Dear Friends,  

Good things are happening and we want to give you an update on the situation.

First of all we have been able to stretch ourselves and release long term leaders to coordinate the relief and development work in the Andaman Islands and down south in Colachel. Rajan and Jolly John have been working with YWAM here in Chennai and were hoping to return to Thailand where they were working for a short time. They have felt a call to work in Thailand but have had difficulties in getting the necessary paper work and visa. They still hope to go there someday but they are now looking at a minimum involvement for the next 2 years and longer in the Andaman Islands. Rajan and Jolly John are on the right side of the picture saying good bye to their family at the Chennai airport as they boarded the flight the other day to go to the Andaman Islands. He is right now meeting with key government and church leaders to see how YWAM can help in the present situation. Many of the people are still living in the temporary camps as the infrastructure of the outlying islands has been devastated and they cannot return. A team from North India is traveling by ship to join them in just a few days carrying with them 20 water filters, clothing and material.

Mark and Hepsiba Antony have recently been married. Hepsiba pioneered our day care ministry here in the city of Chennai and has done incredible sharing of the gospel to many young children and parents. Mark has been involved in a district wide effort of training leaders for cell churches. They have decided to move to Colachel for a minimum of two years to help coordinate our efforts there.

This will be a tremendous blessing to have two strong Indian couples who are proven leaders and hard workers overseeing and giving direction to our efforts in these areas. The work of rebuilding the communities will go on for at least one to two years as there are all sorts of problems that need to be sorted out. Having these leaders on location will help us to identify the appropriate needs.

In Chennai, our leader Samuel and his wife are working in a large slum of about 100,000 people. Samuel was our leader who was on vacation in Colachel over Christmas when the Tsunami hit. He was involved in relief work up until just a few weeks ago. He came home to Chennai to resume his work in this large slum. The fishermen in Madras who were living in thatched huts on the seashore in the city also had apartments in cement buildings that they were renting out to others. Those fishermen have now taken back their apartments as the government is not allowing anyone to rebuild housing near to the seashore. Therefore more than 800 families were displaced from the fishermen’s apartments and the government moved them all into the slum where Samuel is working. They have placed these people in temporary shelters in the slum. So the tsunami is now displacing even more people. Samuel has swung into action and is already networking with the government to see if he can start a tuition program for more than 400 children who have been displaced from their homes and now living in temporary shelters in this large slum.

In Colachel we located two colonies that have very little relief work reaching them. The people’s houses were completely destroyed and they lost most of their possessions. YWAM has built a community kitchen for them with ten stoves and we are providing for them rice, lentils, oil, sugar, tea, plates, cups, and a plastic bucket. This community that we are working in are typically resistant to Christians and we count it a privilege to be working amongst them. Most of all the team in this area is building good relationships with the people and taking the time to minister to them.

Here are a few stories from our workers… Ajish is a 30 year old man. His wife Sumia (21) and his 8 month old daughter were living on the seashore of Colachel. He was working in the harbour and also making baskets. When the tsunami wave came his whole house was destroyed and his wife and daughter were killed by the wave. His mother and father are very sad due to this loss. Our team members are talking with him and spending time to encourage them and help in whatever ways they can.

Mohammad Hanifa is a 27 year old man married to Fathima Beevi who is 22. They have a two year old daughter and Fathima is expecting another child any day. Mohammad works in the harbour. He was not in his house the day the tsunami wave came but his wife and child were. When she saw the wave coming she ran to another stronger house and climbed up on a window and held on to the iron bars in the window. The water level came flooding in and reached right up to her neck but she was able to hold on with all her might. Both she and her daughter were saved but they have lost everything they own in the tsunami and are now living in temporary housing where we have built the community kitchen. Our team is continuing to talk with them and help them with the needs they have.

There are so many stories like this in place after place. It will take time to rebuild these communities and the people’s lives.

In Chennai we have distributed food supplies to more than 1250 families. In the Andaman Islands the following relief material has been distributed by our team workers. 600 toothbrushes, 300 bars of soap, 300 bars of laundry soap, 340 combs, 440 feminine hygiene packets, 114 t-shirts, 200 tubes of toothpaste, 360 jars of hair oil, 200 mats to sleep on, 60 suitcases, 330 bedsheets, 50 mosquito nets, 66 buckets, 45 pairs of sandals, 70 steel boxes for storing things, 220 plates.

 

Please continue to pray with us as we move forward into the long term development work. We are considering various options before us and will keep you posted.

YWAM Tsunami Relief and Development Committee – Chennai