WILLS POINT, TX — Church relief teams in Sri Lanka are wading through perilous flood waters to hand-deliver food parcels to families after tropical storms caused devastation across South Asia, claiming more than 1,000 lives.
More heavy rainfall is expected in the coming days as Sri Lanka and other parts of the region are left reeling from the cluster of tropical cyclones, forcing thousands to evacuate.
“Major flood risks and landslide warnings pose a grave danger to communities and churches,” mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) reports. “Several of our churches are located within the landslide warning zones, meaning residents must evacuate.”
The Texas-based organization has launched an emergency appeal as the death toll in Sri Lanka and across the region continues to climb. In Sri Lanka, an island nation off the Indian subcontinent, more than 360 people have lost their lives, hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed, with tens of thousands of people displaced and in temporary shelters. Some areas in the central tea-growing hills have been virtually cut off by flood waters in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah.
Local Christians Are ‘Ready-Made Relief Force’
Local missionaries supported by GFA World and local church volunteers were among the first responders, braving floods to deliver food packages to their neighbors in distress, and helping those forced to abandon their homes.
“This reminds me of what happened in 2004 with the Indian Ocean tsunami when we started our relief work there, when both the physical and spiritual need was so acute,” said the organization’s president, Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan, who frequently visits Sri Lankan church leaders. “Local churches are at the heart of the response, showing Christ’s love to everyone, regardless of their beliefs.”
VIDEO: Click here to watch Bishop Daniel.
In 2004, a massive tsunami claimed the lives of more than 227,000 people across South Asia, including Sri Lanka. Since then, GFA World has responded to many natural disasters, and distributed more than 40 tons of relief supplies to flood victims in Sri Lanka, Nepal and India in a single year.
Amid the current crisis, Bishop Daniel called for prayer “for the people of South Asia as they endure the aftermath of these devastating tropical storms.”
In the coming weeks, local missionaries and congregations supported by GFA World aim to help “as many people as possible,” he said.
Help includes distributing meals, clean drinking water, sanitary items and medicine. Long term efforts will involve helping to restore damaged houses and churches, cleaning wells, and holding a medical camp to treat skin disease, fevers, and epidemics that often follow severe flooding.
“Our goal is to show people everywhere they are not forgotten, and that they are loved and cherished by God,” Bishop Daniel said.
MEDIA: To schedule an audio or video interview with GFA World president Bishop Daniel, contact: DeWayne Hamby at (423) 505-0041 or dhamby@inchristcommunications.com
About GFA World
GFA World (www.gfa.org) is a leading faith-based global missions agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and more than 150,000 families provided with the means to break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 fresh water wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
