Christians launch major mercy mission to Iran — The need for assistance is massive

BAM, Iran — Aid from Christian relief organizations is pouring into Iran after December’s earthquake devastated the city of Bam.

Denominations and ministries throughout the world have launched major efforts in the Islamic republic, which is notorious for its persecution of Christians.

Christian aid organizations are working closely with the Middle East Council of Churches, Action by Churches Together, the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The loss of life in the magnitude 6.6 quake is staggering. More than 30,000 people have been confirmed dead and up to 40,000 are feared to have perished.

Cleanup and reconstruction efforts will require years to complete. Not only does infrastructure have to be rebuilt, but the earthquake also ravaged Bam’s economy and left many survivors without a livelihood, injured and grieving for family members who died. Relief workers and their local partners said they plan to help provide job training.

There are more than 1,000 orphaned children, news reports said.

Western donors should realize the needs in Iran will be long-term, Rick Augsburger, director of Church World Service, told Disaster News Network. Church World Service is a relief and development agency of 36 U.S. Protestant and Orthodox churches that works in partnership with indigenous organizations in more than 80 countries.

The best way to help is by making a cash donation to an aid group, humanitarian leaders said.

“Money is the best thing at the moment,” said Linda Beher, spokeswoman for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. The group is sending two international field specialists to Bam to assess needs for immediate aid and long-term construction.

Widespread assistance
Iran is accepting aid from every country in the world except Israel, which offered condolences to the citizens of its longtime enemy Iran after the earthquake. The United States has temporarily lifted restrictions on humanitarian assistance to the country.

The pre-dawn earthquake shook Bam and the surrounding region for 12 seconds on Dec. 26. In addition to those who were killed, tens of thousands were injured or left homeless. Bam, a 2,000-year-old mud brick city of 80,000 people, is 630 miles from Tehran, the capital.

Dozens of international relief flights and supply shipments sped on their way, transporting rescue workers, blankets, plastic sheeting, water containers, food, water-purification units, electricity generators and medicine. The United States was sending tons of medical supplies in a military airlift, as well as rescue squads and medical teams.

World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee are among the Christian relief agencies that have committed aid and resources to the devastated city.

World Relief is supporting four teams of local Iranian Christians in Bam, providing food, water and blankets to quake survivors. The group will also assess the area’s ongoing needs.

“People are made in the image of God, and they have value, and we communicate powerfully when we go into places where the church isn’t,” Ben Homan, president of Food for the Hungry, told Mission Network News. “This is such an opportunity to extend an olive branch of peace and to provide a setting for dialogue and to care for people with the love of Christ.”

Another relief worker preparing to go to Iran told Baptist Press he was prepared for the emotional toll the assignment would take.

“Even though the needs are overwhelming, I am ready to get my hands dirty and my heart broken,” the worker said.

Samaritan’s opens purse
Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse said the group has dispatched a team to work with local Iranian churches and Christians to provide shelter, food, water, medicine, blankets, household items and other emergency aid to “the thousands of people who have been left homeless, hurt, and grieving.”

Southern Baptists also were sending aid, as was Episcopal Relief and Development, which said it is assessing critical needs on the ground through ecumenical partners and is accepting donations.

A volunteer team of Southern Baptist men was headed to Iran, ready to meet physical needs, according to Baptist Press. Most of them have served together before, including at the site of the World Trade Center attacks in New York City.

A spokesman from the Southern Baptist International Mission Board World Hunger and Relief Ministries said Baptists were working with local contacts in Iran to determine ways to meet needs. The group authorized $50,000 and planned to provide more help if needed.

Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America began sending donations to the ELCA International Disaster Response fund. An initial $50,000 will help buy tents, blankets, food, clean water and medicine, and will help meet the sanitation needs of survivors.

“Most survivors are spending nights outdoors in cold temperatures,” said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida of the ELCA Division for Global Mission. “Virtually all of the mud and brick buildings and houses in Bam were destroyed. Those that remain standing threaten to crumble with each aftershock.”

Emergency aid OK’d
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has committed an initial $150,000 in emergency aid. The group coordinates the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s disaster-response operations abroad and in the United States. International Orthodox Christian Charities is also assessing emergency relief and long-term reconstruction, spokesman Steve Huba said.

Iran’s persecuted Christians also are involved in helping victims. Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians are collecting blankets and clothes to be sent to earthquake victims, Asia News said.

People have shown interest in the gospel, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee executive director Andrew Ryskamp told Mission Network News.

“‘You’re here? You’re so different from other people from the West. What is that?’” Ryskamp said some non-Christian Iranians are saying. “And that’s an opportunity to begin a dialogue about what it means to be in Christ. That’s a real place for testimony to happen.”

Published by Keener Communications Group, February 2004

Christian Examiner™, P.O. Box 2606 El Cajon, CA 92021 • 619-668-5100 • Fax 619-668-1115
Email: info@christianexaminer.com • Web site: www.christianexaminer.com