(ABP) — Baptists continue to mobilize supplies and prayer in an effort to minister to victims of natural disasters in China and Myanmar.
News reports May 22 indicated the death toll in China had risen to 50,000, with 220,000 injured, in the wake of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan province May 12.
Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar (Burma) on May 3, killing 130,000 according to the U.N. and leaving two million homeless. The country's ruling military junta has finally agreed to allow help from outside after initially resisting most international assistance.
Myanmar's leaders continue to resist international assistance efforts. But as of May 19, some help had been accepted from the Baptist World Alliance and Samaritan's Purse.
Graham's organization was among the first non-government relief agencies allowed to send supplies to Myanmar. According to its website, one cargo-plane-load of supplies arrived from Thailand on May 14. Because of government restrictions, Samaritan's Purse is working through local churches to get relief materials delivered.
Airlifted supplies include water purification kits, rolls of plastic for emergency shelters, emergency health kits, blankets, clothing and mosquito nets.
A Baptist World Alliance Rescue24 team was granted visas and has entered Myanmar. The team currently is stationed in Yangon, among the largest cities devastated by the cyclone. The team is working in five camps near the city, serving approximately 15,000 people.
According to news reports, the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, a BWA affiliate, was to organize a meeting of national Baptist convention representatives and relief workers — including Virginia — in Bangkok, Thailand, May 24 to discuss needs and ways in which to meet them.
The Southern Baptist relief organization, Baptist Global Response, has sent a team of five Oklahomans to Bangkok to assist response workers in training Myanmar Christians in water purification techniques.
The BWA, through its relief arm, Baptist World Aid, expects to send a relief team to China within a week. According to the BWA website, volunteers from the United States — Virginia, North Carolina and Texas — and Singapore, Australia and Hungary are on standby to form additional teams. Members of Hungarian Baptist Aid are leading both teams.
According to a post on the Southern Baptist Convention's website, Baptist Global Response expects to have a team in China sometime by the end of this week.
Franklin Graham, founder of the relief organization Samaritan's Purse, was in China at the time the earthquake hit. His organization continues to collect supplies and plans to send them to the area by the end of the week.
Working with the China Association for International Friendly Contact, Samaritan's Purse is sending rolls of plastic sheeting, water filtration units, hygiene packets, medical kits, blankets and other supplies.
American Baptists have given two $5,000 grants, one for each country, to assist with relief efforts.
Contributions for both countries can be made online at www.thefellowship.info/give (CBF); www.abc-oghs.org/give (American Baptist Churches, USA); www.bwanet.org/bwaid (Baptist World Alliance); www. baptistglobalresponse.com (SBC Baptist Global Response).
While China has accepted a very limited number of foreign-aid workers in the wake of the quake, the presence of several Baptists and other Christians from the United States in the country at the time of the disaster has spurred assistance.
Bill and Michelle Cayard, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship representatives in China, had just started a partnership with a laity training center in Mianyang, a city near the quake's epicenter, according to CBF officials. At least 10,000 people are still buried beneath debris in Mianyang. The CBF workers also have connections with pastors in Dujiangyan, another city severely damaged.
Franklin Graham, who was already on a 10-day trip to China when the massive temblor struck, met with officers of China's government-sanctioned Protestant organization — representing thousands of officially registered churches across the country — May 13.
The organization has already committed $1 million to assist with the immediate response. Following their meeting in Shanghai, China Christian Council President Gao Feng thanked Samaritan's Purse for the help.
The CBF, meanwhile has committed an initial $5,000 toward meeting immediate needs for water, food and tents in Jiangyou, another small city in the earthquake zone. Its only officially recognized church building was destroyed by the quake.