Story number 1 for 8 Aug 2003

(Bangladesh)–Monsoon flooding in east Asia headlines today’s news. It’s believed to be the worst flooding in 100 year. World Help’s Eric Vess says flooding was bad 10 years ago when 70-million people in Bangladesh, Nepal and India were displaced. He says this year could be worse. Vess says World Help is focusing on Bangladesh. “Our partners in Bangladesh have identified over 35,000 families that are in immediate need of survival packets. They consist of rice, molasses, cooking oil, salt, matches and in some cases kerosene. This will actually help a family survive through the situation.” A gift of one-thousand dollars will help an entire village. Vess says this is a great evangelistic opportunity. “This does open the door naturally to evangelism down the road. Not right at first. At the beginning we meet their physical needs. Later, when they say, ‘why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?’ then the door is open for an honest sharing of the Gospel.”