23/05/2008
Baptist Christians within Burma are appealing for assistance as they reach out to bring effective relief following the destruction caused by Cyclone Nagris.
BMS is currently exploring ways in which to help the Myanmar Baptist Convention (MBC), which is distributing basic essentials such as food, water, clothing and shelter to thousands of people in need, mostly from Baptist churches.
It is asking for around £1 million to meet the cost of emergency aid and also estimates that £50,000 worth of damage has been done to MBC buildings, including its headquarters.
Despite being in an overwhelmingly Buddhist country, MBC has approximately
two million members, among 20 language and regional conventions, making it one of the largest national Baptist populations in the world.
MBC has reported that more than 10,000 members died as a result of the cyclone; over 94,000 other members have suffered loss of home and other property.
MBC is working in close co-operation with other Baptist groups in the region, and Baptist World Aid Australia.
A round-table Baptist consultation group is meeting in Bangkok tomorrow morning (24 May) – exactly three weeks after Cyclone Nagris struck Burma.
Please pray for wisdom and discernment for those attending. Get more prayer points by clicking here.
Click here and give now to help us provide relief to those in greatest need.
21/05/2008Nineteen days after the destruction caused by Cyclone Nagris, a key BMS partner inside Burma has highlighted continuing vast needs.
Together we urgently need to supply basic necessities such as candles, soap and medical support, along with generators for ten communities and plastic roofing for 1,000 families.
In Dallah, we need to help nearly 2,000 people taking shelter inside 25 orphanages and churches, as well 700 homeless people living around these buildings.
In the longer term, we hope to help 600 families rebuild their homes, through the provision of bamboo poles and walls, tin roofs and wooden floors.
78,000 killed
56,000 missing
Tens of thousands homeless
2.4 million affected
Using immediate finance provided by BMS along with other agencies, our partner has already distributed non-perishable food and supplies such as mosquito nets and rehydration packages.
This was achieved within a few days of the disaster – and long before many external aid agencies were granted permission to enter the country.
By working with on-the-ground partners, we can get essential aid directly to people in great need. We’re continuing to explore new ways in which we can assist the relief effort.
Through your support, BMS has already made a difference in Burma. Help us to do much more. Click here to donate now.
16/05/2008
A new BMS grant is enabling a large relief team to help more than 12,000 families left homeless after the cyclone.
The £10,000 grant, through partners, will support the mobilisation of a team of 300 Burmese aid workers. They are distributing basic essentials to 20 of the worst-affected villages in Irrawaddy.
Relief supplies include items such as rice and fish, water bottles, plastic sheets for temporary shelters, blankets and mosquito nets.
It costs around £125 to help one family for a month. Artesian wells, costing £1,000 each, are supplying clean drinking water for five villages.
And £1,000 is re-stocking clinics with vital medicines in ten villages.
An elderly woman walks through her devastated village Credit: WFP/Eddie Gerald
This is the third grant BMS has been able to send through our Relief Appeal. Help us do more – give to the Relief Appeal today by clicking
here.
To promote this relief work in your church, download the ‘PowerPoint 2’ link, found in the right-hand column.
14/05/2008
A man delivers aid Credit: WFP/Eddie Gerald
BMS has sent a relief grant today to finance supplies of bottled drinking water for families facing a tenth day in desperate conditions following the cyclone. This will be delivered by Sri Lankan partners on the ground in Burma.
We’ve developed a new PowerPoint for churches to use this coming Sunday, as an update to the one we produced for last week. Download ‘PowerPoint 2’ on the right. Please use these resources to show how BMS is responding and to ask your church to help us.
To donate to our Relief Appeal click here now.
Please pray for God’s intervention in Burma, in a disaster which appears to be escalating daily. Pray for the government there, that they’ll do more to help the people in need. Pray too for those distributing relief – that they would have patience, courage and stamina in demanding conditions.
13/05/2008
BMS relief grants to Burma are already making a difference.
We’ve today had this update from our Christian partners who are on the ground in the country.
“There is an urgent need for basic necessities of water, rice, beans, salt, oil, sugar, candle, charcoal, fuel, water purifiers, instant noodles, mosquito nets, roofing materials, first aid kits and medicines.
“Our team in Burma have already been distributing this kind of aid, including sacks of rice to a number of orphanages which had run out of food.
“We are developing relief partnerships with seven national churches and a Burmese NGO. Of particular concern is Dallah, a poor community across the river from where we have an ongoing project”.
A young woman injured in Labutta, one of the hardest hit areas. Credit: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
BMS’ partner is preparing to move beyond Rangoon to provide relief to the Irrawaddy division and Karen and Mon states. With our support, they will be recruiting and co-ordinating local and international volunteers.
Please pray for visas – our partners have additional experts and materials standing by to go in as soon as visas are given.
Places like Dallah urgently need your support. You can help us with the relief effort by clicking here to donate to our Relief Appeal.
12/05/2008
Following Cyclone Nargis nine days ago, BMS is today finalising a relief grant to a Sri Lankan partner to help supply bottled drinking water for stricken communities in Burma.
In this process, we’re grateful to the disaster management unit of the Sri Lanka government, which has a close working relationship with the government in Burma.
A spokesperson for our partner said, “As a Christian organisation it is our great privilege to assist those who are in need at this moment”.
On this page, we will continue to update you about this grant, and news from other partners. To make a donation to our Relief Appeal, to assist our relief effort, click
here.
Please continue to pray for Burma – we believe that more than two-thirds of the cyclone victims are yet to be reached.
09/05/2008
We're deeply concerned about the continuing unwillingness of the Burmese authorities to allow humanitarian workers with specialist skills in to the country to assist those suffering in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Please pray that this situation will be resolved quickly.
It is long-standing BMS policy that we do not give funds to governments or to militias - BMS funding will always be directed into the area either directly or via trusted Christian partners.
On a positive note, BMS has received an approach from another UK Christian agency, offering financial support for our Burma relief work. We've also had an offer from a BMS Indian partner to provide additional specialist medical personnel.
Other BMS partners are now awaiting clearance to enter the country.
08/05/2008
BMS is today working with partners to prepare a large-scale water purification system for immediate delivery into Burma, as soon as the relevant permissions are given by the Burmese authorities.
This follows on from yesterday’s BMS emergency grant to partners in Burma, which has mobilised a specialist medical team and a small team of disaster assessment experts.
We are responding NOW – if you can help us by making a donation to our Relief Appeal, please click here.