Update: Deadly Flooding Covers Pakistan
27 August 2010
The Indus River flows south bringing with it destructive floodwaters that continue to wreak havoc on the lives of millions of Pakistanis. It has been 50 years since the river that runs the length of the country has risen this high, and it is expected to keep rising. The monsoon rains feed the bulging river that gradually engulfs more homes, more farms, more towns, more lives.
Lacking the immediate killing force of other natural disasters, we thank God for the currently low mortality rate of 1600 people, but join in prayer for the over 17 million who are left homeless, hungry, or sick. Their futures are uncertain. Drought and disease outbreaks are life-threatening dangers that will face these displaced, vulnerable people.
With estimates of up to 30% of the country underwater, the economy has been crippled and the subsistence farmers that populated the countryside left without support. Camps for the victims are over-crowded and under-resourced. Medical supplies and personnel are limited and insufficient in the face of the ever growing number of people with potentially fatal water-borne illnesses.
The Church of the Nazarene is among the groups struggling to get the necessary aid to those who need it. With hundreds and hundreds of churches in Pakistan and a lot of experience in disaster response and rehabilitation, our brothers and sisters immediately responded with all they had available. Please join in this response. Financial support is being requested for the purchase of food, shelter, and medical care as well as for the provision of clean water. Prayer is needed for all those who have lost their homes, are suffering through illness and hunger, and who do not know what tomorrow will hold. Please also pray for those ministering during this difficult time.
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