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125,00 FEARED DEAD WITH THOUSANDS YET TO BE CONFIRMED
(Cambridge, ON) Like you, our hearts have been torn watching the images of
death and suffering as a result of the December 26 tsunami across Asia.
Almost all of the places worst struck are extremely unreached areas with
few Christians. The official death toll is currently around 125,000 but
with thousands of miles of coastline in countries like India and Myanmar
(Burma) yet to be surveyed, we fear the real death toll could end up ten
times higher than presently reported. As you will be aware, AsiaLink has
focused on presenting the needs of Asian unreached tribes and people
groups to the Christian world for many years.
Reports are starting to come in that some small people groups may have
been completely wiped from the face of the earth in places like the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India). Other groups like the Mokkien (Sea
Gypsies) of Thailand and Myanmar lived right in the path of the tsunami,
and may have few survivors. As one of our co-workers e-mailed us today,
"My heart just broke in a thousand pieces ... there are some entire tribes
that have been wiped out in Burma and Thailand. My heart just broke when I
heard this .. "LORD, will that tongue be represented in heaven to worship
YOU ... "
The disaster has deeply affected Christians living in these areas. For
example, 150 believers in a Christian village in Nias, Aceh, Indonesia
have been drowned when their whole village was washed out to sea. There
were few Christians in this extremely unreached part of Asia to start
with, so their deaths are doubly tragic.
AsiaLink strongly desires to help with both the immediate emergency needs,
and the longer term goal of helping people rebuild their lives. The best
placed to help are our Malaysian partners. They are already coordinating
with efforts in Aceh, Indonesia. 150 Christian medics and volunteers from
the Indonesian capital Jakarta are already in Aceh helping with medicine,
food, water, tents, etc.
The financial needs are vast, but please help if you can. Our Malaysian
representatives wrote, Please don't be put off from extending help because
of the millions of dollars coming in from governments / Red Cross / OXFAM
.. etc.. The need is more than just containers of supplies .... it is a
"human factor" need. They can't meet that. Only the Body of Christ is
empowered to minister healing and peace and comfort. It is more than
throwing mineral bottle water from moving trucks ..and feeling like they
have done their part, it is about ..sitting down with a mother who has
lost her husband and children, and praying with her ... and helping her to
put the bottle of water on her lips and nourish her .... ONLY THE CHURCH
CAN !
We are presently in a position to help victims in the following four
locations:
1. Aceh, Indonesia
2. Phuket, Thailand
3. Sri Lanka
4. Southern India
with: clean water, food, burial, clothing, masks/gloves to collect the
bodies, body bags, medicine, tents, blankets, etc. etc.
Later, once the emergency has subsided, we will look to start helping
families rebuild their lives.
We thank God for those who are wanting to help already like yourself. Much
more is needed though. Our coworkers will personally oversee the use of
funds and will provide reports.
There are two ways we can receive funds: one through the mail or by
calling our office for a VISA donation. As we receive funds we will be
forwarding them onto the need in Asia.
Finally, please pray for the suffering in Asia, for those who are on the
ground helping, and that the kingdom of God across Asia will ultimately
continue to grow despite the tragic events that have unfolded.
God bless you,
Rev. Dale R. Hiscock
Executive Director
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