Gospel for Asia Urges Prayer, Support for Tsunami Relief Effort
by Allie Martin
January 19, 2005
(AgapePress) - The founder and president of Gospel for Asia, a ministry that plants churches throughout the continent, is working with churches in India to help those ravaged by the Southeast Asian tsunami disaster.Doctor K.P. Yohannan is in Sri Lanka, one of the areas hardest hit by last month's deadly tidal waves triggered by an undersea earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean. He says the damage is widespread, with entire villages wiped out and bodies still being pulled from debris.
Entire villages have been wiped out, millions of people are homeless, and tens of thousands of children are orphaned, Yohannan says. But he points out that the local church in the devastated nation is helping to meet victims physical and spiritual needs.
"Two hundred fifty churches we have in Sri Lanka, by the grace of God," the ministry leader says. "Hundreds of our workers and [other] believers are taking leave from their offices and from their jobs, and they are working around the clock, serving the people -- giving them food, drink, praying with them, and giving them God's Word, bringing hope."
The work has only begun, Yohannan says, but local churches and GFA workers are distributing drinking water, clothes, and medicine to victims, and offering them spiritual comfort. Still, he adds, long-term plans call for the rebuilding of homes and villages.
"We are hoping to construct 1,000 homes and buy hundreds of nets and canoes for fisherman who lost everything, and children need to be given homes," the GFA president says. He says the ministry is estimating a cost of more than $10 million to meet the long-term needs of tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka.
As Gospel for Asia works with the local church in Sri Lanka to respond to the suffering of tsunami victims, Yohannan is urging Christians around the world to pray for ministry staff and their partners. "And if the Lord speaks to their heart," he adds, "help us financially." Those who wish to donate to GFA's tsunami relief effort can visit the ministry website or call toll free at 1-800-946-2742.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
