Sichuan Earthquake Disaster |
Back
So did they…
Inconceivable…
Some Students were trapped…waiting for help…
Some were saved…but will never be the same…
And who will ever forget???...
You may have seen many of these photos and more appear daily in the news. I’m not sure what moves me more…the faces of all these parents expressing unimaginable loss…or the fact that I have four children of my own…and have went to pick them up at school myself and could not imagine such occurring to me… Maybe it’s that I have been to many of these cities, some just months ago, and unknowingly passed many of these buildings, never even for a moment foreseeing their soon coming inconceivable collapse…or that I may have passed some of these very children…or certainly some of the adults, all with not the slightest premonition as to how soon their lives would to come to an abrupt and horrifying end. One thing does move me…In the last several years we have taken thousands of Study Bibles and Teaching materials to these very cities and we know that much of the materials were distributed to the very cities you’re hearing mentioned on the News, the rural cities, the poor and difficult to reach cities, where the people live that cannot get or afford such materials.
I believe some of people who died in this earthquake—died with a knowledge of Jesus Christ and are with Him at this moment because of the very work we have done in getting the valuable materials and money which came from and on behalf of our partners to the Chinese people in this area in the past years. We have done no small thing in this particular region. Now, on the last week of June, we will visit this city again, oddly enough on a trip planned over half a year ago with no foreknowledge as to what the significance it would have only weeks after this disaster. We planned on only briefly stopping in and dropping off some materials to our contacts and quickly slipping away to visit Beijing and see some pre-Olympic sights. Now, our priority has changed. We are communicating with our contacts, on the ground in these cities right now, who are obviously working feverously, to assist those in immediate need both physically and Spiritually. We are currently working to see how we may assist the Chinese when we arrive in whatever way we can. Just hours ago, I spoke with one of our contacts in Chengdu. He said the government really is doing a good job in reaching the distant cities, as well as can be expected. However, he cannot reach these cities as the roads to the mountain cities are blocked by police and military as they are evacuating those cities to better care for the injured and prevent the soon coming threat of disease. The problem is many Chinese are trying to move back into unsafe homes and they don’t understand the risk of disease from still many unrecovered bodies buried under tons of concrete and rubble. Another challenge he is facing is that “foreigners” are no longer allowed to travel unescorted to the disaster regions as “CNN” is once again to credit for this restriction. Apparently a CNN film crew hurried into the mountain region to find a village that had not yet been reached by the relief crews. They then filmed the story of grief and destruction (which was probably true) but then so innocently insinuate the Chinese government may somehow be unconcerned or even incompetent, as only CNN is so underminingly proficient. The Chinese government is certainly not perfect, but from the testimony of the people on location they are doing a capable job and have made great humanitarian progress as a nation, and should be commended for their progress, not reproached for questionable imperfection, especially in a catastrophe of this magnitude. Our contact and other Western relief agencies are working together to reach some of the overlooked people, as he elaborated, they were driving just north of Mianyang yesterday and were not able to enter into any of the mountainous regions. Just shortly after leaving the last check point, they stopped along the road to assess the condition of the scattered farm communities visible from the roadside. He said within twenty minutes they were surrounded by people appearing from the surrounding fields eager to find any news from the outside world. Their electricity and phone lines were down, their cell phones all dead. They owned no cars or televisions. They had almost no news from the outside world. After several hours of fielding questions and offering optimism, meanwhile distributing all their bottled water, powdered milk, rice and dried food supplies—of which these farmers had none, they listened to the farmers explain how they watched emergency vehicles speed in both directions along the highway for days but none stopped to check on them; they were the first. The farmers begged them to return and listed the essentials of which they had none, baby food, dried milk, plastic tarps and with a new sense of hope, vigorously waved goodbye to these unexpected good-deed-doers as they pulled onto the highway and disappeared over the horizon. Our contact and his fellow workers are considering “adopting” this area and looking for more like it. Over time these people will need help rebuilding their homes, although not tall, their roofs still collapsed and many walls fell down, and in the light of the larger disaster areas, are being overlooked. He then mentioned he currently had used all his personal money to buy such supplies and was going to make some more purchase tomorrow with several hundred dollars that local Chinese house-church members had collected amongst themselves—but then he was out of money. The problem being, he believes money is on the way from others in the US that support him but it may take weeks, even months, for that money to finally reach his bank and he could draw on it. Upon hanging up the phone I contacted Joab who was in the middle of border crossings with one of our teams. Hearing he’d just re-entered Hong Kong for another load of Bibles to take back into Shenzhen, I met him and gave him $10,000RMB ($1400USD) and told him to wire it from Shenzhen to our contacts bank in Chengdu. Within an hour Joab called me to say “it’s done”, of which I called our contact back and let him know there was now 10g’s in his account that he could draw on immediately and use to buy the supplies needed. He was of course elated and explained that they had just found a place that sold the plastic tarps the farmers desperately needed for shelter till repairs could be made to their homes and these funds would joyfully be used towards that. One of our main objectives will be to see that the financial assistance we bring in goes to Chinese Pastors and Ministry Leaders. Typically, we supply our Western missionaries with finances, they supply the Chinese Pastors and Leaders whom they know are faithful and reliable and they in turn distribute the finances to those who truly need it. The Chinese are reputed for corruption and much of this will probably occur as the international aid begins to flow in. Accusations are already swirling that many of the deaths of school children occurred because corrupt officials skimmed so many kickbacks that the structural integrity of many of the school buildings was compromised. All the finances that we receive for the Earthquake victims will be personally delivered (or wired directly) to the disaster area by us and be placed into the hands of reliable Christians, both Western and Chinese for the relief of the victims and furtherance of the of the Gospel. Right now we can take what the devil meant for evil and turn it to good. Please help us as we assist the Missionaries and the Chinese Christians in this area who have suffered the most in this disaster. We can help them rebuild their homes and restart their lives. If you would like to contribute to the disaster relief of the Sichuan Earthquake. Send your contributions to: Fischer Family Ministries Inc. Make checks payable to Fischer Family Ministries Inc.
New precedents are being set by the Chinese. Never before has the nation been as unitedly moved to helping their own people as what they are now responding.
The heads of China are not only responding but going to great lengths to show love and encouragement to the people—not something that has been exampled extensively in the past.
Any kind of compassion shown is not that of Satan’s kingdom, it’s of the fruit of the light of the Gospel. The efforts of decades of Christian Evangelism and Prayers are now beginning to evidence themselves in the actions of the people. There’s Hope for these people and we will continue to bring it to them—assisted by you, our partners. We love you all, we consider ourselves an extension of you here, And all from Fischer Family Ministries |
![A nurse talks to a school child trapped under rubble in Beichuan of Sichuan Province on Tuesday. Medics had earlier attached him to a drip. [Xinhua]](08sichuanearchquakedisaster_clip_image016.jpg)
![Premier Wen Jiabao comforts an injured child in Mianyang, Sichuan Province on Tuesday. 7,395 have been reported dead in Mianyang. [Xinhua]](08sichuanearchquakedisaster_clip_image034.jpg)
