“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea..”Psalms 46:1-2As we read this chapter in Psalms, we see the most beautiful character of our God: the powerful protector who cares for his people and comforts them despite the devastation around them. During this time of devastation in Myanmar, one thing is clear – God is present. God is comforting his people. “Be still, and know that I am God”, he says.Sometimes it takes such tragedy for people to be still. But those who take a moment to be still and seek God will surely be met by a God who is compassionate, gracious and abounding in love.Let us pray for those in Myanmar that have been so shaken. Let us pray that they will call on the name of God; that they would come to learn that Jesus has made it possible for them. May this bring them real hope at a time when they feel so hopeless.We received welcome news from Lincoln this week that he and his team have been busy sharing the aid that many of you have donated. They were able to make a second trip into the most affected areas of the Irrawaddy delta last week. Accompanied by a number of other church leaders, they headed to Pathein by car, by boat to Nga-Pu-Taw, and then by another boat to a small, remote Karen village.
“As soon as we walked into the village, we saw a good size beautiful brick church building providing shade in the scorching sun. Some cyclone survivors were ready for their evening meal, and we had a little chat with them and then walked deeper into the neighboring villages where church leaders and villagers arranged survivors in different buildings. Some stayed at a church, some at a newly built hut. All together 574 cyclone survivors were staying in these 8 villages. We walked for a little more than 4 hours non-stop to cover the 8 villages, accompanied along the way by the president and secretary of the Nargis relief committee of [the village]. In the evening the committee had a meeting about how to distribute rice and clothing that we brought. We had a good dinner and the committee told us that the rice that was left was only enough for one and a half meals for the 574 guests.”I had the opportunity to talk to some survivors and their stories are all very similar, always heart breaking. When two old ladies in their early 70s told us about their survival stories, every one was listening. They said they were amazed by the great hand of God and that they had held coconut trees all night long to survive.”These people are very honest people – making their living mostly by farming and catching fish. When we asked them how they were doing (knowing that they are in desperate need for everything), they always said that they were doing OK. We heard of one incident where a young lady survivor came out of the salty water naked and looked around for something to cover and warm herself. She saw some longyis [sarongs] hanging on coconut trees and some others on the ground. She picked up one longyi after another, but finally took nothing because she could not find one that was hers!!”The situation in Pathein was also grim. The nearly 2000 Karen survivors held at the high school (where we visited twice) were taken by the authorities to an unknown location as the school is due to open for a new academic year. No one knows for sure where these people were taken, or what the authorities would do to them. There have been several other reports of survivors being forced to leave home villages and leave support camps and of being taken to other locations. We know of another 2000 being cared for by the church, but if found by the authorities, they would not be able to stay where they are. We heard of another 3000 who have been put in a dark and wet old warehouse. There are no windows and three people have already died from snake bite. There were originally 1000 at this warehouse, but the authorities put another 2000 in.”We have seen that international aid has been coming in, but where we have been, none of the aid has been received by any cyclone survivors.”Our next trip will be to [a village] in Bogale township. Only 4 houses remain standing out of 89 houses. Some 30 villagers have already been back. [Our daughter’s] teacher is from this village and she told us about the situation in her village. She has been back to her village more than 4 times already. Many survivors from this village were taken to the high school in Pathein and now no one knows where they are. There are still many dead bodies floating and on the ground. Villagers who came back to start life again have no strength to start working. There is no drinking water – villagers wait for the rain to come down for that’s all they can do for now. We gave some money to clean the village’s drinking water pond. This man-made pond is the only source of water for the villagers. We need to clean this pond and await rain to fill it. They say there are many houses where the debris has not yet been cleared and that some dead bodies may still be under those fallen houses. Dead bodies along with animal carcases need to be cleared first and then we can start rebuilding the houses. It seems we will have to cremate the bodies there.”From what we have seen from our trips, most people are suffering from depression. The villagers at [a small village], for example, could not bring themselves to cut even the smallest of the fallen trees at the village entrance. They need food, as well as counseling. Children are starting to die from contaminated water. Animals are also dying and soon there will not be enough animals to work in rice fields. Farmers do not have high expectations of a good harvest in the salty rice fields.”We need to help them with money to buy food and clothing, at the same time, we need to have fellowship with them and lift them up as much as we can. [Our colleagues] took more than a hundred survivors to be resettled in Yangon, and temporarily put them up in Hmawbi, but the authorities have taken them all to an unknown location. Children are the most vulnerable and we must get them to a safe place.”God willing, we plan to go to [a small village] next week. Our team will be mostly men at first. We will do the cleaning first, staying there for at least three days. After that trip, we plan to go to [the village we just visited] where the 500-odd survivors are staying. We hope to stay at least three days and four nights there and have a good fellowship with them – we will play with them, talk with them, discuss about life skills with them. Most of all, we will pray with them and tell them about the caring God who never sleeps but is always ready for His beloved children.“Please pray along with Lincoln for the people of Myanmar. Please also consider giving some money. All the money we receive is being sent to Myanmar for HMP’s ministry and relief effort there.Ray
