You may have heard the news from last Friday about the devastating earthquake that has struck Southeast Asia. This disaster is a crushing blow to the nation of Myanmar, where civil war has been taking place for almost four years.
We have been in communication with Michael, the National Director of Myanmar. In his opinion, he believes there could be tens of thousands of people who lost their lives. Many temples and mosques are on mountaintops, and worshippers were there on Friday. These buildings crumbled during the earthquake, and hundreds were crushed in just one location.
The house and church building of one of our ministry partners, a coordinator, both collapsed. He and his family are camping in a soccer field under a mosquito net. There are others in the area, and they believe this is a safe area to avoid aftershocks because it is an open space with no trees or buildings.
The Burmese were already living under extreme hardship. People have electricity for only four hours per day. Many young people have fled Myanmar. There were already a huge number of internally displaced people (IDP) across the nation. Villages have been bombed by the government. Even recently, a church van was shot up during a skirmish. Thankfully, the lives of our ministry partner and his family were spared.
We have a network of 3,000 churches in Myanmar. Would you consider a special gift to our Village Aid Fund so we can help provide for the daily needs of the people in this hurting nation? Our partners are already ministering to those around them, and that will continue through the provision of aid.
A gift of any size would be a great blessing during this time of crisis. Thank you for your prayers and financial support to help be the hands and feet of Jesus during this tragedy.
