Gospel for Asia Brings Free Medical Care to Tsunami Survivors
by Allie Martin
August 3, 2005
(AgapePress) - Workers with Texas-based Gospel for Asia are offering first aid and health care at no cost to survivors of last year's Southeast Asian tsunami disaster through temporary medical facilities the ministry has established in several areas within the devastated region.Hundreds died when waves as high as 60 feet swept into a small fishing village on the coast of Tamil Nadu, a state at the southern tip of India. Since that December morning, survivors have faced numerous illnesses and medical problems. But now the large church that sits on the shore of the village is the site of a free mobile medical camp set up by Gospel for Asia.
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Area residents line up for treatment at the GFA-sponsored medical clinic |
Brother Paul, a pastor with the GFA Believers Church in the area, says the ministry and church workers have a passion for reaching out to hurting people. "God teaches that we have to love others," he says, "so if these are suffering, naturally we are getting the sense to help the needy people."And the medical camp is one way GFA is helping them to that. On one particular day at the camp, hundreds of villagers ranging from school children to the elderly were lined up for free medical checkups and treatment, and Brother Paul pointed to one local resident, whose husband had been unable to work since the tsunami waves hit and who was herself experiencing some health concerns.
"They were affected and they lost everything in their house," the pastor noted. "Now she has a breathing problem and also some giddiness all the time, after the tsunami. So now she came to meet the doctor and get the medicine."
Brother Paul says the woman expressed gratitude for the free medical facility and said it is a big help. GFA plans to continue operating the clinic and others like it around the region for the duration, as the people of the region attempt to recover and rebuild their lives.
A local villager receives free medical help | |
Pastor Ebenezer, another GFA minister, says many of the tsunami survivors served by the clinics would never have been able to pay for the kind of occasional or ongoing care they needed. "Lots of people that were affected by the tsunamis still need medical help," he explains. "Having lost the means of livelihood, they are economically poor."For minor illnesses to major illnesses, Pastor Ebenezer points out, most of the Tamil Nadu survivors are unable at this time able to pay to go to a private hospital. "So," he says, "we thought that we would give them this medical service at least for a period of one year."
GFA-sponsored mobile medical camps are operating in numerous villages in the tsunami disaster zone throughout India and Sri Lanka. Pastor Ebenezer and Brother Paul can both attest to the role these medical care units are playing in helping survivors cope and recover from the tragedy.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
