Christian relief organizations, already busy providing help to those devastated by Hurricane Katrina, quickly switched gears this weekend to respond to an enormous earthquake in South Asia, described by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as the biggest tragedy in his country's history.
Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, the Oct. 8 earthquake was centered northeast of Islamabad, and caused most damage and loss of life in Pakistan's North-East Frontier province and on both sides of the "line of control" that divides disputed Kashmir between areas controlled by Pakistan and India. According to CNS news, it also had an impact in northern India and Afghanistan, and was felt as far away as Indonesia.
Death toll estimates range from 20,000 to 30,000, Fox News reported.
Donations, money, equipment, rescue teams and offers of help have poured in from international agencies as well as the United States, Japan, the European Union, Australia, Turkey, Russia, China and other countries.
President Bush told reporters at the White House Sunday he had spoken to Musharraf by phone. "Pakistan is a friend and the United States government and the people of the United States will help as best as we possibly can," he said.
World Vision staff and partners in Islamabad and in the badly damaged North West Frontier Province of Pakistan are preparing a relief response. "I feel the aftershocks as I sit here trying to contact my staff in the north. It is likely this district will be hardest hit of all. What complicates things is that it's remote and roads will most likely be destroyed," said Sigurd Hanson, director of World Vision Pakistan.
World Vision has been working with local communities in the north for two years in response to a series of natural disasters including flooding, severe snowstorms and landslides. It has been providing food, temporary shelter and rehabilitation of schools and clinics.
Despite damage to phone lines and the mobile network, Hanson is coordinating with staff in the Northern districts. World Vision will conduct assessments with local and international partner relief organizations. "We will most likely focus on the areas where we already have a presence. Relief efforts will be coordinated from Islamabad, but the capital will not likely be the focus of World Vision's response," said Hanson. "Plans are only in the developing stages. Information is fluid and as it continues to come in plans could change over the next few days."
Hanson said there are no casualties or injuries among World Vision staff reported so far.
World Vision staff in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and India's capital, Delhi, felt the quake. None of World Vision's projects seem to be affected in India, while in Kabul things are returning to normal after heavy panic.
The Salvation Army also responded swiftly to the south Asian earthquake. In addition to equipment held in store for such an emergency, food, clothing and tents were purchased in Lahore - where supplies were more readily available - and plans were made to drive them to Abbotabad. Salvation Army officers plan to accompany the trucks and supervise the distribution within a 50-kilometer radius of the town.
The Salvation Army's aid was assembled in response to a direct plea for help from the British High Commissioner, whose official agent in Lahore is Lieut-Colonel Cedric Sharp, chief secretary of the Pakistan territory. International Headquarters made $60,000 dollars immediately available to the Pakistan Territory for relief work in the worst disaster in the nation's history.
Saturday's tremors were felt by Christian Aid staff in Delhi, India, and the Afghan capital, Kabul. Christian Aid staff in London are in contact with colleagues in the region and are urgently trying to assess the situation so that a quick and effective response can be made.
Christian Aid's Asia head, Robin Greenwood, said that in disasters such as these, communications networks are often knocked out.
"It's difficult to find out what's happening in the first hours of an emergency - but our staff on the ground are rapidly assessing the situation," said Greenwood. "We are on the phone to our staff and local partners in Kabul and Delhi and are also trying to contact our sister agencies working in Pakistan. As soon as we have an understanding of the situation, we will respond."
Greenwood said that when it is clear what areas had been affected and which partner organizations on the ground were best placed to help, funds would be immediately transferred to get the relief effort underway. Survivors will need help quickly. Water, food, shelter and medical aid will be the immediate priorities.
A doctor, Iqbal Khan, told Fox News there was a serious risk of diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia if drinking water and other relief supplies do not arrive quickly. "These people feel as if there is no one to take care of them," he said.
Quake Damages Bible College
A Gospel for Asia Bible College has been severely damaged and rendered unusable from the powerful earthquake. So far there have been no reports of casualties among the ministry's missionaries in the devastated region. The 32 students who attend the school were warned not to return to the building since powerful aftershocks have been hitting the region.
The Bible college, which is located in the Jammu region of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, was declared unsafe for use. Other buildings in this same area collapsed from the force of the quake, and at least 400 houses were destroyed.
"As soon as there is an opening into these hardest-hit areas, we will be ready to send a couple hundred people to do relief work," said Gospel for Asia President Dr. K.P. Yohannan, who is on the ground in India assessing the situation. "In the meantime, we will do what we can in Jammu."
The most seriously affected area in India, Kashmir, is about a day's journey from the Jammu Bible College.
Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in India with a Muslim majority (64 percent). The state includes two distinct regions: Kashmir in the north, with a strong Islamic presence dating to the 14th century; and Jammu in the south, where the Hindu minority is clustered. Kashmir became part of India at partition in 1947, but Pakistan quickly invaded and today controls the northern part of the territory.
Yohannan was in North India at the time of the quake, and was able to reach Bible college leaders in Jammu to determine the extent of the damage to the region. "Gospel for Asia has missionaries scattered throughout this area," he explained. "As far as we can tell, all of them are safe, for which we praise God."
In addition to GFA's missionary presence and Bible college in the state, the Gospel is also being proclaimed across both Indian and Pakistani territories through radio broadcasts in Urdu and Kashmiri.
"This a great opportunity for the Body of Christ to demonstrate His love to the suffering and needy," Yohannan said, "and that's what we are choosing to do."
To Help:
www.worldvision.org
www.salvationarmy.org
www.christian-aid.uk.org
www.gfa.org
PHOTO courtesy of World Vision.
