That’s why CRWRC’s response will be carried out in conjunction with local organizations. CRWRC has already made $30,000 available for purchasing and distributing emergency food, water and supplies in Northern Sumatra (Indonesia), Sri Lanka, and the coastal area of India.
CRWRC's partners, Eficor and the Southern Sumatra Christian Church, will act as CRWRC’s network on the scene in India and Indonesia to identify areas of need and distribute food and other supplies as efficiently as possible. In Sri Lanka, Jack Schenk, a CRWRC volunteer, will coordinate the response in coordination with the Dutch Reformed Church of Sri Lanka.
Andrew Sundersingh, a relief director from World Vision International in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, says the Christian humanitarian relief organization will be setting up relief stations on the east and south coasts where the massive waves had hit hardest. "We are right now preparing to target about 1,000 people with a feeding program. We will be setting up in four districts affected.”
World Vision's Jayanth Vincent reports from India: "In Chennai, where the national office of World Vision India is situated, the first warning came as a slight tremor. Around 7:30 a.m., walkers and children playing on the Marina beach of the city were taken aback and started running at the sight of a wall of water rising to flow into the almost a kilometer wide beach towards the car park. Reports say that the surge was so strong that parked cars were thrown around like toys.”
"All of us around the world are deeply saddened by this tragic news in Asia," says Richard E. Stearns, president of World Vision. "To those grieving over loved ones lost or missing, pleased be assured you are in our thoughts and prayers."
Gospel for Asia workers are rushing food, clothing, medical supplies – and the love of God – to millions of Asians devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. GFA President K.P. Yohannan, who returned from India the day after the powerful waves hit, says GFA workers are already ministering among the estimated three million survivors huddled in massive refugee camps in India. Others are serving in Sri Lanka and other hard-hit countries.
