By DeAnn Rossetti
Pastor Bill Clements of Redeemer Lutheran Church is leaving on March 28 to visit missionaries in Mindanao and tsunami-stricken areas of Thailand.
Clements said that he and his congregation have been financially supporting a missionary couple, Dan and Nancy Rusch and their four daughters, for the past 10 years in their missionary work in Mindanao in the Philippines.
“I took a class from him once at Trinity Lutheran,” said Clements. “His primary mission is translating the Bible for the Baha people of Mindanao.”
Clements said that the Ruschs have been in danger during their 20 years in the area because of religious and ethnic tensions.
“Dan said long ago I should come there and experience his ministry and see the Baha people and the Philippines,” said Clements. “He said I should come and take the world into my heart.”
A member of Clements’ congregation was moving away and, in gratitude for his counseling, gave him a monetary gift.
“I don’t generally see that as appropriate, so I prayed about it, and God revealed to me that I could buy an airplane ticket to Manila with that money,” said Clements. “Then I added a ticket for my wife from my own pocket.”
Clements said that after his plans were in place, the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, and he and his 70-person congregation raised over $600 at Clements’ 55th birthday party for Northwest Medical Teams in their relief effort.
“A lot of the initial aid to the tsunami area has been used for rebuilding buildings, food, and medical supplies,” said Clements. “Now in the second phase, there’s personal destruction, grief and shattered lives to deal with, and money won’t heal the fact that someone’s child was washed away. Now missionaries are dealing with the grief.”
Clements said he will be visiting Lutheran missionaries in Thailand who are working with local people to rebuild their lives emotionally.
“I will be bringing trauma counseling aids, books, tracts, things to help people reorganize their thinking,” he said. “My wife is a social worker at Harborview, so she has access to items we can bring with us.”
Clements said that 40 percent of the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka were children, which has added an extra emotional element to the sorrow and sense of loss.
“Orphanages and schools need to be rebuilt, school supplies and kids’ uniforms replaced, and relief workers need to deal specifically with hurting children and adults who have lost people,” he said.
Clements noted that he feels that it’s part of his mission to support the missionary and rescue workers, who often ignore their own needs in favor of helping others.
“They have the expectation that they have to put on a happy face all the time,” he said. “They figure that because they work for God, they have to look good even when they are hurting. It’s important to have someone come and share stories and help them recover.”
A Baltimore native, Clements has been pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church for 12 years and has been a minister since 1974. He as been volunteering as a chaplain at Harborview Trauma Center for 10 years and at the King County Jail System for another 10.
“Someone asked me why did this (tsunami) happen, and I said that it happened so you could become generous,” he said. “It didn’t happen to punish those people.”
Clements noted that he and his congregation have purchased medical equipment and supplies for a clinic in Danao City in Mindanao, and he’s been offered a tour of the facility, which is up and running.
“I want to go and experience the wonderful things God’s doing there,” he said. “I will be experiencing things you only read about in the paper. We’ll see how it all turns out.”
Pastor Bill Clements can be reached at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 232-1711.
