Baptists Grant Funds to Indian Evangelicals for Tsunami Relief

BMS World Mission yesterday announced its latest grant of £25,000 to help its partner in India to bring emergency supplies to the Asian tsunami victims. This is the sixth grant BMS has sent to help partners’ work in South East Asia since the tsunami.

According to BMS, it had received over £300,000 from churches and individuals in donations for the current tsunami relief appeal, breaking the previous record total for a specific disaster appeal.

BMS’s India partner, EFICOR (Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief), is undertaking a relief programme to assist 20,000 families in 30 tsunami-affected coastal villages of Tamil Nadu state and on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Nearly 8,800 people are confirmed dead in mainland India, nearly all of them in Tamil Nadu. On India's Andaman and Nicobar islands at least 900 people are confirmed dead but another 5,500 are missing.

An EFICOR spokesperson has said, "The need of the hour is for water and basic infrastructure to ensure sanitation."

Director for Mission of BMS, Rev David Kerrigan, said, "We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters. The level of giving which we are receiving now allows us not only to respond to immediate needs, but also lets us plan for longer-term assistance to some of the worst affected areas."

BMS’ grant will be used to purchase food, water, cooking utensils, clothes, bedding and tarpaulins in the first two months. Hygiene kits will be provided to protect people against water-borne diseases and the spread of epidemics.

Children’s education, community facilities and family livelihoods are under planning to be restored in the coming months. Church volunteers are responsible for trauma care and counselling as well.

BMS church partners in other tsunami affected area such as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand are making full use of major BMS grants which began less than 72 hours after the disaster struck. In the worst hit area Sumatra, local Indonesian church partners are finalising their assessment of how BMS can best help them.

Rev Kerrigan was also keen to draw attention to BMS's ongoing relief work with partners in other areas of the world, "With all of the attention being given to the tsunami disaster, we can't afford to forget that the poorest people of the world are still dying and at risk in other areas too. BMS' mission commitment to the poor of countries like D R Congo, Angola and Afghanistan is unchanged, and we want to urge our supporters not to forget them."

"The BMS Relief Fund will continue to provide practical, immediate assistance wherever it is needed, through trusted networks of local partners, and we maximise the impact of every pound the Fund receives."