May 20, 2008
"Dear partners in Christ,
How are you all doing? We are
thankful for your prayers and concern for us. Here is an update on the situation here.
The Nargis cyclone hit Burma [Myanmar] on May 2, and has created over 130,000 victims up to
May 20, and more than 45,000 are still missing. The VOA and BBC estimated more
people will die, not because of the storm, but because of lack of help. There are over two million people whe are refugees, and only 1/4 received
support from rescuers.
The big International Support planes are
arriving in Yangon every day, but the support materials are still in the store rooms
in Yangon. The Myanmar government uses only seven helicopters to carry those supplies (water bottles, tents and food supplies). The Western rescuers and medical personnel are still blocked near the borders.
Myanmar leader General Than Shwe has visited the Yangon areas (not the real effected
areas of the Irrawady Delta) only 18 days after the cyclone. You can imagine how
much he cares about the people.
The damage in the Yangon areas is partly repaired; electricity became available in about 1/2 of Yangon City, but the leaves
and branches are still piling up in every part of the city, which will cause more
mosquitoes, more disease, more bad smells and more death.
The damage at
our seminary (Union Biblical Seminary, UBS) and orphanage (Galilee Children's
Home) is huge, and much needs to be replaced with new buildings, which will be very costly. The
students who stayed at the campus during summer break and the Galilee orphans are
doing OK, but they need better shelter, food and clean water. They are busy
collecting firewood and cleaning the campuses. More orphans from
the affected areas will be coming soon. There were more than 100 people staying at our UBS buildings after
the storm, and we will use the buildings as shelters for a while. The
rainy season has already started, and we get heavy rains every day. The
prices of everything has risen and will never fall down again. This causes heavier
burdens for the people in Myanmar.
However, more ministry opportunities have been opened by the crisis, and the UBS and Galilee gave away rice, candles and clothing to more than
150 families and homeless people. At the same time we had the privilege to share
the love of God and the Gospel to Buddhist people who have never heard about
Jesus.
We need more prayers and support.
Jesus cares those who are in need, the fatherless, the widows and the
oppressed, and he said 'If you did something to the least of these you did it to
me.'
Souls are crying, people are dying,
Will you lead them to the
Cross?
Go and find them, pray and help them,
Pay the price at any
cost!
Your partners in Christ's precious ministries,
Morris &
Sonia Liana"
For immediate reponse please give online at worldhope.org or
mail donations to the Global Ministries Office at
Central.
May 12, 2008
 On May 2, 2008 tropical cyclone Nargis hit the coast
of Myanmar and devastated large parts of the low-lying delta region of
the Irrawaddy River. Winds exceeded 190 kilometers per hour as the
storm ripped through the Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon (estimated
population 6 million) for over 10 hours. Homes were flattened,
more sturdy structures damaged, trees uprooted and power lines downed.
In rural parts of the country up to 95% of all homes were
destroyed.
The following is a letter from Morris Liana, a pastor in Myanmar.
"Dear Dr Hontz,
On behalf of the Wesleyan church of Myanmar may
I request your kind help for the current situation. I hope you would kindly
consider my request for the need is so urgent!
1. On May 2 night the 12
hours long and strong Nagis Cyclone hit Myanmar badly.
2. Until May 9 more
than 64,000 dead bodies were noticed, and more were estimated dead.
3. Our
government is trying help us but failed, the outside countries also trying to
help us, but meaningless.
4. Fortunately the help can go through Christian
organizations.
5. The Union Biblical Seminary and the Galilee Children's Home
were badly hit by the storm.
6. There will be approximately $10,000 needed
to repair the UBS and Galilee buildings and for other current needs.
7. We are
facing these difficulties: no electricity, no water, no communication (email
available only in a few areas), prices are sky rocketing high, many diseases are
following.
8. Therefore I request again your urgent prayers.
Please
let the churches know our news!
Morris
Liana
Ph: 95.1.525.509"
To give to Myanmar through World Hope, please click here.
You can also contact Central Wesleyan's Global Ministries Office to donate at 395.3079.
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