Baptist Global Response

MANILA, Philippines – Thirty Southern Baptist disaster relief specialists have completed a week’s labor in the Philippines capital, helping local partners and community residents dig out from a flood that inundated vast sections of the city.

Faced with monumental disaster, residents of Manila hardly knew where to begin trying to put their lives back together. (Photo/Gloria Fern)

“The past few weeks have been filled with disaster, starting with 16 inches of rain in one day that left metro Manila 80 percent flooded,” said Gloria Fern, a Southern Baptist field partner in the Philippines. “Then a typhoon made landfall three times up north, flooding out the top part of Luzon and destroying the entire rice crop. Landslides cut off the major roads, the major dams are all full and gates had to be opened, causing more flooding. The Luguna de Bay lake left surrounded towns in knee-deep flooding that will take five months to subside. And there are two more storms on the horizon.”

The Philippines government has estimated about 6 million people were affected by typhoons Ketsana and Parma. More than 287,000 people remain in evacuation centers.

The Southern Baptist volunteers – 29 men and one woman from Texas, Oklahoma and Kentucky – have been helping local residents shovel out their homes, enduring difficult work conditions and the stench of rotting debris, Fern said. Some of the work has been done in pastors’ homes and church buildings, while the rest has focused on the community in general. A public school was on the agenda for Oct. 12.

“We took them to Malanday, Marikina, which was flooded up to the second story in many areas,” Fern said. “I was so impressed with their expertise, commitment and just good old ‘git busy and git ‘er done’ attitude! And yet taking time to talk to people and even pass out lollipops to the kids.

“The smell was putrid, rotting two-weeks-old sewer and garbage – yet everyone there smiled and chatted with us like it was just another normal day,” Fern added. “We are so proud to see these brave, rugged Baptist men who are trained to go to some of the worst diasters ever and clean up!”

Southern Baptist disaster relief specialists get to work in Manila, helping residents dig out after flooding that inundated 80 percent of the city. (Photo/Gloria Fern)

One volunteer, Ray Fultz of Crestwood Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., was injured when a nail pierced the middle finger of his right hand while he was helping clean out a church building, according to Kathy North, another Southern Baptist field partner in the Philippines. While Fultz was up to date on his tetanus shots, the finger became infected over the weekend and a doctor was tending to the wound.

Flooding often is followed by severe medical concerns and that is the case in Manila, noted Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global Response.

“News reports indicate the water is still waist-deep, even chest-deep in places,” Brown said. “It has been standing for three weeks now. The longer water stagnates, the greater the risk of diseases like malaria, dengue fever, diarrhea – even typhoid.”

Fern echoed that concern: “The cities of Marikina, Cainta, Pasig are in dire need of medical teams, but even before that they need front loaders and more dump trucks to even make a dent in the mounds and mounds of garbage heaped less than a foot from their doors.”

Residents of the community where the volunteers are working have been deeply moved by the fact that Southern Baptists care enough to come help people in need, even in the most difficult of circumstances, Fern said.

“Thank you for caring about our fellow Christians in this community and the lost people around them,” she said.

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To help with the cost of the Philippines relief effort, contributions may be made to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund or BGR’s Disaster Response Fund by clicking here.

More photos from Manila may be found on Gloria Fern’s Facebook site.

A vast multitude of poor villagers in southern India are trekking back to washed-out homes and ruined farmlands after the worst rains in 100 years set off devastating floods in early October.

Southern Baptist field partners are assessing needs and preparing an emergency response for some of the estimated 1.5 million people who are leaving relief camps to see what, if anything is left of their homes, said Francis Horton, who with his wife, Angie, directs work in Central and South Asia for Baptist Global Response.

“Local partners tell me conditions are very bad and it appears the principal needs right now are emergency food and water,” Horton said. “Please pray for the affected people in this area to get the relief they need. The state of Karnataka has been a focal point for persecution of Christians this past year.”

About 300 people are confirmed dead and thousands more are missing in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states, according to news reports. The floods came just as many farmers had planted winter crops – much of which now has been washed away or damaged. To compound the problem, family food stores were destroyed with their homes, leaving many people with nothing to eat.

The area had been suffering from months of drought before the week of torrential downpours that caused the flooding.

“We’re able to respond quickly in emergencies like this because Southern Baptists have given so generously to their World Hunger Fund and disaster response. They are truly people who care about people in need,” said Jim Brown, BGR’s U.S. director. “With so many disasters in recent weeks, we hope they will make an extra effort to reach out to the millions of people in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines who need to experience the compassion of Jesus Christ in their time of need.”

Updates on the relief effort will be available at gobgr.org, along with information on how to give to Southern Baptist disaster response and the World Hunger Fund.

BGR Executive Director Jeff Palmer explains disaster relief efforts underway in the aftermath of a typhoon and two earthquakes in Asia Rim.

Southern Baptists are gearing up a major disaster response in the wake of a typhoon that flooded the homes of 2.3 million people in the Philippines.

Read about it here.

MANILA, Philippines – Southern Baptists are gearing up a major disaster response in the wake of a typhoon that flooded nearly 2 million homes in the Philippines.

Typhoon Ketsana slammed into Manila and surrounding provinces Sept. 26, dumping a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours. Relief organizations say it is the country’s worst flooding in 40 years. At least 284 people have been reported dead or missing and nearly 380,000 people have sought shelter in evacuation centers, according to news reports.

Southern Baptists are assessing ways to address relief needs in the wake of the storm, said Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global Response. The organization is communicating with ministry partners in the Philippines and interacting with Southern Baptist disaster relief teams on standby for emergency response.

“Local ministry partners went to work immediately after the storm, providing emergency food and water provided by the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund,” Brown said. “After receiving preliminary assessment information from local field partners, we are gearing up for a major response in the wake of this typhoon.”

Contributions toward the relief effort can be made here. Updates on relief efforts can be monitored by signing up for BGR’s AlertNet newsletter at http://gobgr.org.

SINGAPORE – Southern Baptists have developed, through decades of experience all over the world, great expertise in community development and disaster relief. Now that expertise – and its potential impact – is being multiplied by a new Baptist Global Response training project.

The International Relief and Development Training Initiative, which is based out of BGR’s Singapore headquarters, offers training in the principles and techniques of community development and disaster relief. The workshops – which have been conducted five times since June – are intended to empower other groups to effectively connect people who care with people in need.

The initiative was developed in response to requests from both Christian churches and ministry groups and secular organizations, like Singapore’s Economic Development Board, said Jeff Palmer, executive director of Baptist Global Response.

Read more!

Southern Baptists stepped up to provide food and roofing tin to villages in the Horn of Africa after wild fire destroyed dozens of homes. A news article and photos are posted  here.

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 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.

Southern Baptists are assessing relief needs in the aftermath of a strong earthquake in southwestern Pakistan that killed at least 150 people in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 29.

Thousands of homes were destroyed or buried by landslides that also have blocked roads, according to news reports out of the region. Pakistan’s government is using helicopters to ferry troops and medical teams into the quake zone.

Many survivors will be faced with near-freezing nighttime temperatures. Government officials reported they were distributing tents, blankets and food into the quake zone. A Southern Baptist assessment team will work to identify which needs they can help with and look for communities not being adequately reached by relief efforts.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and waiting to hear from our field partners on the ground,” said Jim Brown, director of the U.S. office for Baptist Global Response. “We ask all Southern Baptists to pray that God would preserve life and speed rescue efforts. Pray that God would work in this crisis to help people understand how much he loves them and wants them to experience lives filled with hope and purpose.”