Mennonites aid in tsunami disaster relief

Giving blood at the Red Cross on Dec. 29, missionary Ricky Sanchez had the unexpected opportunity to meet with the governor of Thailand’s Chonburi province. Ricky told the governor that he had a group of young people – the TREK team – who were ready to help with the relief effort in Thailand.

(The TREKers are a short-term team assisting Team 2000, who are long-term missionaries with Mennonite Brethren Mission and Service International in Thailand).

The governor gave Ricky 13 free plane tickets to fly the TREK team from Bangkok to Phuket, one of the areas hardest hit by the tidal wave.

This event was part of an intense day for the members of the TREK team. They had spent the morning sharing the gospel with a school assembly of more than 800 students, then donated blood at the Red Cross and gave Christmas gifts to children in one of Bangkok’s slums. They spent their first night in Phuket sleeping in a Chinese Buddhist temple.

The TREK team worked in Phangnga, just northeast of Phuket. They helped by recovering bodies, photographing bodies for identification, wrapping bodies for burial, sorting and folding donated clothing, and filling out missing persons forms.

After an emotional four days the team returned to Bangkok where they were debriefed. According to TREK director Sam Dick, “the TREK team members are slowly moving on to how they can continue to serve God in whatever capacity, in that city or wherever He takes them in Thailand.”

This boat ended up 2 kilometres from the beach. Photo: MBMSI

Operation Rebuilding Lives

Operation Rebuilding Lives, an MB Mission and Service International (MBMSI) initiative, picked up where the TREK team left off. Two teams of 10–15 people each went to Thailand starting January 16 to rebuild the lives of 10 Thai families, “the gospel in one hand and a hammer and nails in the other.”

Operation Rebuilding Lives intended to help with recovering bodies, DNA sampling, helping foreigners communicate with those back home, setting up communications like e-mail and a webpage, and the construction of new homes.

Ricky Sanchez said the dream of Operation Rebuilding Lives is “to plant an MB church in the community where we will be doing construction” and “to tell people they can still have hope.”

Record commitment

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has committed $12 million for immediate and long-term response to the damage caused by the tsunamis. This is the largest single response in MCC’s 85-year history.

It includes 2,000 metric tons of locally purchased grain provided through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank for distribution in India by the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action, a longtime MCC partner. The grain will be distributed on a food-for-work basis to support efforts to clean up the area, de-silt farm land, and prevent people from migrating to the slums.

MCC will also send three trauma counsellors to Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka. They will work with local counsellors and train people to respond “to the psychological needs of the survivors,” according to MCC.

MCC’s response as of January 17 included $1.2 million Cdn in material aid, some of which was airlifted to affected areas. Remaining funds will be put toward longer term actions proposed by MCC partners and response teams currently in the region to examine the effects of the Dec. 26 earthquakes. In Jakarta, funds have been used to rent warehouses for storing relief supplies, sending Indonesian medical volunteers to field hospitals in the disaster areas, assisting evacuation efforts, and purchasing clean water equipment.

MCC currently has ten North American workers (along with five children) in Indonesia, two North American workers with two children in Sri Lanka, and five workers in India. There are also dozens of local workers in each area. All of the MCC workers are safe.

Working together

The need for widespread relief has galvanized many Mennonite organizations. Member churches of the Mennonite World Conference have responded to the tsunamis by working together to give relief to those in need. Organizations such as the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MCSFI) and the Mennonite Brethren in Christ conference are working together through local churches to send volunteers and to raise money for relief in India.

The Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action is working in India in the Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh provinces and on the Andaman and Nicobar islands to provide 50,000 families with relief.

Staff of relief agencies say the need for relief will continue, as the affected people will not return to their normal lives for a long time to come. “The generous outpouring of donations and support has been humbling,” MCC Executive Director Ronald J.R. Mathies said. “We praise God for these gifts and will put them all to use bringing hope and dignity to people who have suffered so much.”

—Timothy Friesen, from reports

Timothy Friesen is a CMU student doing his practicum with the Herald.