ATLANTA (ABP) — Baptist organizations in the United States and elsewhere are continuing their efforts to provide relief after catastrophic flooding in Pakistan — but funds are being stretched to the limit by the disaster’s massive scale.
According to estimates from agencies such as the United Nations and the U.S. Agency for International Development, flooding along the Indus River and its tributaries that began in late July has affected nearly 20 million people — with many of them rendered homeless and even more destitute in an already-poor country.
Floodwaters have covered approximately 22,000 square miles, which amounts to one-fifth of Pakistan’s land area.
CBF grant
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship announced Sept. 2 that it has given a $6,700 grant to Conscience International, a CBF partner working in the region for the past 20 years.
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The funds, according to a CBF release, are “aimed at reaching Pakistan’s most neglected population in three areas: food aid, medical assistance and water purification.”
The grant will provide food aid to 1,500 families, which could amount to as many as 10,500 individuals. At a cost of $30 per family, each aid package includes staples such as rice and cooking oil as well as hygiene products and matches.
Conscience International President Jim Jennings said the organization hopes to have an impact in three areas — humanitarian, human rights and peacemaking.
“We can’t help everyone, but we can help the next child,” Jennings said. “If you’re not active, you’re not acting on your own conscience.”
The group also aims to organize and conduct short-term mobile health clinics in flood-affected areas using local physicians and nurses. Jennings said a gift of $200 will fund treatment of up to 50 patients.
As flood waters begin to subside, lack of clean drinking and bathing water, along with water-borne illnesses, are now the biggest threat. Conscience International will be raising money to purchase and install water purification systems. At a cost of $5,000 to $10,000, each system has the capacity to serve thousands of people.
British funds for medical relief
BMS World Mission, the missions arm of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, has provided an additional £30,000 to partners providing medical relief in the hard-hit Sindh province of Pakistan. According to a BMS press release, the grant “will fund 50 days of a planned 90-day period of mobile medical clinic work. Hundreds of people have already been helped and it is expected that this grant will be invaluable to many more.” The gift is the equivalent of about $46,000 in U.S. currency.
CBF Global Missions Coordinator Rob Nash said he wishes his group could provide a similarly large grant.
“Our general relief funds are depleted as a result of a number of global disasters including [flooding in] Pakistan [and earthquakes in] Chile, Haiti and Indonesia,” Nash said. “We are always very careful to honor the desires of individuals and churches by sending the money directly to the location they designate.
“Churches and individuals can help by sending funding that is not specifically earmarked for a particular disaster, but which provides us with funding to draw from when disasters occur at various places around the world.”
SBC donations also lagging
The Southern Baptist Convention, through its partner Baptist Global Response, has already disbursed more than $400,000 in Pakistan relief through existing hunger and relief funds. But the group may need to spend a total of $1 million, according to a release from the SBC’s Baptist Press.
"Southern Baptists have always given generously to hunger and relief needs. They are a people who care about people in need," said Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global Response. "As of Aug. 24, we have received a little over $31,000 to help with this response.
"The scope of this response could put a strain on the hunger and relief funds to the point that we may not be able to adequately respond to a hurricane in the Americas or another major crisis like an earthquake in East Asia," he said.
Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press. Bob Perkins of CBF Communications contributed to this story.