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Ministry Relief Efforts Reach Out to Tsunami Victims in South Asia

by Jody Brown
December 28, 2004

(AgapePress) - Relief agencies around the world are sending supplies and volunteers to South Asia in the aftermath of one of the world's greatest catastrophes. According to various news reports, the death toll from the tsunami that rolled across the region on Sunday (December 26) has now risen to nearly 40,000.

The earthquake-driven waves struck 10 different countries, leaving behind death, destruction, and discouragement. From Malaysia to Somalia, located 3,000 miles from the quake's epicenter, people's lives and livelihoods have been taken from them. Sri Lanka and Indonesia were among the hardest hit, with reports of more than 18,000 and 15,000 deaths respectively. Deaths in India are estimated to be as high as 7,000. Other countries hard hit include Thailand, Malaysia, Burma, and Somalia. The number of deaths is expected to climb in areas where both access and communication are limited.

The coordinator for U.N. emergency relief to the areas told the Washington Post that millions of people have been affected by the quake and resulting tidal waves, and that the financial cost of the disaster could reach into the billions of dollars. Jan Egeland said "we cannot fathom the coast of these poor societies and the nameless fishermen and fishing villages and so on that have just been wiped out. Hundreds of thousands of livelihoods have gone."

Offering Both Physical and Spiritual Comfort
Among the groups offering emergency food and shelter to victims in South Asia are the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention and the organization Food for the Hungry. And United Methodist News Service reports the United Methodist Committee on Relief is joining with other faith-based disaster relief agencies to aid the victims in the area.

In an interview with Associated Press, IMB president Jerry Rankin explains the advantage of a well-placed, widespread network of missionaries at times like this.

"We're the largest missionary-sending organization in North America with more than 5,000 personnel in 184 countries," he explains. "So wherever something like this happens, we usually have someone nearby who can respond and confer with government officials and other humanitarian organizations to mobilize the resources in support of Southern Baptists in response."

"Already we're receiving reports of teams that are providing food and blankets and temporary shelter," he adds. In addition to meeting the immediate physical needs of the disaster victims, Rankin says missionaries can also offer comfort and hope to those seeking spiritual support.

"We believe God can work through anything for good if it brings people to Himself," he says, "and we would not be so fatalistic as to say that He causes it for that purpose. But we would certainly want to respond as Christians to lead people to that kind of faith perspective on what they've experienced."

Ministering to disaster victims, he says, can be a spiritual mission. In response to love and compassion, victims often "open their hearts to be receptive to a Christian witness." Rankin says the objective is "not to on the situation, but just to meet the total needs of people."

Also helping to meet the needs of those whose lives have been hit by the disaster is Food for the Hungry, an international relief and development agency working in 46 countries around the world. Working with the Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief (EFICOR), Food for the Hungry is distributing food, blankets, and clothing. The geographical expanse of the damage from the tsunami presents a challenge, says an agency spokesman.

"The disaster response effort is significantly more complex than most emergencies due to the huge geographical area that has been devastated," says David Evans, noting that at least five countries are finding large portions of their coastlands in ruins. "This is compounded by the difficulty in getting aid to the many islands that were inundated. Millions of people are without food, water, and shelter."

To meet those needs as quickly as possible, Food for the Hungry is coordinating with local-church partners to distribute basic health supplies and care, along with food and clothing. "Right now we are doing everything within our power to save the lives of those who have survived," says Food for the Hungry president Ben Homan. "[W]e are partnering closely with local, community-based organizations, such as churches, to make sure all the assistance actually reaches the afflicted people as efficiently and as appropriately as is humanly possible."

And like the SBC International Mission Board, Food for the Hungry ministers to the spiritual needs of survivors as well.

"We are called to be there," says Homan. "Many of their family members have died -- and offering emotional comfort is a vital response in tandem with providing items to meet their physical needs. We are there to respond to the needs of the whole person and to give them hope in a seemingly hopeless situation."

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