Dear Friends,
Many have written in to ask about the situation in Myanmar after cyclone Nargis struck, and whether there is a means of channelling in funds to help the believers there. We are deliberately adopting a cautious approach in respond to the situation. This is in view of our experience with Myanmar in the past more than ten years. There is a tendency in foreign Christians to form hasty conclusions that are inaccurate or unhelpful. An example is the protest march led by Buddhist monks in recent days. Many in other countries harboured the desire for the protest to grow so that the government would be toppled. They were not aware that the Christians in Myanmar were wary of the situation and did not join the protest march. The main reason was that the monks had issued an eighteen-point manifesto declaring their intention to suppress all other religions.
It seems that the government of Myanmar is adamant about not allowing foreign helpers into the country. Only a handful have been granted visas to enter, and that does not mean they would be allowed direct involvement in the relief work. The government welcomes material and monetary contributions from abroad, but insists on distributing the goods themselves. There is a high likelihood of the contributions not reaching the right people.
There is no certainty that local individuals and organisations will be allowed to participate in the relief effort. At the moment, the churches affected by the cyclone need help. The unaffected churches are not in the position to provide significant aid to the affected brethren because of the bad economy of the country which has persisted for a long time, and gotten worse by the year.
We would like to know more accurately the needs of those known to us, and whether there is the possibility of a network being set up quickly to distribute aid among other believers, and fanning out to others as resources are available. There is the danger that one or two churches might receive aid beyond their own needs, and thereby squander everything upon themselves. Even before cyclone Nargis struck, we have known of churches attempting to expand in ambitious projects and struggling to get foreign funding. In our view, many of those projects were not viable, not beneficial, had no direct gospel value, and distracted the churches from distinctly preaching the gospel. Foreign aid seems to have helped the financial situations of individuals and their family members rather than gospel enterprises. Churches seem to be accumulating more property and running more institutions. There is a subtle but, I think, real difference between establishing institutions and engaging in gospel outreach.
I do not want to appear negative. My desire is to see our brethren in Myanmar helped as much as possible. Most of all, we would like to see the current disaster become a means of showing forth true Christian compassion to the lost. It must be remembered that we have had some experience, which many do not have, of helping in disaster situations in Sri Lanka and Indonesia when the tsunami and earthquakes of recent days struck.
We have attempted to send a team of people to Myanmar as soon as possible. Our local congregations have made collections for the needs. The national airline carrier has been approached which kindly granted permission for us to take extra luggage. Items for relief that have been, or are going to be, packaged include medication, surplus clothing, tarpauline sheets, milk power, candles, soap, water filtration containers, plastic gloves, and stationery to keep records. Sadly, our application for visas were turned down, apparently because of a government directive that freezes the granting of visas to foreigners up to the 29 May.
After much persistency, I have been told of the possibility of being granted a business visa to enter the country alone. I will be submitting the application for this soon. I have been atempting to contact the brethren in Myanmar. Only brief exchanges have been accomplished, insufficient to form a proper picture of the situation. It is, nevertheless, good to hear familiar voices at the other end of the line. Our Disaster Relief Fund will likely be reactivated soon. We will then be ready to receive funds from abroad. The plan is for me to enter the country to assess the situation, to hand over funds for immediate needs, to determine the possibility of establishing local relief effort, and to visit at regular intervals with more funds. More news will follow. Please pray.
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