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MCC asks for donations to respond to Ecuador earthquakes

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WINNIPEG and AKRON, Pa.

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is requesting donations to support its response to recent earthquakes in Ecuador, where members of multiple Mennonite congregations are among 100,000 people affected by the disaster.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific coast of northern Ecuador on April 16, 2016, followed by a second earthquake on April 20, 2016. At least 570 people have been killed and more than 7,000 injured.

Multiple Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Ecuatoriana (IEME) congregations are located in Manabi Province, an area that was severely damaged by the earthquakes. IEME, a member denomination of the Conservative Mennonite Conference, has about 1,500 members.

With encouragement from Rosedale Mennonite Missions, the mission agency of the conference, MCC has sent disaster response coordinator David Shenk, currently of Harrisonburg, Va., to assist IEME in assessing the need and planning the response. Shenk has previous experience in Ecuador, working with disaster response planning and coordination.

Following MCC’s initial assessment with IEME, MCC will determine how best to support IEME’s plans.

MCC has three service workers in Ecuador, working with Quito Mennonite Church as the church assists Colombian refugees there. This is a project of Iglesia Cristiana Anabautista Menonita de Ecuador, a newly formed Mennonite conference in Ecuador. The capital city of Quito was not impacted by the quakes, and the workers and church members there are safe.

Find out more at mcccanada.ca/ecuador-earthquake.

—MCC staff

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