Myanmar in May

On May 3, 2008 Myanmar was rocked by what is reported to be one of the world's deadliest storms. 22,000 dead and over 40,000 still missing...and that's just the beginning. I have provided links to two different news sources, a video, and a link to the Food for the Hungry homepage where they have posted their reaction to the disaster. Read up! :)

International Herald Tribune
The Guardian
CNN Broadcast
Food for the Hungry's Response

The map at the top of this post shows where Myanmar is in relation to Calang. One reason I felt this post was relevant was because of the geographic and cultural proximity to where I will be serving. More importantly, however, I think that this catastrophe will help shape our idea of both the need and the opportunity brought on by natural disasters like Cyclone Nargis.

As I mentioned earlier, this storm is being called one of the deadliest in history. Compare the death toll in Myanmar to the counts from the 2004 tsunami and you will start to gain some perspective on the work that Food for the Hungry is undertaking in Indonesia. In this piece about Tsunamis posted by National Geographic the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) projected that the "earthquake that generated the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs." Apply this force to an already deteriorating infrastructure and you've got quite the cleanup ahead of you.

While most of the work I will be doing in Calang is beyond cleanup efforts and into rebuilding lives...this little history on the nature of the disaster to which FH responded should help paint a broader picture of my Indonesia.

Pray for Myanmar. This horrible tragedy has taken tens of thousands of lives already and threatens to take thousands more. Pray for the hearts of the military junta leaders, that they would welcome foreign aid. And pray that Christian relief organizations like FH would take full advantage of the opportunity to love an area which is otherwise closed off to Christian efforts.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you would be with the people of Myanmar in this time of desperation. I ask Father that you would make yourself known to the superstitious and the cynical. I pray that they would see the sovereignty of an almighty God in the midst of this terrible calamity and that they would turn and put their hope in you. Send your people to the fields in Myanmar to share your Gospel in word and in deed. I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.