Lutheran World Relief recognized the Rev. April Ulring Larson and Rick Santos, president of IMA World Health, with “Friend of LWR” awards last week during a meeting of LWR’s board of directors. Larson and Santos were both on hand to receive the awards at a dinner in given in their honor.
“The ‘Friend of Lutheran World Relief’ award is an opportunity for LWR to recognize partnerships with people and organizations who help LWR work toward its mission of ending poverty, injustice and human suffering,” said LWR president and CEO the Rev. John Nunes.
January’s earthquake in Haiti was a recurring theme during the board meeting and at the award dinner. Both award recipients were personally affected by the quake and both have encouraged others to join in the response effort.
Rev. Larson, the former bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s La Crosse (Wis.) Area Synod, is currently senior pastor at First Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minn. She served on the LWR board from 2001 to 2008 and she and her husband, the Rev. Judd Larson, remain avid supporters of LWR’s work around the world.
Larson’s son, Ben, was in Haiti with his wife Renee Splichal Larson, and his cousin, Jonathan Larson, teaching theology to Haitian Lutherans, when the earthquake struck. He was killed when the building he was in collapsed. His wife and cousin survived. This weekend Ben would have graduated from Wartburg Theological Seminary. Since his death, friends and supporters of the Larson family have commemorated his life through donations of health kits and other aid to LWR for the people of Haiti.
In a statement read at the award dinner, ELCA presiding bishop the Rev. Mark Hanson said, “In the aftermath of Ben’s death, April and Judd have witnessed consistently to Christ’s resurrection promise. Their gratitude for the Haitian people, their culture and their faith is one example of friendships April has developed throughout the world.”
Rick Santos, president of IMA World Health, also accepted an award on behalf of the organization, which provides health care services and supplies to vulnerable and marginalized people around the world.
For 50 years, IMA has worked closely with LWR, often sending medical supplies to the same locations where LWR has responded to disasters with material aid like quilts and health kits. Santos, too, was in Haiti during the earthquake and spent 55 hours below a collapsed building before he was rescued.
In his remarks, Santos expressed a deep appreciation for the partnership between IMA and LWR. “Strategic partner is a phrase we use for LWR, not just because of our shared material resources past, but our similar values and mission. What it means is friendship between the two organizations, and that’s unusual.”
Earlier in the day, LWR hosted Bishop Thomas J. Barnett of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone (ELCSL). As the bishop toured LWR’s warehouse facilities, staff and volunteers were packing health kits and other aid bound for Sierra Leone. After the Haiti earthquake, LWR asked the ELCSL for permission to divert part of its planned material aid shipment, originally scheduled to ship in February, to Haiti.
“With a profound sense of generosity and compassion, the church gladly agreed to send a portion of their shipment to the people of Haiti and even thanked LWR for giving them an opportunity to help in the wake of the disaster,” said Trevor Knoblich, LWR’s program coordinator for emergency response.
Along with LWR president John Nunes, Bishop Barnett blessed the quilts that will go to Sierra Leone to assist extremely poor people who are still recovering from a decade-long rebel war that ended in 2002.
“With the war, everything was devastated,” said Barnett. “The most appreciated materials are quilts. In the hospitals, people are expected to bring their own bedding. They lay on bare floors and bed frames. For those that have absolutely nothing…we use your quilts. In the Freetown Maternity Hospital, every bed is covered with an LWR quilt.”
