Dear friends,
After returning from a tsunami hit area in Thailand over a week ago I wrote these words: “I take a long hot shower, scrubbing my skin raw, the smell of death streaming down my body and out the drain. Tomorrow I will leave the disaster zone. But as the hot water washes over me, I cry out in prayer to God for the millions of Asia’s poor who cannot ever leave. The media’s focus will shift. The tsunami victims who are barely surviving in refugee camps or eking out an existence in makeshift shelters all over the region will become old news, yesterday’s fund-raising drive. I have worked alongside them briefly as they bury their dead. Who will walk alongside them as they reconstruct their lives?“
The response to these words has been an outpouring of compassion from people all over the world who want to know how to help. And though I wrote about Thailand, the name of one city keeps coming up: Banda Aceh. Now open for the first time in years. An unprecedented window of opportunity that may close just as quickly months or years down the track. This is a Kairos moment: God’s timing.
We must not ignore the plight of Aceh’s urban poor. After soberly and prayerfully considering the situation we are now in a position to do something.
What unique offering could Servants bring to the situation in Aceh, that is not already on offer by well-financed agencies and governments?
As the relief phase passes, and media attention shifts, who will walk alongside Aceh’s urban poor? Who will move into their devastated slum communities and live alongside them as neighbours and friends bringing the good news?
As relief agencies with big budgets and four-wheel drives pack up and leave, who will simply be with the poor, share their grief and toil alongside them for the long haul as they slowly rebuild their lives?
Servants has previously worked with the urban poor in Indonesia, we have worked in war-torn cities and helped urban poor communities rebuild after floods and fires. But most importantly, God has given us a unique calling: to live amongst the urban poor and share their joys and their struggles. We have good NGO contacts in Banda Aceh, partners, who will help us get in there, including friends who are fluent in the language and are willing to help us as brokers and interpreters.
So, as an initial step, we are putting together a pioneer team of relief workers, doctors and nurses who can work and live alongside the urban poor in Banda Aceh to help first and foremost in the relief effort, but with a view to establishing a team to walk alongside Aceh’s urban poor for the long haul. We will consider anyone with some time to offer, useful skills, an ability to work with others in a team and God’s heart for those who are suffering.
Perhaps God has been speaking to you about something like this, or perhaps you have been looking for some way to assist financially in bringing compassion to the tsunami victims. If so, please email us asap on: [email protected]
Thank you for caring,
Craig Greenfield
Acting International Coordinator
Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor
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