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."
