Myanmar - You Can Help! We have approval from the government

 
It is about time I update this blog and I apologize for not doing sooner.  Just a few minutes ago I got off the phone from my primary Myanmar (Burma) associate who just this evening was able to fly out of the capital city Yangon.  He reported to me on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis that hit the country last Friday and Saturday, destroying 95% of the buildings in its path and taking the lives of tens of thousands.
 
Never before has this country of 57 million people been hit with such a devastating storm.  Pastor Aung met with one of the General Secretaries of the Junta as well as the Minister of Health before leaving and was able to obtain unprecedented permission to bring in literally plane loads and ship loads of provision and finances to help.
 
The General Secretary reported that 47 regions have been damaged and to give you some idea of the scope of the devastation, in one region alone, 65,000 people have been confirmed dead.  The numbers are growing by the hour and there are at least 41,000 people unaccounted for, which has led the US government and others to estimate that the final death toll will exceed 100,000 people with 1.7 million people left homeless.
 
The country has been under military rule since 1962 but very interesting, has allowed the church to function with little restriction and grow.  In this case, major aid agencies and countries are standing by to help but understandably want their personnel to accompany the aid, distribute it and assess further the damage and best way to help.  Well, as of right now, the foreign personnel for the most part are parked in Bangkok, Thailand waiting for permission to enter and so far have largely been denied entrance.  They have the goods just not the way yet to get in.
 
The government of Myanmar prefers it’s government and people give out the aid.  I believe the best short-term solution is to use the avenue of the Church in Myanmar. We can get finances and goods in to the church, with full government permission, and then the church will be giving the aid and comfort in the most devastated areas.
 
On another front, we have been asked to help in providing Scriptures at the same time.  For many years we have been distributing the evangelistic booklet entitled “the Most Important Story Ever Told” in at least 10 different major languages in Myanmar.  We have been asked by the church to immediately provide, 100,000 copies of this booklet for the church to distribute along with the food, medicines, water and other aid given.  We approved this request and we thank the American Bible Society for it’s equal partnership in providing these materials.  As the Christian public feels led to help and give, we will simply continue to add to the print run.  The need is probably closer to 500,000 copies with a cost per copy of .50 cents.
 
We are sending $10,000 today that will be in the hands of church leaders in Myanmar in the next few days, buying up as much rice, oil, medicines as they can.  One bag of rice has doubled in price in just one week to about $35 US but that is something nearly every family in the US, Canada and in so many other countries can help purchase for them.

We commit that 100% of what is given will go immediately into Myanmar.  Not one cent will be taken for overheads, wire fees, salaries, or anything but the need on the ground.

This is a great tragedy but also an opportunity for us to show the love of Jesus Christ to the hundreds of thousands in need right now.  I am reminded of a similar cyclone hitting neighboring India a few years back and when the massive waves came in, they also sucked up everything and everyone in their way and people I know reported that Christians there heard people sitting on the remains of their roofs or hanging on to limbs of trees crying out, “save us, save us” as they were swept out to sea.  Now in Myanmar we can answer at least some of the cries for help.
 
In that same storm, I heard of one family now that as they tried to escape the waves, the father, mother and two kids tried to hang on to a tree but the father watched in horror as his precious wife and children were swept out to sea.
 
These are tragic stories but we can make a difference as they face these terrible days and we can help them survive and through the church members who help them, learn that we care but there is only one who can heal their broken hearts and revive them with hope and comfort through Jesus Christ.
 
Please help as you can and spread the word.  You can help.  We can get the help in.  One person, one family, one community at a time for His sake.  We can help.
 
God bless you.
 
David