Myanmar (MNN) ― Cyclone relief efforts are floundering, and 1.5 million survivors could die from hunger and disease.
Jon Lewis, president of Partners International, says their team is helping people rebuild their lives. "There's a village where we have had an orphanage that we have supported for a number of years. In that village, people had over 400 homes destroyed. The people have crowded into the school. That's where they're living. Now the military has come and said, 'We want you all to leave the school in the next four days.' They have nowhere to go."
Rev. Paul Chang, Partners International/CNEC associate, and the local relief team are working to help resettle these people by setting up tents and alternative housing. Rev. Chang met with the Insein village leader who pled with him to help them rebuild their huts.
The tightly-controlled military country is making it nearly impossible to get supplies in. Partners International is sending funds to help their affiliate ministry partner, Christian Nationals Evangelism Commission (CNEC), distribute relief.
In addition, they also sent their crisis relief specialist, Eng Hoe, to Yangon to help coordinate relief efforts. Eng Hoe has been on site for nearly every major international disaster in the last decade and has trained hundreds of Parners International ministry staff in crisis response, including the many who responded to the 2004 Tsunami.
Lewis explains, "Partners International is doing all it can to help, and these early efforts are just the beginning. Our indigenous ministry partners have been working in Myanmar for years; it is their homeland, so we are committed to help with long term solutions, not just short-term relief."
It's a tangible part of ministry, and one that plants the seeds for future ministry. "It is great to be able to work with folks that have had a Christian commitment there for a long time. I know at this point they're not only trying to serve Christians or anything there, they're trying to show the love of Christ in a very practical way right now. I think at this particular moment, the issue is just helping people in their most desperate need."
