The world's worst earthquake in 40 years and a resulting tsunami left tens of thousands of South Asians dead and millions more homeless the last week of December. Baptist relief agencies are responding to the mammoth disaster.
As the death toll surged past 130,000 in one of modern history's worst cataclysms, Baptist groups from around the world rushed to help survivors of the Dec. 26 South Asian tsunami disaster.
Press reports cited government figures estimating tens of thousands dead in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, with coastal areas in Thailand and eight other nations around the Indian Ocean also hit hard. At the same time, the Baptist World Alliance, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship were hurrying to get relief funds and supplies to Baptist groups and missionaries in the affected areas.
The Baptist World Alliance was working with indigenous Baptists to provide humanitarian relief. Immediately after the tsunamis, Baptist World Aid-the relief arm of the BWA-allocated an initial $25,000 for relief supplies to be channeled through Baptists in the region. It also allocated $5,000 to a team of Hungarian Baptist medical and aid workers who went to Colombo, Sri Lanka, Dec. 27.
According to BWAid director Paul Montacute, the team also will distribute $110,000 worth of medical supplies donated by Hungary.
Dec. 29 press reports from the region said disease-from thousands of human and animal corpses continuing to wash ashore as well as sewage spread about by the flood waters-may endanger thousands who survived the initial blast of surging waves.
A BWA press release quoted a Sri Lankan Christian leader saying the situation in that island nation off the southern tip of India “continues to be frightening.” The country's security forces, according to Sri Lanka Council of Churches S.K. Xavier, “are dispatched in the affected areas to control the people, not allowing them to return to the risk areas, such as the shores.”
Xavier also noted that heavy seasonal rains are worsening the flooding caused by the sea surge. “Though it was forecast that the monsoon rains have ceased, the weather has changed, and as a result, there is rain. Muttur is very badly hit, and it is a torrential rain there,” he said.
The BWA release also quoted a doctor from a Baptist hospital in the coastal Indian province of Andrah Pradesh. Lalitha Voola of Nellore Baptist Hospital reported Dec. 27 that “fishermen and people living on the coast were unprepared for the waves that rose as high as six meters. It started at 8:15 a.m. Thank God it did not happen during night.”
She continued, “This is one of the worst natural disasters in [the state] and hundreds of fishermen are missing after the massive tidal wave.”
Andrah Pradesh is prone to cyclonic storms and the province faced a disaster of similar magnitude in 1996.
Prakasam district, which includes Ramapatnam, home of a Baptist seminary, and Ongole, a key Baptist center, bore the brunt of the province's disaster. Storm currents washed away nearly 1,000 boats and countless fishing nets. Dozens of overturned country boats were seen tossing in the open sea at Mypadu, not far from Nellore.
Montacute noted that the world's last massive natural disaster struck a year to the day prior to the tsunamis. On Dec. 26, 2003, a massive earthquake virtually leveled the Iranian city of Bam.
“Baptists responded with compassion for our appeal at that time,” he said. “And now as we look toward 2005, I hope and pray that the resources will come so that we can respond positively to the requests from our Baptist leaders and workers from the affected area.”
The International Mission Board's 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 an international relief coordinator in Asia affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board. “The basic needs are going to be food, clean water, blankets, shelter and basic medical supplies.”
Baptist workers met 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, thousands of flooding-related deaths had been reported by Dec. 27.
“I think that number is going to climb, probably significantly,” said the relief coordinator.
While confirming Southern Baptist missionary families in the region had escaped the initial disaster, IMB relief specialists began contacting regional governments, United Nations 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 tens of thousands 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.”
Indonesian Baptist leader Victor Rembeth told the BWA his country was grateful “for a very quick response to prayer and your concerns to all the victims of the tsunamis.” He sees this as an opportunity “to show our Christian love to the people in the area.”
International Mission Board president Jerry Rankin, who served as a missionary in the region, 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.”
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's personnel in the areas affected “are involved in lending emergency assistance and are exploring ways to respond to the long-term needs in appropriate ways,” said Jack Snell, the CBF's associate coordinator for missions teams in Asia.
The Fellowship has already authorized each of its missionaries or missionary couples to spend up to $5,000 on emergency relief.
CBF officials have contacted all of the organization's missionaries working in the affected regions, Snell said, and all are uninjured. However, he added, the earthquake-triggered surges displaced or threatened several missionary families. They are now assisting their neighbors and communities, he said.
“We have been in touch with our personnel in Asia and are grateful that all are safe,” Snell, who is based in Singapore but currently on stateside assignment, said Dec. 27. “But we grieve with those who suffered the consequences of the devastating earthquake and the ensuing massive tsunamis. As is often true, the brunt of the tragedy was borne by those who are poor and powerless and who have the fewest resources to respond to their loss.”
Daniel Vestal, the CBF's coordinator, appealed for prayer and assistance for victims.
“As Baptist Christians, we share in the worldwide shock and disbelief at the unimaginable suffering created by the earthquake and tsunamis in Southeast Asia. We mourn the loss of human life, the destruction of homes, and devastation of families, communities and countries. We pledge to do what we can in providing relief, and we promise our solidarity and help.
“We call upon Christians and churches in the CBF, as well as partnering institutions, organizations and ministries to respond to this global crisis by giving time, energy and resources.”
From Associated Baptist Press, Baptist Press and Baptist World Alliance press reports