South Asian: Tsunami-Earthquake Post-Christmas 2004

Below are some pictures e-mailed to me from a Asian Indian Pastor:

Dear Salvador Cruz

Greetings in Jesus Name, I have gathered some of the photographs of which the media has covered, I am sending them so that you may understand the intensity of the disaster that took place due to 'Tsunami Tidal Waves'. Let me explain to you each picture one by one,

1. You can see the dead bodies that were burned on the top where the fog is going out and also you can see the bodies that were dumped in a pit to be buried.
2. Small children that were drowned and died, and the mother who is crying bitterly
3. Women crying as the bodies were laid in the ground and being buried.
4. A women who is crying because she lost everything house and all of her family.
5. Bodies that were brought back by the mighty waves the sea.
6. Relatives that is able to recognize the bodies.
7. Same as 6.
8. Mother who lost her only daughter.
9. Bodies that were found after two days.
10. She lost everything and left with few utensils and doest not now where to go.

Many Parents and children are left on the streets helplessly not knowing what to do, they are even not getting any food to eat, so please kindly help them as much as you can. Also pray about this situation and do the needful. Let us show them the love of Jesus Christ.

2004 Asian Tsunami

"This is my first actual video. This video is of the 2004 asian tsunami."

Other Photos:

Stories from UMM Connections

Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:55:39 -0600
From: "Junius G"
To: ummalpha@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Sal-Hi from Morris....

Sal (and others I've randomly cc-ed),

Thanks for your concern. Most of my immediate relatives in Sri Lanka live in-land, so they are alright. I have an uncle we have not heard from who lives near Galle--one of the worst hit cities--and we can only hope he wasn't near the shore. The village my father grew up in and the town I used to live near were destroyed. The main road I took from the village to the school I attended has been washed away. Our family's friend was unfortunate enough to have relatives on a seaside train from Colombo to Galle.

While a local fund has been set up in the Fargo-Moorhead area by the Singhalese community, I believe the most helpful thing you can do is to encourage people to contribute to the various international relief funds if they're able to do so. Sadly, it's the poorest people who are most affected. They're normally ignored even by natives--not to mention the international community. It takes this tragedy to focus attention on them.

Kind regards and best wishes for the New Year,

Junius

Stories from the Media

...more "sad news" or "good news" perspective

Some other UMM-Morris Connections

Waves of Devastation (2004 Asian Tsunami)

"In February 2005, for a video editing class I was taking at the time, I put together this short presentation about the tsunami that had struck Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and several other countries on December 26, 2004...."

-Indonesia: Current UMM Int'l Student, along with 2 former students
-India: Current UMM Staff and Student, along with community residents and area pastor
-Myanmarese (formerly Burma): Current and Former UMM Student
-Somolia: Former UMM Student, that used to attend school here 03'-04'
-Sri Lanka, UMM Alumn connection
-Thai: 2 Current High School Exchange Students, and study abroad program

Stories I’ve Heard directly and indirectly:

Asian Tsunami 2004

"A video I made in early 2005 for a Global Geography project in High School. It's easy to impress High Schoolers, so I did pretty well on it"

From : Anonymous Missionary
Sent : Friday, January 7, 2005 4:04 PM
To :
Subject : News from the ? - tsunami relief

Greetings all,

Happy New Year to all of you and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating with loved ones the birth of the Lord.

The last 12 days have been very intense ones, given the events of December 26th in south Asia. I'll do my best to recap for you what's been happening in the ANONYMOUS MISSIONS ORGANIZATION world since that infamous day.

I'm delighted to report that all of our people are safe. We have a number of workers stationed in areas that were directly affected, so there was a period of time when we were quite concerned. One family vacationing in Phuket, Thailand left their beach-front cottage the day before the tsunami hit in favor of a hotel further inland on higher ground. They said later that they weren't quite sure why they were doing it, just that they had a feeling they ought to move! All in all, we're only aware of one missionary death -- a Swiss woman with Canadian Food for the Hungry who was vacationing in Thailand. We praise God for His hand of protection on so many who are serving Him in the affected areas!

There are a number of ways we have been involved in the relief effort. Here are a few of them:

