Southern Baptists are focusing on partnerships with Myanmar believers and Christian organizations based in Southeast Asia because relief workers from Western countries are having trouble getting visas into Myanmar, Palmer said. Working through Asian Christians, Southern Baptists have been able to get medicines and water purification materials into the country as well as help local partners purchase food relief that is coming down from northern Myanmar, Palmer said. Approximately $100,000 worth of aid has been funneled into some of the most affected areas — "a drop in the bucket because the needs are enormous," he added.
Water purification is a crucial need because fresh water supplies have been contaminated by ocean water and the decaying bodies of dead people and animals. The World Health Organization reports that cases of diarrhea and dysentery are increasing in the country. As many as 1.5 million people are believed to be at risk for serious health problems in the storm’s aftermath.
"We fear a second catastrophe unless we’re able to put in place quickly a maximum of aid and a major logistical effort comparable
with the response to the tsunami," Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N.’s Office for Humanitarian Affairs told The Associated Press. Myanmar has been showing more willingness to cooperate with the United Nations, she added, but relief efforts still are not reaching the majority of people in need.
A team of relief specialists from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is standing by to follow up on the Oklahoma team’s work, Palmer noted.
But while Baptists from the West are having difficulty entering, Hungarian Baptists who are part of Baptist World Aid (BWAid) Rescue24, a search, rescue and relief team, have been granted visas to lead two groups of volunteers to assess needs in Myanmar as well as in China.
In Myanmar, a team is working in five camps where approximately 15,000 displaced persons are living in crowded, cramped conditions. "The immediate aid consists of drinking water, rice, salt, oil, blankets and plastic sheeting for the victims," the team’s e-mail message from Myanmar said.
In China, the death toll is rising by the thousands after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the center of the country May 12.
At press time, estimates were that more than 50,000 people had died and more than 25,000 were injured in small cities and towns nestled in hill country north of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Thousands more are believed to be trapped in piles of concrete, steel and dirt in the city of Mianyang alone, according to news reports. Yingxiu, a town located near the quake’s epicenter, suffered "unusually severe" damage, with more than 70 percent of its roads damaged and all bridges destroyed, a top military commander said.
Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham and head of Samaritan’s Purse, was traveling in China when the tremblor struck. He met with Christian leaders in the area and committed $1 million to assist with immediate response.
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has also committed an initial $5,000 toward immediate needs for water, food and tents in the small town of Jiangyou, where they only officially recognized church was destroyed by the quake.
And Southern Baptist relief workers are in touch with partners in central China to assess needs. "We have been in contact with partners in the country and have offered help," Palmer said. "Assessments are being made as to what the response should be."
A meeting of Christian organizations in the United States was held May 14 "to better coordinate our overall effort to respond," Palmer added. (BP, ABP, BWA)
In the face of mounting death tolls and rising health risks in Myanmar and China, Baptists are at work trying to get relief to where it’s needed most.
A team of Southern Baptists is on the ground in Bangkok, Thailand, to help national believers from Myanmar deal with the mounting crisis in their country after a May 3 cyclone left 62,000 people dead or missing and drove perhaps 1 million people from their homes.
Five "initial responders," led by Sam Porter, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s disaster relief director, are setting up a coordination center and training Myanmar Christians in water purification techniques, said Jeff Palmer, executive director of Baptist Global Response (BGR), a Southern Baptist international relief and development organization. The five Oklahomans joined BGR team members already on the ground in Bangkok.
After training, the Myanmar nationals will then set up a disaster relief structure in their own country and be prepared to coordinate relief efforts coming from other parts of Myanmar and Asia, Palmer said.
Share with others: