Mission Partner Report from China

We got a report from one of our missions partners. I'll include it below. He sent along these pictures that show people living in the outdoors to avoid being in buildings that might still collapse. Hospitals have moved outdoors (see picture 4) and to complicate things, it's been raining. This opens opportunities for ministry, so pray for relief, help and open doors.

Hello Friends,

I am sending yet another update concerning the earthquake ravaged area of China.  We are calling for urgent prayer for the situation in China, in fact our organization country leader has called our coworkers living in China to pray and fast this week.  It seems the forces of good and evil are colliding in a intense battle over Sichuan province.  The magnitude 7.9 earthquake has killed over 50,000 people many of whom were children attending schools, followed by over 50 (to date) aftershocks above magnitude 4.5 (all serious earthquakes as well) causing many landslides and killing more people.  These aftershocks are also adding to the stress being felt by those living in the area as they fear more damage.  Many in Chengdu are sleeping outside even in the rain for fear their homes will be the next to collapse.  Over four million homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged by this earthquake.

Yesterday I read about one town, where relief efforts were underway, that had to be evacuated because it was feared a landslide-caused dam was about to break.  There are also many other dangers in the area such as over 200 dams that have cracks (some serious) and fears of radiation leaks from nuclear reactors in the area.  Now there are thunderstorms and heavy rains adding to the misery with fears of dams breaking and floods coming. 

I am convinced that a huge door has opened to our work in China as a result of the Sichuan earthquake tragedy of May 12th.  I see God using the relief effort in the Sichuan area to reveal God’s love to many including those in the government, those in China and those in the West.  I am amazed how quickly God can bring the great and mighty to their knees before Him.   The openness to the West through this tragedy is unprecedented in China.  As believers join together from the West and the East in sharing the love of Jesus through these earthquake relief efforts, who knows what impact will be made for the gospel.  An impact that will be felt for years if not for a generation.  I believe this tragedy and the potential for God’s glory through the recovery efforts is on a scale that a generation could be impacted in China.

All of us, in the West and the East, need to be humbly on our knees before God to seek His direction about what role He wants us to play in this drama as it unfolds.  We are being told that this relief effort will be a marathon and not a sprint as millions of people will need to be helped over the coming weeks, months and yes...years.   Please pray with is as we make a decision this week about whether or not to go help in the relief effort in Chengdu.  Over 16,000 critically injured people have been moved from the mountains to Chengdu.  [My wife's] skills as a registered nurse would be extremely helpful there right now but we’re not sure we’d be helpful at this time or just get in the way.  We need wisdom from above.

For the King...