Vietnam (MNN) — Super storm Goni made its way to Vietnam today. It downgraded to a tropical storm after slamming the Philippines as the world’s strongest typhoon this year. More about that here.
Goni is the 10th storm to hit Vietnam in 2020; four storms and one tropical depression made landfall in October alone. It’s the highest amount in Vietnam’s history, VN Express reports, and the season isn’t over yet.
“During the past several weeks, there have been typhoons and flooding happening in many places in Vietnam,” a Vietnamese pastor* says.
“The most serious typhoon and flooding just happened on the 28th of October; [it destroyed] many houses and crops, and hundreds of people died.”
Typhoon Molave on October 27, 2020.
(Image credit: NASA via Wikimedia Commons)
Back-to-back storms throughout October triggered torrential rains, widespread flooding, and landslides affecting at least 1.5 million Vietnamese people, the UN reports. Typhoon Molave exacerbated underlying issues when it made landfall last Wednesday as a category one storm, damaging 92,000 houses and killing at least 36 people.
Help and hope in Jesus’ name
Vietnam cracks down on people who follow Jesus, but that isn’t stopping believers from sharing Christ’s love. “Many people need help. That’s why our churches and Christian community, we are donating money to buy food and supply clothes, medicines, trying to help them to rebuild their houses,” the pastor says.
The latest UN update calls for $40 million USD to meet flood survivors’ immediate needs.
Ask the Lord to help Vietnamese Christians see Gospel opportunities. “Please pray we have the wisdom to approach the non-believers among the areas [of] the disaster,” the pastor requests.
“Some people, when we help them, they have some questions: ‘we don’t know each other, [why are] you helping us?’ At that time, we can share the love of God to them.”
Pray also for church leaders as they navigate government restrictions. “Many house churches are not recognized by the government,” the pastor explains.
“They may face some problem with the local authorities. But, they have their ways to help the people, slowly and one-by-one.”
Find more ways to pray for Vietnam here. If you’d like to support disaster response efforts, visit our partner page to learn who’s working in Vietnam and how you can help.
Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy Stéphane Vermeulin via Unsplash.
