January 11, 2005

Bill McDonough, our International Director, is in Indonesia and will go from there to Sri Lanka. Bill is meeting with missionaires in Indonesia who are already on the ground making assessments and organizing local churches who responded immediately to the need. There are more than 50 congregations of the churches of Christ in the hard hit areas so a network is already in place and working.

In Sri Lanka the christians are busy distributing pots to cook the rice in that goverments have given and plastic dishes to eat it out of. Thousands lost all of their belongings and had nothing to even cook or eat their food out of so our brethren rushed to their aid. Clothing is also being distributed to those who fled with only the clothes on their backs and some were only wearing swimming suits. (Cheap clothing is available there and can be obtained for much less then it costs to ship it so we are advising against collecting and shipping clothing to this area.)

Our work is providing funds to these christians for the work they are doing and to draw on our years of expereince to help them organize their relief efforts to be most effective in meeting the actual needs and sharing the love of God with the recipients.

In addition to your contributions they desperately need your prayers.