1. We have a number of people serving in countries that were affected by the tsunamis, and these missionaries are rising to the challenge faced by their host nations in getting help to survivors. Our most notable involvement is in Indonesia, where workers from all over the country are converging on the disaster area in northern Sumatra to help with translation for doctors, nurses and other disaster relief workers, to coordinate food distribution and work on housing solutions for the thousands of newly orphaned children. We have a team stationed in one of the major cities that's closest to the hardest hit Aceh area, so this has become a staging ground for us. We're also working in close partnership with a network of 12,000 Indonesian churches. We're in a strategic position having so many people who know the language and culture and can be vital connections between the suffering and those who want to help them.
2. We have had a number of inquiries from people wanting to help however they can. For now, the only immediate short-term needs we have are for medical professionals and those with experience in disaster relief. It will, however, take years, not weeks, to rebuild and recover. We need people who can devote themselves to learning the culture and language so we can build lasting bridges to those who have been so physically and emotionally devestated. This is a critical time for many of these affected countries, and there are some unprecedented ministry opportunities right now -- more about this below...
3. For those wanting to help from here, we have set up a tsunami relief fund. Information is available on our website at ? The money raised is being funneled to relief efforts in the Aceh area and Thailand and is being used by those people who are going to the disaster areas and serving in the ways I explained above.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of this. I have lots of stories from the field and pictures as well, if you are interested in any of that. Many of these are also available on the website.
Finally, a word about how the Lord is at work in all of this. Besides the miracle of keeping all these missionaries safe, this tragedy has far-reaching impact for the Gospel in Asia. The province of Sumatra that was hardest hit, Aceh, is probably the most difficult to reach area in all of Indonesia. You may have been hearing about this area on the national news -- it's been getting a fair amount of attention. Missionaries have not been able to get into Aceh for some time because of the civil war there. Since the tsunami, the doors have been opened and there's a missionary presence there now that would have been unthinkable two weeks ago. Naturally you'd want such progress to come under different circumstances, but this is an opportunity to demonstrate Christian compassion and mercy at a critical time and to give testimony to the goodness of God in the midst of such hardship, and of His abundant love for the Acehnese (and the Thai, Indians, Sri Lankans, et. al.)
This may well usher in an era of unprecedented access to formerly unreachable areas. And for that, we give thanks to the Lord. He is at work, especially in the midst of such tragedy. Join me in praying for those who suffer and for the swift and merciful response of Christians around the world. Let's take advantage of this amazing opportunity to make a statement to the Muslim world about the mercy, compassion and love of Jesus Christ.

Peace and Joy to each of you!

With love,
(husband) & (former UMM Alumnus)

-a former UMM Alumn/current friend that I keep in contact told me on Monday, January 03, 2005 that a friend that he works with in California told him this sad story: A family staying on the 7th floor of a beach resort in Thailand was spared from the deadly Tsunami. About 4 rooms down, some resort guests were swept way from the large tidal waves.

Needs Priority for Asian Tsuanmi-Earthquake Post-Christmas 2004

As I’ve been watching media coverage of needs of funds to help assist in relief efforts, I’ve been wondering what are the priority needs. From my perspective, this is what I came up with:

Basic Needs-Maslow’s Hierachy:
-Food, Shelter, and Clothing Water
Short-term relief, long-term strategy, from Pioneers (Orlando, Florida) January 4, 2005
"In the short term there are needs for relief teams: medicine, food, water, and shelter. In the Aceh province there is enough food and water for two months already in Banda. It is a matter of distribution. Having said that we are mobilizing medical teams to the islands off the south western coast of Aceh. There are people there starving and suffering from diarrhea and other diseases. We have a team of expats with ships in Padang ready to facilitate teams of doctors and food distribution. We hope to have this underway in the next couple days. We are looking at this in the very short run to save lives."

Health Necessities:
-physicians, nurses, and other medical personals

-orphans that need to be adopted after parents died

Economic Opportunities (meets Basic Needs): -boats (Star Tribune article) for fishermen/women to help continue their jobs to make a living for themselves and families

An E-mail I sent to a friend:

Yes, I've been asking myself-what can I do? I say don't be quick to reply in giving money right away to everything out there asking money. Ask God and wait...Below is a link I made of all the contacts related to the Tsunami that are in need...

https://www.angelfire.com/mn3/ummalpha/asian.tsunami04.html

I'm still waiting on God through prayer who to support. In the the mean time, I'm e-mailing this website to people as a network prayer/needs info. This is definitely a door of opportunity for this 10/40 Window (Muslim, perecuted, unchurch people area), which Christians need to really ask God on how to be used in this "door of opportunity". God knows who long this door will be open (like 9/11). We really need to be in tune (prayer/fasting?) as we need to act too...

14" What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." -James 2

Tsunami 2004 Calamity Project

"work in progress, environmental science class "

I’m watching (PBS Ch. 2) and the U.N. Humanitarian Director is sharing about other global issues:
HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Africa
Sudan, Africa crisis
Somolia hit too!

Other Casualties (Tourists/Visitors/Foreigners)

Asian Tsunami

" Movie of the Asian Tsunami.."

List of Foreign Casualties:
Sweden Reels From Tsunami Disaster, from Deutsche Welle (German Newspaper)
"Around 20,000 Swedes were on holiday in Thailand when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck on Dec. 26, 2004. With over 1,000 feared casualties, Sweden may be the European country worst hit by the disaster."
U.S. death toll in tsunami more than doubles, to 36, Posted on Thu, Jan. 06, 2005 from contracoastatimes By Elizabeth Becker NEW YORK TIMES
Two more Filipinas confirmed dead in Thailand, from ABS-CBN News (Filipino)
Toll in Asian tsunami disaster tops 295,000 , (Agencies) Updated: 2005-02-08 08:53 (China Daily)

On-Going Praise Reports/Testimonies...

Contact Carol McCannon of UMM's Campus Compact for more details.

Related Sites:

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