Pakistan (GFA/MNN) ― Half a year after devastating floods swept over Pakistan, the crisis is unabated.
According to the international aid agency Oxfam, hundreds of thousands remain in camps, and thousands are living in tents beside their destroyed homes. Sub-zero winter temperatures have increased, and illnesses are on the rise.
Much of the land remains under contaminated water, and there are concerns that malnutrition rates have risen. On top of this, the Pakistan government had planned to stop emergency relief operations in most areas on January 31. Danny Punnose with Gospel For Asia explains that "these countries don't want to have a lot of outside people in their country. They have their own rules and restrictions, their own fears of what could or could not happen."
However, nationals are still in place and the Gospel for Asia-supported Compassion Services workers are still meeting needs just as they were immediately after the flooding. "While a lot of people come in and do relief work very quickly and then leave, our commitment is to the long term. The reality is that it is very difficult to get to some of these remote locations, but because we have people there, we are able to provide some relief to the most needy."
The GFA teams discovered that many of the villages they visited did not have an adequate supply of clean water-even before the floods hit. So they decided to do something about it.
During the months after the floodwaters receded, several Jesus Wells were drilled in the villages affected by the floods. And several more wells are in the works, too.
Punnose says, "It is vitally important right now that the people who are there are able to do the relief work because it will be long-term work that will actually make the difference, not short-term."
With the temperatures dropping, "We try to provide as much as we can to people to have something to sleep on, and also provide shelter. So as the winter rolls in, this is a very needy time to help people keep warm."
The Jesus Wells open a lot of doors. The first reaction is that "a very simple hand-pump well in the middle of a village brings such joy to people's hearts because they realize this is clean water: 'We don't have to worry about our kids getting sick; we don't have to worry about animals making it dirty'."
Then, says Punnose, "They realize these believers are not asking something from us. This is something that they're doing because of the love of Christ. When they recognize that, it makes a huge difference in their life, that they realize someone actually does care, someone does love them, someone does want to help them."
There's still so much to do. How can you help? Start with prayer. "Every believer can pray and ask the Lord to meet the needs and provide more laborers for the field."
Then, explore these links and see how else you can respond.
Gospel for Asia is an evangelical mission organization, based in Carrollton, Texas, involved in sharing the love of Jesus across South Asia.
