Missions

Baptists bring comfort to Myanmar

The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) announced this week that groups of its volunteers, in a special partnership with the Myanmar Baptist Convention, were steadily making headway in combating the “huge unmet basic needs for the victims of the disaster” in Myanmar.

“The MBC is sending food, drinking water, clothes, mosquito nets and medicine daily to nearly 100,000 survivors who desperately need the supplies. The relief material is being delivered directly to the survivors in the Irrawaddy River Delta areas by ferries, boats and cars from Yangon,” said the BWA in a statement.

According to the BWA, aftermath conditions for victims of the disaster continue to be bleak, making the efforts of volunteers all the more crucial. Two months ago, Cyclone Nargis claimed over 90,000 lives and destroyed millions of lives across the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar.

“[M]any families are living under makeshift shelter … made of clothes, branches of trees or even under debris,” BWA said. “Most of the water sources are completely destroyed or contaminated with human and animal carcasses. There is no proper facility for storing drinking water.”

Last week, John Holmes, head of U.N. humanitarian operations, called on world governments to donate $300 million more to help Myanmar to recover, saying the relief operation "is by no means over." He initially requested $201 million in aid.

Meanwhile, many Christian groups such as the BWA said that it would continue to persevere in its efforts to bring rest and comfort to the needy.

“We continually pray that all of our disaster appeals and approved projects will be fully funded, and celebrate when God answers our prayers,” the group said.

Cyclone Nargis swept across Myanmar May 2-3 through the delta and the region around the country's largest city, Yangon. It was the worst natural disaster in Myanmar’s modern history. The government's official death toll is currently at 84,537 dead, with 53,836 missing.

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