Most families in this town lost their homes, while others suffered severe damage. (Image, caption courtesy Gospel For Asia)

Almost a decade ago, one of the deadliest tsunamis in recent history devastated the southeast coast of India. It killed 10,273 people, and 5,832 were reported missing. In addition, 501 children were orphaned.

Last month, early monsoon rains caught everyone by surprise. Although statistics vary widely, India’s government has raised the number of people missing to 5,748.

The death count in Uttarakhand officially stands at 580; groups on-the-ground in the region say it’s much higher.

Jeff Palmer of Baptist Global Response says there’s a silver lining.

“When things are at their worst, sometimes it’s at the best place that God’s message can come in, a message of hope and love,” he states.

BGR’s partners are bringing those messages to flood survivors, along with food, clean water and health care. Palmer explains that BGR sends these supplies to northern India, and their partners take it from there.

“They minister physically and spiritually to the folks that are in need,” says Palmer.

“The people who are actually being the hands of Jesus, you know by delivering the goods, are the mouthpiece also and he feet, by going in with the Gospel.”

They’ve helped out several thousand survivors so far. You can support their efforts here.

“It’s very confusing right now as to exactly how many people have been affected,” Palmer adds.

Flooding occurred when thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were on an annual pilgrimage called Char Dham Yatra.

“Several thousand are not accounted for, and they’re not sure whether- the government’s not sure – whether that’s [because] they’ve gone on a pilgrimage, or they’re gone because of the flooding,” states Palmer.

Amid the confusion, BGR partners are carrying out their mission faithfully.

“Culturally, language-wise, and heart and calling-wise, they really want to share their faith,” Palmer says. “They can minister by giving (care), but also they can have the opportunity, and earn the right to, share the Gospel while they’re there.”

Pray that, in the midst of this tragedy, hearts will be open to hear new Truths.

“Pray for those who are giving compassion out by giving food and water, but also pray that they would be wise to be able to share a testimony of what God’s done in their life,” Palmer requests.

Keep BGR in your prayers, too.

“We want to make sure that we’re using these resources wisely,” says Palmer.

Ask the Lord to show BGR how and where to send assistance. Pray for wisdom and knowledge.

Almost a decade ago, one of the deadliest tsunamis in recent history devastated the southeast coast of India. It killed 10,273 people, and 5,832 were reported missing. In addition, 501 children were orphaned.

Last month, early monsoon rains caught everyone by surprise. Although statistics vary widely, India's government has raised the number of people missing to 5,748. The death count in Uttarakhand officially stands at 580; groups on the ground in the region say it's much higher.

Jeff Palmer of Baptist Global Response says there's a silver lining.

"When things are at their worst, sometimes it's at the best place that God's message can come in, a message of hope and love," he states.

BGR's partners are bringing those messages to flood survivors, along with food, clean water, and health care. Palmer explains that BGR sends these supplies to northern India, and their partners take it from there.

"They minister physically and spiritually to the folks that are in need," says Palmer.

"The people who are actually being the hands of Jesus by delivering the goods, are the mouthpiece also and the feet, by going in with the Gospel."

They've helped out several thousand survivors so far. You can support their efforts here.

"It's very confusing right now as to exactly how many people have been affected," Palmer adds.

Flooding occurred when thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were on an annual pilgrimage called Char Dham Yatra.

"Several thousand are not accounted for, and they're not sure–the government's not sure–whether that's [because] they've gone on a pilgrimage, or they're gone because of the flooding," states Palmer.

Amid the confusion, BGR partners are carrying out their mission faithfully.

"Culturally, language-wise, and heart and calling-wise, they really want to share their faith," Palmer says. "They can minister by giving (care), but also they can have the opportunity–and earn the right–to share the Gospel while they're there."

Pray that in the midst of this tragedy, hearts will be open to hear new Truths.

"Pray for those who are giving compassion out by giving food and water, but also pray that they would be wise to be able to share a testimony of what God's done in their life," Palmer requests.

Keep BGR in your prayers, too.

"We want to make sure that we're using these resources wisely," says Palmer.

