Baptist World Aid (BWAid), the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, is supporting immediate relief needs in Iraq while also receiving funds from concerned Baptists and others worldwide.
To date BWAid has given $12,500 to relief efforts. The money has been disbursed between the Baptist Convention of Jordan, a consortium of Christian churches in the Middle East and to Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBAid).
A $2,500 grant was awarded to BWAid by national WMU and the WMU Foundation, both of which are housed in Birmingham.
The grant comes from WMU’s HEART (Humanitarian Emergency Aid for Rebuilding Tomorrow) Fund, which was created in late 2001 in response to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. Grants from the HEART Fund are intended to provide support in times of emergency or disaster, and are awarded by a joint decision of national WMU’s executive director, WMU’s national president, the WMU Foundation president and the executive committee of the WMU Foundation.
Wanda Lee, executive director of national WMU, said, “At this time of war, uncertainty and fear, it is more important than ever that Christians provide help to the people of Iraq forced from their homes during the war. Helping with relief efforts is an excellent way for Baptists in America to demonstrate God’s love for all people.”
David George, president of the WMU Foundation said, “We are honored to be part of these worldwide humanitarian efforts. As Christians, as Americans and as Baptists, this is the right thing for us to do at this time. Our prayers have been and continue to be with our troops; now we want to be part of the healing process.”
Working in conjunction with HBAid, BWAid was able to send Bela Szilagyi to Amman, Jordan, for a series of planning sessions with local partners. BWAid has just received up-to-date reports on current needs in Iraq from HBAid.
Szilagyi used his experience of working in countries at times of emergency need, and spent eight days in discussion with the Jordan Baptist Convention, the Jordan Bible Society and the Jordanian Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development (JECRED), Norwegian Church Aid, the Middle East Council of Churches and other partners of Action by Churches together, and United Nation’s agencies.
He assessed the priority need as clean drinking water to avoid a serious outbreak of cholera and typhoid. Plans were made to distribute water purification tablets and new water purification units. Supplies are needed for schools and orphanages, as well as hygiene kits.
Also responding to this need for pure water is a nine-man Southern Baptist team of volunteers from several states that will assemble water purification units and train Iraqis how to use them. Five water purification units, provided through Southern Baptist gifts, already have been crated and shipped to the region by volunteers in the Houston area. Another five units are scheduled for shipment in the immediate future.
“We will be in southern Iraq working in remote areas away from the cities,” said Dick Talley, logistics coordinator for Texas Baptist Men. “We’ll be purifying water in rural areas along the Euphrates River.”
Meanwhile, Southern Baptists are continuing to collect food boxes for needy families in Iraq. For less than $60, a church can fill a box with 70 pounds of dry food that will feed an Iraqi family of five for about a month, according to representatives of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB). More information about the IMB food boxes is provided online at www.thealabamabaptist.org.
IMB officials are also accepting monetary donations. Funds will be used to provide food, blankets, medicine and tents, plus other physical needs, reports the IMB.
Southern Baptist relief workers are currently helping Iraqi refugees at a camp in northwestern Jordan. They are distributing infant formula, diapers and blankets to refugees.
One relief worker said, “Now is the time for Southern Baptists to respond, we must not have a time [lapse].”
Fawaz Ameish, the leader of Jordanian Baptists, said Baptists are working with JECRED, and are caring for some ‘third country nationals’ from Somalia and Sudan who crossed the border from Iraq to Jordan. Jordanian Baptists want to do more to assist the people of Iraq and those at the border, but need the resources to do so.
Baghdad findings
Two Hungarians who have worked with HBAid in previous emergency situations accompanied Szilagyi to Amman, and then journeyed into Baghdad.
One reported, “There is little safe water, and the children of the orphanages and institutions for handicapped children are dispersed.” Such reports strike a chord with HBAid staff.
“For the people of Iraq, despite a great deal of suffering, we can be thankful that the strife of war did not go on any longer,” indicated BWAid Director Paul Montacute. “However, the needs are still enormous, and we have the opportunity of helping local Christians to care for all, irrespective of their race, creed or nationality; of sharing unconditional love with the people of Iraq.”
BWAid works with and through Baptist conventions and organizations to provide financial resources and relief goods to those in need of shelter, food, medicine and security. It does not send expatriate relief workers but aims to entrust and empower local and national leaders.
For more information on relief efforts by BWAid, call 703-790-8980 or go to www.bwanet.org. For more information on relief efforts by the IMB, call 1-800-999-3113 or go to www.imb.org/urgent.
(Compiled from wire services)
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