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As Death Toll Climbs, Ministry and Relief Efforts Go Hand in Hand

by Jody Brown and Allie Martin
December 30, 2004

(AgapePress) - A ministry which plants Christian churches throughout Asia is responding to the deadly South Asia tsunami triggered by the most powerful earthquake in four decades. And another ministry, already in Sri Lanka, has shifted its resources from "development" to a more immediate need: relief for the victims.

The number of deaths attributed to the 9.0 temblor off the coast of Sumatra on December 26 continues to climb. A dozen countries, stretching from Indonesia to the eastern shores of Africa, were walloped by the resulting tidal waves, some reportedly as high as three-story buildings and traveling hundreds of miles per hour.

Following Thursday's report of 28,000 newly confirmed dead in Sumatra -- which was closest to the quake's epicenter -- the death toll now stands at more than 114,000. More than 80,000 of those deaths occurred in Indonesia; Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were also hard hit. The number of casualties in the region is expected to increase with thousands still missing and with the potential outbreak of diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis A.

President George W. Bush has announced an international coalition composed of the United States, India, Australia, and Japan to coordinate relief efforts and reconstruction along the 3,000 miles of Indian Ocean rim that was pounded by the earthquake-driven tsunami. Among the faith-based groups already delivering aid is Gospel for Asia, whose workers are taking food, clothing, medical supplies -- and the gospel of Christ -- to the millions of Asians affected by the catastrophe.

K.P. Yohannan, president of Gospel for Asia, says people are now getting sick -- "and they're dying left and right." He explains the time for Christians worldwide to demonstrate Christ's love is now.

"This is the time we need to go out and show the compassion of Christ by giving them some food, some clothes, and some shelter -- and that's exactly what hundreds of our missionaries are doing," he says in reference to the efforts of GFA's 1.5-million-member Believers Church in India.

"If I ever said to anyone 'we need help,' it is now," he continues. "In the very first phase of the outreach for compassion for these people, our leaders are saying they need a million dollars just to be able to meet the basic needs in some of these places in the next three or four weeks."

Yohannon relates the overwhelming environment of death his group's relief workers are encountering. "One of the leaders described to me that he and the team on the shores [are seeing] thousands of bodies have just been washed to the shores," he says. "They say the saddest thing is to watch hundreds of children who don't have their parents anymore -- they are [now] orphans -- and wives who lost their husbands, and husbands who lost their children or the whole family was just wiped out. It's just horrible."

Amidst the tragedy, Yohannon says there have been reports of a number of miracles. One church in Sri Lanka was spared even though the entire village was washed away. And all 26 GFA missionaries serving on the low-lying Andaman Islands chain are safe.

'Devastation Beyond Imagination'
Another Christian charity, World Vision, is ministering to victims in Sri Lanka. That ministry's Steve Matthews says the destruction in that tiny island nation is incredible. "I've never seen anything like this, and I've covered many humanitarian emergencies," he tells Associated Press. "The power of nature here has literally devastated the island."

"Everywhere I went there was devastation beyond imagination. I've seen this many times in emergencies, but nothing of this magnitude."

Matthews says World Vision has had projects in Sri Lanka for 25 years, so its personnel have simply shifted from "development mode to relief mode." He adds that tensions between Sri Lanka's majority Buddhists and minority Christians have been set aside in the present crisis.

"There are some historic issues there, but it just sort of changes the landscape and the mood of a country," Matthews shares. "At a time like this, like in a squabbling family when someone gets hurt, everybody just forgets the other petty animosity."

Donations for relief efforts can be made to Gospel for Asia and to World Vision through their respective websites.

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