Ask the Lord to show BGR how and where to send assistance. Pray for wisdom and knowledge.

In 2005, some 10,000 victims remained in temporary shelters. Fast-forward seven years. Have things gotten any better?

"Life is still really hard," said Donna Glass with India Partners. "Government money only went so far."

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 2004 tsunami was generated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake that released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. Waves reached a height of 50 feet in some places. The livelihood of many fishermen living along the coast of Andhra Pradesh was utterly destroyed. Many could only find work as day laborers and lost easy access to medical care.

Today, families often have to choose between working to put food on the table and traveling a day or two to get medicine. Medical vans help by bringing clinics and supplies to remote villages. After receiving their treatments, patients also hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, Glass added.

She said these vans often mean the difference between life and death for villagers.

Parents often have to choose between working to provide food for their families and making a one or two day journey for medical access. Such was the case for a single mother when her children became infected with malaria. The mother wasn't able to take time off of work to seek medical aid, and her kids became sicker as a result.

Glass said the children had reached a critical point when the medical van arrived.

"They were at the point of dehydration, such that they would have died if the van had not shown up with this intervention," she recounted.

India Partners purchased the medical van for this ministry in 2008, with the help of Rotary International. The ministry has operated a medical clinic since the early 90's, Glass recounted, but the addition of a medical van has drastically improved their ability to meet villagers' needs.

The ministry is ongoing, said Glass. So is their need.

"People are really willing to do relief work," she stated, "but it's the long-term restoration of livelihood that is still a problem."

India Partners needs your help to keep this ministry going. Click here to support this ministry; select "Medical Vehicle" from the drop-down list. $285 can take care of a whole village.

"That's a big thing, and I understand that," Glass conceded. "Not everyone can do that."

Whether you can give or not, pray. Pray that God would provide this care for villagers in Andhra Pradesh.

Banda Aceh (260 miles
from the epicenter) was reminded of the eerie similarities between Wednesday's
tremors and the 2004 quake off Aceh which created a tsunami that killed over 200,000
people around the Indian Ocean. The
force of the temblor was felt in northern and western Sumatra.

Kathy Redmond with Compassion International says they're still
waiting on word from their teams, which could take up to another day to come
in. However, she says because their
work is in Jakarta, she's not expecting to see much in the way of damages. 

Still, "the concern is that the Child Development
Centers are prepared for something, and I think that they are. Our centers and
our staff have emergency kits and that sort of thing. They monitor these things
very closely."

After 2004, the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPD)
worked with residents to help them better understand and respond to earthquake
and tsunamis. The government
also used the disaster management agency funds to create local-level disaster
management agencies, train volunteer disaster responders, and help create a
disaster management plan and map out the high-risk areas.

That's a big part of what Compassion International did, too,
and with good reason. With a quake as
strong as the one that struck this week, she wonders "whether this 7.3
magnitude earthquake is a pre-cursor to something else, what the aftershocks might bring. These people in Indonesia
are used to disaster, so I think their readiness is okay."

Noting a severe uptick in the number of simultaneous disasters
Compassion is confronting in areas such as Colombia, Brazil, the  Philippines, Thailand, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, Redmond admits it's easy to feel compassion fatigue. "You have so many disasters going on
right now, that it's really important to stay abreast of it and to follow and
to make sure that people are there who can support that kind of thing and pray
for it as well."

Their team is in a state of alert now. Compassion works through the local church in
meeting the needs of the most at-risk families in the communities where they work. In a disaster, they can easily shift into
first responder mode as the hands and feet of Christ. "That
church works around the clock, especially in times of crisis or disaster. that's when it opens its doors. That's when they have the water, blankets, the
food, the medicine, and things like that. People are able to go to the church and
get their needs met, and at the same time, they do find the love of Christ in
that church."

Pray. Even though the
Indonesia Compassion team seems to have escaped harm for now, they need to
remain vigilant. "There's a lot
more openness to the message of Christ and to Christ's love during times of
crisis. The great thing about Compassion is that we work through the local
churches in all of these areas. That church then, becomes the refuge."

Check our Featured Links section for more detail on
Compassion International in Indonesia.