CHINA
On May 12, a massive earthquake hit Sichuan Province, a mountainous region in Western China. By June 1, the official confirmed death toll from China’s worst quake in 30 years was 69, 016, with another 18,830 people missing.
Meanwhile, nearly 200,000 people had been evacuated. Over 15 million people have been left homeless, raising fears of disease outbreaks in affected areas.
Nearly 2,000 of the dead were students and teachers caught in schools that collapsed. Psychological counselling and school rebuilding are the two big challenges local educational authorities are facing. The focus is on assessing how to rebuild schools quickly.
The government has responded swiftly to the disaster, mobilising the army for the search and rescue operation and welcoming international help and aid.
Pray for distribution of aid, that it will reach the victims. Towns and villages along the main roads have been well covered but villages difficult to reach need more aid. Some selforganised volunteers with better transport, knowledge and equipment are doing well in filling the gaps.
The earthquake has left thousands of children orphaned or without proper parental care. According to The Star (May 31), social workers have helped to reunite more than 7,00 children separated from their parents after the quake, but some 1,000 children remain unclaimed. Pray they will be well-cared for by the authorities and welfare organisations in the meantime. Pray against abuse and violence on the helpless children.
Pray for rebuilding of lives and reconstruction efforts. May God’s comfort be upon all who are suffering. May the Church of China rise in this hour of great need to bring God’s healing and peace to those in grief.
MYANMAR
On May 3, Cyclone Nargis ripped through Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta. The toll of injured, dead and missing is spiralling upwards at a horrendous rate. On May 6, the state television reported that 10,000 perished in the town of Bogalay alone. Rescue operations was difficult due to the remoteness of the disaster region which is a major rice-producing area and home to 24 million people. The risk of disease is high. However, Cyclone Nargis has blown open a door. The junta, which has ruled the country since 1962, has kept Myanmar closed, isolated and violently repressed for decades. However, in view of the massive destruction, it finally relented and issued an appeal for international assistance.
However, aid organisations have been frustrated at the difficulties faced in delivering aid to 2.4 million victims. The disaster has left 133,000 people dead or missing. Nearly one month after the storm, only 40 percent of people in need have received any help, according to the United Nations. Pray for all obstacles to be cleared so that aid can reach the victims. Bless the aid workers who have sacrificed much to help the victims. Pray for strength, good spirit, and unity as they come from various organisations throughout the world.
While Burma’s 70 percent ethnic Burmese majority is strongly Buddhist, the ethnic minorities are mainly Christian. Today, Myanmar’s corrupt, repressive military junta views the church as a prevalent threat and so seeks to destroy it. The junta also represses and persecutes the mostly Christian ethnic minorities and is waging a genocidal war against the ethnic Karen in the east. Isolation and repression escalated after a major crackdown in 1988 and again after an influx of arms in 2005.
In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and the ongoing persecution of the people living in Myanmar, pray that many will be drawn to the Lord. May the Myanmarese Christians be filled with the Holy Spirit as they serve the Lord amidst great affliction.
Pray for all Myanmarese pastors, Christian leaders and teachers who are inside the country, in the refugee camps, and especially those who are presently fleeing or suffering in terror. May the Holy Spirit fill them with the wisdom, faith, grace and strength to shepherd the Lord’s flock through these difficult times.
LEBANON
When Lebanon’s US-backed government took bold steps against Iran-backed Hezbollah on May 6, Hezbollah responded with lethal force. While the Lebanese Army watched on, Hezbollah blockaded all the roads to the airport, shut down all pro-government media and seized control of western Beirut. Dozens have been killed in the fighting.
There is the real danger of a civil war erupting between the Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims.
Iran-sponsored Hezbollah is consolidating in Southern Lebanon to wage war/jihad on Israel. If that happens, it will really be a regional war waged by proxies and exploited by terrorists on Lebanese soil, and Lebanon’s one million-strong Christian minority would be caught in the middle. The security of Israel is also at stake as Iran’s goal is Israel’s elimination – a feat that would secure its position as the leader of the Muslim world.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to keep God’s people focused on Him. May they fear no evil (Psalm 23:4) knowing that God is in the midst of those who hold him as holy. Pray that the the whole Middle East become known, not as a region of conflict, but as a region of peace where the God of the Bible is worshipped.
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