OPENING HIS EYES FROM THE DECEPTION AND EMPTINESS OF BUDDHISM!!!!
Tsunami Relief Effort - Dawn Manoleas - 16 Jan 2005
THE FOLLOWING ARE EMAIL EXTRACTS FROM DAWN
WE WILL ADD THE NEWS AS IT COMES IN...(most recent first)
Click here for news on the teams from Antioch Community Church's website
http://www.antiochcc.net /
Update on the ACC Teams sent to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Please pass it on and please pray for the teams there and those that are back as they debrief and recover. appreciate your faithfulness.. God is doing GREAT things in the mist of this disaster.
Subject: Sri Lanka and Indonesia Teams from Antioch Community Church
Dear Friends: Sunday, January 16, 2005
Much has happened since I last communicated with you. Our team arrived in Sri Lanka and we have hit the ground running, continuing the good work our first team began over two weeks ago. As internet access in a third world country can be hit or miss (particularly with the damage done by the tsunami), I will give you the highlights.
The drive from Colombo to Tangalla (130 miles taking 8 hours), was one of the most difficult experiences of my life. Television cannot portray the unfathomable amount of devastation and destruction visible on this coastline drive. I will only say that fighting back tears for hours and hours was my own personal experience. As our first team to Sri Lanka split into two teams (one going to the east coast and one staying south), our second wave here did the same. We are team three of four so far (with more coming). We are based in Tangalla (Tango as it is called by Sri Lankas), spending most of our time, energy and resources here. God guided our first team to a refugee camp from a fishing village whose homes and boats were almost a complete loss. Its name is Morakatiara. There are four hundred people, 87 families, living in an unfinished government housing project with no running water or electricity. The housing project is only twenty yards from the location of the original village.
Many other camps are located in schools and large shelters along the coast. God has allowed us to adopt this camp and the ramifications for the Kingdom are amazing. We have been serving these families by providing medical care (four nurses and a dentist) and we have distributed great quantities of medicine and vitamins. We have also delivered to each family a first aid kit and have given them instructions as to caring for simple medical needs.
As we treat the body, we always ask if we can pray for them and in virtually every case, they are happy to let us pray. Meeting this important and practical need has been a huge blessing to them and to us! We also brought with us enough school supplies and curriculum to do two hours of school for ages two through twelve for at least two weeks. Yesterday was day one for the children and you cannot imagine the sheer joy on the faces of these children, and their parents, as they learned, played games, sang songs, drew pictures and, in short, did something that resembles normalcy for them for perhaps the first time since the "big wave" took so much of their lives away.
The atmosphere in the camp changed dramatically as mothers and fathers watched their children at school and then received with delight the pictures the children had drawn. We had no idea how impacting school would be. God has granted our teams favor with some of the leaders here which is making our work go smoothly and adding credibility to anything we do. One of our main contacts is the second in command with the Sri Lankan Navy installation here in Tango. They are overseeing all of the refugee camps in Sri Lanka and he is truly a friend and an ally. He is providing men virtually every day to assist with our team's efforts. Yesterday, we delivered to every family a small cooker which will allow the women to cook in their homes instead of having to come out and cook over a fire on the ground. These uniformed navy men are thrilled with what we are doing for their people and are most enthusiastic to help us.
There are also army personnel from Kandi who are on location. As we serve and love these dear people, we have been given a remarkable opportunity in a relief effort, that is to build relationships with the people we are helping. Most aid workers come to a camp, drop supplies and leave having never learned one name or heard one story of the victims. Not only are we learning names (though we need help with Sri Lankan names) but we are being invited into homes for meals (by the way, they really like spicy food, I learned from experience!), they are telling us their stories about the day their world changed and we are becoming friends. They are the most generous and hospitable people I have ever met. As we build relationships, we are sharing the gospel, praying for them and loving them in every way we can...and it is making a difference.
One of the elders of the village, Tudai in whose home we shared a meal the day before, when asked how his heart was doing replied with great emotion, "since your people have come and have cared for us, my heart is much better, thank you thank you thank you." Two days earlier he could hardly speak of his sadness and his concern about the future. "I am a fisherman and with no boat, how can I work, and with no work, how can I rebuild my home?" He is still grieving a great loss, not of a family member, but of a life he has known for decades. I shared with him that the God who created him and the sea, loves him so much
that He willingly gave His son to live and die for him. It wasn't a natural disaster that took the life of Jesus. He gave it willingly because of His great love for him and for me. I prayed for him, asking God to transform his life with the power of the Holy Spirit, opening his eyes from the deception and emptiness of Buddhism, allowing him to see and know the one true God. Pray with me for the soul of Tudai and his family. His son accepted Jesus last week and is starting to read the book of John. God is moving in this village and in this nation! We believe this is their hour.
{OPENING HIS EYES FROM THE DECEPTION AND EMPTINESS OF BUDDHISM!!!!}
We are working on a proposal that will allow us to be the provider of permanent homes for these families. If this happens, we believe this will be a major breakthrough in seeing perhaps this entire village come to Christ. I can't go into detail now, but please pray for us and for them as this is a spiritual stronghold of major proportions.
We are being challenged mightily by those whose interests do not want to see Christ and His Church gain ground in Sri Lanka. More of this later. Pray IICor.10:3-5. God is moving,
He is caring for us as we care for these. More later.. Pray for Sri Lanka! Blessings,
Pat Pat Murphy Executive Director, Global Hope
More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1523845#