In the wake of Virginia Baptists' wide-ranging disaster relief ministry to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Virginia Baptists are poised to expand their disaster relief horizons through a wider partnership with Baptist World Aid, the relief arm of the Baptist World Alliance, and one of its key partners, Hungarian Baptist Aid.
Virginia Baptist Mission Board staffer Terry Raines left Sunday, Oct 16, for Pakistan, where he will consult with relief workers representing BWAid and its partners who already are there working with victims of the massive earthquake that hit the region Oct. 8.
About 40,000 people died in the quake in Pakistan and hundreds more across the border in India. Members of BWAid Rescue24, a special search-and-rescue team of the BWA which includes Hungarian Baptist Aid representatives, arrived in Islamabad on Oct. 11 with 10 rescue specialists and two rescue dogs as well as equipment.
Raines, who is the Mission Boards' coordinator for disaster relief and mobile mission connection, said his visit is the beginning of a broader partnership with the Baptist relief agencies. He said he will become familiar with their methods and procedures in preparation for future disaster relief operations. He also will evaluate ways in which Virginia Baptists can help with this specific tragedy in Pakistan.
The Mission Board's glocal missions committee authorized $8,000 to assist in earthquake recovery and relief, which Raines is taking with him. He was to fly first to Budapest, Hungary, to meet Hungarian Baptist Aid officials and to obtain a visa for Pakistan.
“Normally I would prefer to send these funds via BWAid,” said Jerry Jones, team leader of the Mission Board's glocal missions and evangelism team. “However, with the urgency and the fact that Terry is flying directly to Budapest, he will take the funds with him.”
Part of Virginia Baptists' broader disaster relief involvement will include an emergency portable kitchen capable of being transported by air, which has been in development for several months.
The glocal missions team is examining the possibility of completing the kitchen in time to fly it to Budapest by early December. Once there Virginia Baptists would train Hungarian volunteers to use the kitchen and perhaps gain experience by distributing meals from it at one of the Christmas markets common in Budapest during Advent.
In addition, Bela Szilagyi, one of Hungarian Baptist Aid's coordinators, has asked Virginia Baptists to consider sending volunteer medical doctors to Pakistan to offer long-term relief to earthquake victims. Jones said he and his team are evaluating that possibility.
Meanwhile, relief workers are reporting scenes of devastation.
“The earthquake was so strong that it tore the mountain in two parts and dozens of houses fell into a cleft 50-to-100 meters deep,” said Laszlo Pavelcze, commander of BWAid Rescue24.
“I have never seen anything like this, even though I have commanded 12 rescue operations after natural disasters,” said Pavelcze.
The earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale affected much of northern Pakistan. International experts and Pakistani authorities believe that the earthquake left at least 2 million people homeless.
Relief supplies are most needed in Pakistan, according to David Gal, a senior relief officer of Hungarian Baptist Aid. “The greatest need at the moment seems to be tents, heavy blankets, basic food and medicines. Nights are becoming colder here in the mountains and many people have no place to sleep,” he said.
The glocal missions team noted that Virginia Baptists are not equipped to distribute these items and are not collecting them.
“The doctor and nurse on our team started to provide first aid, but we do not have much medical supplies with us now. Food is scarce and diseases attack. We are running against time to find survivors and take care of them once they are alive.”
Destroyed roads made travel difficult, and the rescue team was delayed in serving when they arrived in Pakistan. Then a heavy hail fell. Eventually, the team began working about 25 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.
“People in the villages and the city here cheered when they saw us in our red rescue uniform,” Pavelcze said. “But at the same time they were hysterical because food ran out, they lost their homes, had no blankets, and signs of malaria and other diseases began to be seen.”
BWAid and its partners want to provide immediate humanitarian aid and also long-term assistance to the victims of the earthquake, said Paul Montacute, director of BWAid. “We must do more,” he said. “The search and rescue work will sadly soon be over, and now we need to help to provide shelter, water, food and medicines.”
From Herald staff reports and Associated Baptist Press