[1]CHIANGMAI, Thailand (BP)–As Asia’s battered coasts began to reveal the enormity of the death and devastation caused by the biggest earthquake in 40 years, Southern Baptist relief workers began working with others to aid the survivors.
Initial efforts will focus on delivering food, water, blankets and other essentials to coastal villages in southern Thailand — some of which were nearly wiped out by towering waves — and the heavily damaged resort area of Krabi.
“These little villages have been devastated. It’s hard to describe how bad it is,” said a Southern Baptist international relief coordinator in Asia. “The basic needs are going to be food, clean water, blankets, shelter and basic medical supplies.”
Throughout the region, nearly 40,000 people had been reported dead by Dec. 28, and that estimate is expected to rise quickly.
Southern Baptist workers were to meet with Thai government officials in the affected area Dec. 28. They also hope to work through Baptist churches in the region. The churches were spared destruction, but many church members who work on outlying islands were injured in the flooding. In Thailand, about 1,000 flooding-related deaths had been reported by Dec. 27.
“I think that number is going to climb, probably significantly,” said the relief coordinator.
[2]The death toll had already soared far higher in harder-hit areas of South and Southeast Asia. The huge 9.0 earthquake, centered in the Indian Ocean west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, sent towering tsunami waves crashing into thousands of miles of Asian coastlines east and west. The waves killed tens of thousands of people and sent millions fleeing to higher ground.
Coastal areas of Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, the Maldives and Malaysia took the brunt of the waves’ force as tsunamis speeding as fast as 500 miles per hour blasted ashore, wiping out everything in their path. The quake’s force hit more than 3,000 miles away in Somalia, on the east coast of Africa, where hundreds reportedly died.
While confirming Southern Baptist missionary families in the region had escaped the initial disaster, IMB relief specialists began contacting regional governments, U.N. disaster officials and other agencies about the best ways to respond — immediately and over the long term.
“The timing of the relief work is going to be as important as the supplies we distribute,” the relief worker stressed. “We want to help people immediately; that’s always our first instinct. But we don’t want to be just another relief agency. We want our work to have a face. We want to establish relationships so they see us as individuals who love and care.”
The worker is requesting an initial $125,000 in Southern Baptist disaster relief funds for aid in Thailand, Sri Lanka and other parts of Southeast Asia.
“That will help us get a lot started, but until we go in and get on the ground, it’s hard to say how much we’ll need,” he said.
A “ton of relief agencies” will be streaming into devastated areas of Sri Lanka and India, which have appealed for international aid, he said. IMB workers hope to help meet critical needs there after the first wave of responders leave. In the meantime, they plan to focus on hard-hit areas in countries that have not yet requested assistance — including Indonesia, where government officials say 10,000 may have died on Sumatra alone.
“We’re trying to get access through local people and through official channels,” said the worker. “We want to work with the civil authorities in Indonesia in any way possible.”
Southern Baptists and other Christians can help by sending financial gifts for aid through the IMB disaster relief fund. Send gifts designated “Asia Earthquake Disaster Relief” to the International Mission Board, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, Va., 23230 (to give online, go to the International Mission Board’s website, www.imb.org, and click on “Give Now” in the box highlighting this story). All funds given will go to relief efforts; none will be used for administrative costs.
Christians also can help by praying. Aftershocks — actually secondary earthquakes measuring as high as 6.0 on the Richter scale — continue to shake the region, making disaster response difficult and dangerous.
“I’ve seen God open doors that have been closed for a long time through disaster response, but I’ve also seen a lot of people get hurt — so please pray for safety and discernment,” the worker cautioned.
International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin, who served as a missionary in the region, also issued a call to prayer and response:
“Our hearts are grieved anytime a disaster such as this brings such devastation and loss of life. Having served for 23 years in the affected countries makes the loss very personal for me. I have traveled many of the coastal highways, worked in the towns and vacationed at the seaside resorts that have been destroyed.
“Our IMB personnel in the region are already on site in many locations, assessing the damage and evaluating what we can do as we work alongside local governments and Great Commission partner agencies. We are trusting Southern Baptists to respond with an outpouring of support to undergird the relief and rehabilitation projects that will follow in the days and weeks ahead. We need to pray for the victims who have lost homes and loved ones, and pray that the compassion and love of Christ can be expressed and communicated through our ministries.”
Tremors from the earthquake could be felt thousands of miles from the epicenter in the Indian Ocean.
Many tragedies were averted by the timing of the waves. A missionary family vacationing at one of the hardest-hit beaches had left one day before the quake. A missionary on the water in southern Thailand when the tsunami raced ashore was able to escape danger. The seawall at a school in one area was destroyed by a wave that might have killed many children of missionaries if the school had been in session.
“We were awake and getting ready for church when our sixth-floor apartment started shaking,” a missionary reported. “At first, I thought it was a hard wind, but then realized that there was an earthquake. Our apartment shook for at least five minutes. We hurriedly got dressed and left the building. All of our apartment neighbors gathered in the parking lot until we felt that it was safe to go back inside. We knew that it was the greatest earthquake that we had ever experienced, but we were unaware of the damage of the tsunami until later in the day.”
David Garrison, IMB regional leader for South Asia, reported that many Christians live in Tamil Nadu, the eastern Indian state hit hard by the tsunamis.
“We’re in a watch, pray and prepare-to-respond mode,” he said. “We encourage you to lift up these people who have experienced loss of loved ones and loss of homes and other things due to this tragedy. Even during such a difficult time, there is an opportunity to share the Father’s love and to witness to people about the most valuable thing that we can have: eternal life. We are currently investigating ways that we can contribute to this recovery ministry. There will certainly be ministry needs and opportunities to witness to Christ’s love for many months to come.”
Bobby Gupta of HPI Global Partners, a Christian agency, reported terrible devastation in the region:
“Right now in Chennai (India), we are watching horrible scenes of dead bodies (mostly children) stacked up together. The whole city is mourning the deaths of over 2,000 people. Thousands of families who lived in the coastal area of Chennai are now stranded in the street, having lost many of their loved ones and all their belongings with fear and trembling.
“Please pray that God will give consolation and peace to all those who have lost their loved ones. I was listening to a mother’s cry who said that the huge wave snatched her two sons from her hand and threw her onto a tree. She saw her sons die in front of her eyes. Please pray that God will have mercy on these people. Please pray for those who are missing their loved ones and are not able to find their whereabouts. Please pray for all who lost their belongings and are on the street. Please pray for their protection and provision of the necessary needs.”
–30–
Southern Baptists and other Christians can help by sending financial gifts for aid through the IMB disaster relief fund. Send gifts designated “Asia Earthquake Disaster Relief” to the International Mission Board, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, Va., 23230 (to give online, go to the International Mission Board’s website, www.imb.org, and click on “Give Now” in the box highlighting this story). All funds given will go to relief efforts; none will be used for administrative costs.