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Brazil’s Lutherans reach out amidst catastrophic flooding

by | May 24, 2024

Devastating flooding in Brazil. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert. CC BY-SA 2.0.

BRAZIL – Lutherans in Brazil are reaching out with the love of Christ as they struggle in the aftermath of devastating floods—the worst the country has experienced in 80 years.

Beginning at the end of April and continuing through May, the state of Rio Grande do Sul has experienced massive flooding. More than 160 people are confirmed dead, others are still missing, and hundreds more are injured. Nearly 600,000 people have been displaced, with close to 70,000 people currently living in emergency shelters.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil – IELB) is experiencing the devastation firsthand; more than half of the church’s members live in the affected state. “In Rio Grande do Sul, heavy rains are causing destruction like never before,” explains IELB President Geraldo Schüler. “There are hundreds of municipalities partially or completely destroyed. Many people have died because of the floods and landslides, thousands of homes have been destroyed, and many people are missing.”

Congregação Concórdia, a 120 year old IELB church in São Leopoldo, under water. Photo: IELB.

The IELB reports that 14 of their churches are known to have suffered damage in the flooding; some, like the Congregação São João in Novo Hamburgo, still remain submerged. A number of Lutheran schools have also been affected. Seven pastors have completely lost their homes and everything inside them. Other pastors managed to save a few belongings and escape by car, while others lost even their cars. The full impact on church members remains impossible to assess at this point, but many of them have lost their homes and been displaced.

Flooding at Editora Concórdia. Photo: IELB.

The church’s publishing house, Editora Concórdia, also remains underwater. “We still don’t have a real understanding of how things are there,” the IELB reports, “and we confess, we are afraid of what we will find.”

“This catastrophe is unprecedented,” says IELB Vice President Airton Schroeder, who oversees social ministry in the church body. But while the creation may have been devastated, he says, “the Creator remains the same yesterday, today and forever. The Creator has shown His mercy through Christians and non-Christians alike, caring for one another. But He has especially demonstrated His mercy through those who, in the midst of tragedy, look to the cross and realize that human life on Earth is temporary and testify to the love of Jesus Christ in words and actions, working to minimize the suffering of their neighbour.”

Lutherans reach out

Relief efforts at the Lutheran University of Brazil. Photo: IELB.

Even as Rio Grande do Sul is facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation, Brazil’s Lutherans are reaching out with critical care and support. The Lutheran University of Brazil in Canoas, for example, is hosting more than 8,000 people who have been displaced—the largest such shelter in the country. In São Leopoldo, meanwhile, the church’s seminary, Seminário Concórdia, is likewise hosting displaced people who have been referred to them by the city, primarily elderly people and those with special needs. Faculty, students, and family are all involved in caring and feeding those on campus, as well as distributing food to people in other locations.

Faculty, students, and families at Seminário Concórdia prepare food for those affected by the floods. Photo: IELB.

“We are facing many difficulties because of this huge flooding,” said President Schüler. “But this is also an important opportunity for the church to share God’s great love, and this is being done in a wonderful way through the congregations and institutions linked to the IELB.” IELB congregations have provided assistance in numerous ways, ranging from rescuing people caught in the flooding; providing shelter in unaffected buildings; collecting and distributing necessities like food, water, blankets, clothing, and hygiene goods; raising emergency funds; and of course providing pastoral care to people in the midst of great suffering.

As of May 22, the IELB has raised more than R$1,850,000 for relief work, and already distributed R$500,000 for emergency food, life-protecting supplies, and other needs. You can find out more about the IELB’s ongoing response to the crisis and its Disaster Response Fund on the IELB’s website here (in Portuguese).

Chances are the work will continue for some time. Authorities have suggested it will be months—perhaps even years—before life in in the affected areas returns to normal.

“I encourage all Christians around the world to remember Brazil in prayer,” said General Secretary Klaus Detlev Schulz of the International Lutheran Council (ILC). “The people are facing great sorrow and loss in this time. May God strengthen the work of authorities as they seek to preserve life and property in Brazil. And may He bless the work of our friends in the IELB, as they offer practical care and comfort in the name of Jesus Christ to all those who have been affected by this tragedy.”

