hope in haiti

i was going to share about my weekend at alabama (and i will) but i saw this today and just had to share. and while you're looking at this (and grab a kleenex while you're at it) please pray for the people in china who are reeling from yet another assault from nature…

here is what a friend has sent:

No doubt you have heard about the huge earthquake that struck a remote area of Qinghai Province, northwest China, last Wednesday.

The damage is centered on the town of Yushu, home to 85,000 people (see picture taken before the quake). More than 90% of the buildings in Yushu have collapsed. The latest reports from China have the death toll at almost 2,000, with many people still missing. The area has experienced more than 1,200 aftershocks in the last five days.

It is hard to imagine a more difficult and remote location for such a disaster to strike. Many of the villages that have been devastated lie at high altitude, and temperatures are below freezing at night. Some of the Chinese soldiers that were sent to help in Yushu have suffered from potentially-fatal altitude sickness. This part of China is home to the Northern Khampa Tibetan people. Most of them lead nomadic lives, herding sheep, yaks and goats on the plateau. In the past we have written about this unreached group in our prayer books. Here is a link to one of our profiles on the Northern Khampa people.

Within hours of the earthquake striking, a team of Chinese and a few foreign Christians travelled to the disaster zone to help. Most of these believers were involved with the earthquake relief efforts in Sichuan Province in 2008. The combination of their loving help and bold witness for Jesus Christ saw thousands of people in Sichuan come to faith in the living God.

In Yushu they have initially provided blankets and warm coats to the people, and now they have put together 500 emergency aid kits to help the worst-affected families. The kits include:

1  Solar panel and battery lighting system and USB charger (pictured below)

1  USB heated blanket

10 pound (5kg) bag of rice

1  liter of cooking oil

1  First aid kit with guaze, medicine, and bandages

1  cooking pan

Each kit costs $100 for the items and delivery into the hands of the most needy families in Yushu Prefecture. 

If you would like to help with the urgent need to provide emergency aid kits your donation would be greatly appreciated. You can do so either by donating by credit card to the Asia Disaster Relief fund on our secure website: http://asiaharvest.org/pages/projects.html, via Paypal (our address is paypal@asiaharvest.org) or by sending a gift by post, with a note that it is for the Asia Disaster Relief fund, to the Asia Harvest address listed at the bottom of this message.

If you are familiar with our work you will know that 100% of gifts to the Asia Disaster Relief fund will go directly to the need. Not a cent will be deducted for administration or any other expense. We cover such expenses ourselves as it is the least we can do during such a time of need. All donations in the United States are tax-deductible.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us (office@asiaharvest.org)

For the Lord of the Harvest,

Paul Hattaway

asiaharvest.org 

Asia Harvest, 1903  60th Place, Suite M1204, Bradenton, FL 34203, USA