Baptist Global Response

Southern Baptist food relief is making its way into the Gaza Strip to help people suffering in the aftermath of a three-week Israeli military offensive earlier this year.

A total of $92,000 from the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund will deliver food to about 10,000 people during the course of this next year, according to Abraham Shepherd, Baptist Global Response area director for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Since Southern Baptist field partners and volunteers are unable to enter the area, the project will be conducted in partnership with local believers in Gaza.

The food distribution is part of a larger cooperative effort involving five Christian groups. Those other ministry partners will provide food for the effort as well, but also will distribute clothing, window glass, household goods, blankets and other necessities that are in short supply.

“The Gaza Strip has been experiencing a humanitarian crisis for many years, prior to the war starting in December 2008,” said the project’s local director. “Last year, it was reported that the Gaza Strip had the highest unemployment rate in the world. More than a million people have been suffering due to drastic shortages of food, cooking fuel, medical supplies, and other essentials. The recent war has only increased the devastation and hardships for the people of Gaza.”

Details are still being worked out in regards to logistics, due to the nature of the local conflict there, said BGR’s executive director, Jeff Palmer. “However, it looks as if most food can be purchased locally and distributed quickly and efficiently to those in need.”

The project’s leaders hope the relief effort will not only demonstrate the love of Christ for the hurting Palestinian people but also provide a springboard for long-term improvements in the quality of life for Gaza residents. 

“We do not envision that Gaza will be a self-sustaining area for many years,” the local director said. “It is our hope this project will lead to the development of micro-enterprises and community projects that will lead the people of Gaza to be more self-supporting.”

With technical support from Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., an Internet site, Christian-relief-for-Gaza.org, has been set up to provide information about the relief effort. That site currently suggests several points at which Christians can pray for the crisis:

“Pray that the current cease fire holds. Even more importantly, pray for a just and lasting peace,” the site says. “Pray for healing for those who were injured. Ask God to make available the treatment they need. Pray for the many children whose parents were killed.  Ask God to provide for them.”

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Contributions to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund make projects like this possible. For information about the World Hunger Fund, please visit our Giving page.

KOLKATA, India – A dozen widows and abandoned women in India’s West Bengal state are now better able to care for their families, thanks to a Southern Baptist development project that drew on $22,000 from the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund.

The project focused on women in two villages who were living in desperate poverty, some with small children who were suffering from malnutrition. Because they were members of a minority religious group, many of their neighbors looked down on them and would not help.

Learn more by reading the full article.

The 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Costa Rica Jan. 8 was widely reported to have caused widespread destruction, but in fact was a localized disaster that has been blown out of proportion by the media. While prayer for the survivors is needed, relief supplies and volunteers are not.

That word comes from David Brown, BGR’s area director for the Americas.

“The 6.2 earthquake caused serious damage to various structures in the tourism parks in the area, which is about 30 miles north of San Jose,” Brown writes from Costa Rica. “No one should minimize the trauma to families that have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods, but the disaster did not affect large numbers of people.”

The quake triggered landslides that trapped nearly 1,000 tourists; the 31 people listed as dead or missing are Costa Ricans, Brown reported. The biggest problem now is the need to replace about 3 kilometers of road that was destroyed in the quake.

“While we have been flooded with stateside inquiries concerning the need for volunteer assistance, relief supplies and volunteers are not needed,” Brown added. “The immediate emergency has been well managed by the Costa Rican Red Cross and the national civil defense agency. Food and other supplies have poured into San Jose from various agencies and nations. Warehouses are overflowing, and the government is beginning to sell some of the food items to avoid spoilage.

“Homes were destroyed, but that number is pretty low. I would guess from all communities about 500 homes were affected, ranging from minor damage to complete destruction,” Brown said. “I met with Steve Duvall, a field partner from Costa Rica, to discuss possible interventions, but they see no evidence of the value of providing assistance. As of Jan. 20, only 250 people remain in one governmental shelter. We will continue to monitor the situation.”

In the meantime, Brown encourages Christians to pray.

“Ask God to comfort those who have lost loved ones and possessions in this tragedy. Pray that he would give Costa Rican believers opportunities to demonstrate the love and compassion of Christ to their neighbors,” he said. “Pray that God would work through these circumstances to help people understand his love for them and to bring honor and glory to his name.”

Southern Baptist relief efforts in the Baltic Sea country of Georgia are continuing to make a real difference for families whose lives were upended in August 2008 by fighting between Russia and Georgia.

A field partner shares this update with Baptist Global Response:

“This summer Georgia underwent a traumatizing crisis. Thousands of people were left without homes, refugees within their own country. Most of these arrived in the capital city with what they could carry and the clothes they had on their backs. Hungry, shocked, homeless, despairing people, began filling school buildings empty for the summer as well as abandoned hospitals.

“Immediately churches around the world began to pray for this nation. Funds were provided for hygiene products for refugees. Funds also were allocated from the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund to supply necessary food products for feeding large numbers of people in Gori.”

Within two weeks, Southern Baptist disaster relief teams from Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky were being organized and initially helped feed approximately 1,200 people were being fed every day. Between 400 and 500 people still are being served onsite five days a week, according to the report.

By April most of the refugees are expected to be in housing. Unemployment, however, continues to be a serious problem.

Government officials and local citizens have expressed deep appreciation for what the church is doing for the community and the refugees, the field partner reported. A television crew also has interviewed locals about the project.

The speed and magnitude of the relief response was due, in large measure, to the generosity with which Southern Baptists give to the World Hunger Fund, the field partner said.

“Others working here wondered how we could have resources and teams available and in place so quickly,” the partner said. “Because Southern Baptists give every October to hunger relief and 100% of that gift goes straight to those in traumatic crisis situations just like here, we were able to immediately utilize these funds. Also, every year disaster relief team training takes place so that those trained are prepared to arrive in, live in, and minister in such devastating circumstances with very short notice.  When others are running out, these teams are running in.  What a strong and strategic arm of the church is this work!”

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Contributions to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund make projects like this possible. For information about the World Hunger Fund, please visit BGR’s Giving page.

Southern Baptist workers are monitoring the situation in the Gaza Strip and looking for opportunities to conduct relief efforts there now that Israel has agreed to open a corridor for humanitarian assistance.

On Jan. 7, Israel announced it would cease hostilities for three hours each day to allow relief supplies to flow through a humanitarian corridor into the Gaza Strip. The announcement followed 12 days of intense fighting, first from the air, then on the ground.

“The situation on both sides of the conflict is bad — especially for the people of Gaza,” said Abraham Shepherd, Baptist Global Response area director for Europe, Mid-East and North Africa. “We have been in constant contact with various networks and individuals in the region, trying to coordinate efforts and be on standby for long-term sustainable relief.”

Southern Baptists already have been involved in two humanitarian projects in Gaza through Baptist Global Response, and that should open the way for permission to participate in war-time relief, Shepherd said.

Shepherd asked Southern Baptists and other Christians to pray for people in the area who are suffering and for humanitarian efforts.

“Please pray for wisdom, as we meet and discuss coordination of efforts,” Shepherd said. “Please pray for readiness in assessing the various options when it comes to our point of entry and the relative security situation.”

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Contributions to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund make projects like this possible. For information about the World Hunger Fund, please visit our Giving page.