The ILC, of which the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil is a member, is a global association of confessional Lutheran churches grounded in the authority of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

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Sheltering Ukrainian refugees in Germany

by | Jul 28, 2022

Ukrainian refugees study German at the Old Latin School in Wittenberg.

GERMANY – Refugees from war-torn Ukraine have received shelter and other forms of help in several congregations of Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche – SELK).

Twenty Ukrainians have taken up residence in Wittenberg’s “Old Latin School” (OLS) after arriving from Kiev, Ternopil, and Lutsk. Angelika Weber is instructing the families in everyday German language skills. She is assisted by her husband, Rev. Dr. Wilhelm Weber, the OLS Managing Director.

The first couple who arrived from Kiev and were housed at OLS have already moved into their own apartment in Wittenberg and have found jobs as teachers. Natalya Zubrytska formerly ran a language school in Kiev with ten employees. “Her English is good and her German skills are progressing well,” notes Dr. Wilhelm Weber. He is currently seeking additional housing in the Wittenberg area, since the OLS is also needed for seminars of the Luther Academy of Riga, as well as for various groups of international visitors.

Rev. Andriy Honcharuk holds a Ukrainian-language worship service at the Old Latin School.

The Lutheran Church Mission (LKM), affiliated with the SELK, is considering employing a Ukrainian Lutheran pastor, Rev. Andriy Honcharuk, to provide spiritual care for Ukrainian refugees throughout Germany. Rev. Honcharuk and his family currently live in Wittenberg. Consultations on this possibility took place on July 25, 2022, at the SELK’s headquarters in Hanover and involved Rev. Honcharuk; LKM Mission Director, Rev. Roger Zieger; and Rev. Dr. Hans-Jörg Voigt, Bishop of the SELK.

Ukrainian families are also being accommodated at the SELK’s seminary in Oberursel.  Already last March, a family arrived from the Kiev suburb of Butcha—an area which received extensive news coverage due to massacres there by Russian military forces. They were later joined by another Kiev family, bringing to five the total of Ukrainians living at the seminary campus in Oberursel.

The seminary is also furnishing a large lecture hall to provide German-language lessons for Ukrainians. The offer has generated a strong response, not only from refugees living at the seminary but also from numerous Ukrainians living in the wider Oberursel area.

Seminary professor Gilberto da Silva offers various forms of support to the refugees with the assistance of his wife. “We have received generous support from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), the Lutheran Church Mission (LKM), and the social ministry department (Diakonie) of the SELK to help with rent and utility costs of the apartments and lecture hall,” he notes. “For all this we are very grateful.”

Ukrainian refugee families at SELK’s seminary in Oberursel.

Relief Efforts in Ukraine

Relief efforts also continue in Ukraine. On July 23, 2022, SELK Bishop Voigt held a phone call with Rev. Oleg Schewtschenko, a pastor of the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine (SELCU) serving in Odessa. Rev. Schewtschenko brought his wife and children to safety in Germany but chose to return to Ukraine—despite holding a German passport—in order to continue serving his parishioners.

During the call, Rev. Schewtschenko thanked Bishop Voigt for the German church’s strong support, which has allowed SELCU to purchase food and other necessities for people in Ukraine. “The help of our sisters and brothers in Canada and Germany not only helps us to survive in this war, but also strengthens our faith,” he said. The SELK’s social ministry department (Diakonie) is working alongside Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC) to assist people in the Odessa area. LCC has worked with the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Ukraine since the 1990s. Since the outbreak of war, LCC’s members have raised nearly $600,000 in emergency aid to assist SELCU.

Bishop Voigt noted the deep impression Rev. Schewtschenko made upon him during the phone call. “Here is a pastor continuing his ministry in a war zone, though he could leave without difficulty on a German passport,” he said. “But both he and his family have chosen to be separated for a long period of time. I have great respect for this. May God strengthen and protect him, his family, and all the sisters and brothers still in Ukraine.”

The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) of Germany, along with LCC and the LCMS, are member churches of the International Lutheran Council (ILC), a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies.

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