Progress in Myanmar!

These are three pictures just in that bolster the hope that aid and assistance is beginning to get through. These are rice and tractor part shipements on their way to the hardest hit areas!

Some Good News for a Change!

I received word this morning that there is some glimmers of hope in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Some tractors have been purchased and are on their way from Yangon by truck and by boat to help the deeply affected area (mostly Karen) to begin the new rice-planting season! The news I received also stated that the government of Myanmar is starting to bow to pressure from the outside and allowing more humanitarian work to bring aid and assistance to the people most in need.

This brings hope for certain but this is far, far from over! Funds are needed to pay back loans taken out for the tractors and to buy a myriad of other bare essentials (temporary shelter, food, seed, housing re-construction materials, etc.) for the victims. The people who live in Myanmar are extremely resourceful but materials with which to be resourceful are very limited. We continue to funnel all income from One Great Hour of Sharing (Nargis relief) directly to the most needed area. Nearly $30,000 is on it way presently. Thank all of you who are concerned about the victims of this disaster and have given (and will continue to give) sacrificially to meet this ongoing need!

Helping Myanmar with our prayers and support

I was honored to be asked to represent American Baptist International Ministries at the recent Roundtable talks concerning ways Baptists from around the world could aid both Burma and China in the recent disasters which have hit both countries within the last month. It was heartwarming to see the amount of support being offered from so many countries and organizations.

I have especially been concerned for Burma and our Karen brothers and sisters who are suffering from the devastation of their homes. I have also been praying for many families which have lost loved ones as a result of the storm and the lack of help which has been given them from their own government.

As I sat and listened to a report on what the Myanmar Baptist Convention has already done to help its people, I was awed by the faith and humility in the face of such loss. As I looked at the pictures shown of bodies lining the river, families huddled under bamboo shelters which were so small that no more than one or two of the ten to twelve people were sheltered from the rain, the lack of clean water and food, the vast devastation of the entire countryside, I couldn’t help but weep at such sorrow.

Read the full missionary journal at www.internationalministries.org/read/5792

Baptists meet in Bangkok to work on aid to Myanmar and China

Representatives from several Baptist agencies, including American Baptist International Ministries, met in Bangkok on May 24 to discuss ongoing relief efforts related to both Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province.

In addition to International Ministries, and an official from the Myanmar Baptist Convention (MBC), other participants included representatives from, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Mission, Baptist World Aid, and the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, as well as counterparts from Australia, Hungary, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.

Read the full story at www.internationalministries.org/read/5733

Pray for our Myanmar students during the cyclone crisis

Dear Family and Friends,

With the tragedy of Myanmar (Burma) in the news, we thought it would be good to remind you that in our international master of divinity degree program we have several Christian students from Myanmar. I want to mention our three seniors.

Read the full missionary journal at www.internationalministries.org/read/5660

Burma needs your help with cyclone and food crisis

Once again, Burma is in the news, this time with a devastating cyclone killing unknown tens of thousands of people and leaving a million homeless. Estimates of the dead range from over 20,000 to 100,000. I recently saw a quote from World Vision estimating the death toll at 80,000. Whatever the number, it is sure to grow as aid is just starting to come.

Solid information is hard to come by, but there are reports that some of the Baptist offices and facilities were badly damaged. While affecting people of many ethnic groups, much of the storm damaged area is populated by the Karen and we hear that whole villages have been wiped off the map.

Relief has been slow to come and since the storm came Saturday, the people have been left to fend largely for themselves. The government was being criticized for not sending troops in to help the people and for not allowing aid from foreign countries to enter. Aid is starting to come now, but the needs are huge. Food and water are scarce and people are already hungry. Building supplies are reported to be scarce as well so even those with money have little to buy.

Read the full story at www.internationalministries.org/read/5625

Myanmar’s hardest hit areas receive aid from International Ministries

American Baptist International Ministries has provided an initial $5,000 disaster relief grant to help with relief and recovery in Myanmar, where Cyclone Nargis struck on Saturday, May 3.

The grant was provided by the American Baptist World Relief Office through One Great Hour of Sharing funds. The initial funds will be used by partners to provide immediate relief of clean drinking water, non-perishable food, blankets and medical kits to those who are victims of the devastating storm.

Read the full story at www.internationalministries.org/read/5608