Thanks to the many of you who have been praying for and giving to the needs of the persecuted family in Orissa. Below are some of the pictures sent in an update report this week by Pastor Nayak. The food and cloths that you see are donations given by yourselves, local believers from other areas of India, and BCM believers in Europe. We have been able to furnish some food, cooking pots, tarps, and one set of clothing (most were still wearing what they had on when attacked on Christmas Day).

 

I am scheduled for a trip to be with BCM's pastor/missionaries  for two days, June 28th-29th. I will be sharing, encouraging, and listening to them during that time. I will also be taking the rest of whatever funds have been given for their need. The monsoons are fast approaching, and they are still living under the tarps. The government has promised enough Rupees to cover half the cost needed to rebuild their basic one and two room homes. They need $1,500 to cover the other half of the house. I have $20,000 to spread among the 246 BCM families affected. If you are interested in helping with trip or the needs there you can give through the website (www.bcmintl.org) or send it to the BCM office for Orissa Relief (PO Box 249, Akron, PA 17501).

 

An additional note. You will have seen coverage of the devastation in Myanmar this past week. If you have been following my own travels, you will remember that I was in Myanmar this past summer with our BCM personnel there. An exciting development just this month has been the approval of a grant from the Tyndale House Foundation to allow the only Christian publisher in Myanmar to publish our entire Footsteps of Faith curriculum as the first-ever Christian children's curriculum in the country, a project that came out of  Esther Zimmerman (head of BCM Children's Ministries) and Jeanette's trip to LittWorld in Brazil last year, which has resulted in several new translation projects. We have not been able to contact all our BCM people to date, but received an encouraging letter from Jacob, the Christian publisher. We share that below. Please pray that Christians in Myanmar, including our BCM personnel, will be able to use this opportunity to share Christ's love and good news of salvation in the midst of this difficult time.

 

Blessings, 

Marty

 

FROM JACOB: Greeting from Yangon,  Myanmar.

So glad to hear from you.  And thank you very much for your remembering and praying for us. You heard about the Nargis!  This cyclone hit our our country the delta region including the city of Yangon from Friday midnight till noon  Saturday with wind speeds reaching 190km/h (120mph). Except some minor damages of roofs and houses there was no lost nor casualties among our church members, families and friends.  We all are safe in the arms of the great and good Lord. He is truly our protector and sustainer.

It has been very difficult since the Cyclone Nargis hit us.  As you also might learned from the news the death tool has been gone up to 27000. We toured the city of Yangon and looked around with our eyes. We have seen thousands of survivors who are lacking shelter, drinking water, power and communications.  Of course, the situation is worse in the towns of Bogalay and Laputta, delta region.  Just a green and beautiful city was just destroyed in few hours.  Everywhere you look in the city,  thousands of buildings have been flattened, power lines downed, trees uprooted, roads blocked and water supplies disrupted. Soon after the disaster the prices of food, fuel and basic needs have risen dramatically and increased up to 2 to 3 times.

PRAISE  the Lord that in the midst of devastation we can still see the hand of God.
PRAISE the Lord for the people who survived, including us.
PRAY  for the people who lost families and relatives
PRAY  for the people who are in immediate need of shelter, clothing, water(drinking, bathing, washing) and for food.
PRAY  for the comfort and the needs of the people and their hearts to know the Living God and see His goodness, the true Savior and the way of salvation.  We want to use this time of difficulties to bring the good news to the people in Myanmar.
Thank you very much.
Jacob