Doctors Without Borders.

The church also is collecting supplies to aid those in the disaster area. Individuals who want to donate are encouraged to call 651-464-3323, ext. 120.

Grace Alliance Church took a collection. The funds will go to the Christian and Missionary Alliance to use as it sees fit.

Immanuel Church said it would be discussing what they could do to help this week.

The Forest Lake Area Clergy Association, meeting this week, planned to discuss aid efforts.

The 9.0 quake and resulting tsunami resulted in more than 150,000 deaths. Tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for and more than 500,000 people are suffering from injuries.

In addition to death and injury, the infrastructure of these nations was ripped apart. Throughout the world, people, organizations and nations are doing what they can to assist.

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