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A father grieves over his dead son at Galle Hospital,
Sri Lanka.
Photo from foxnews.com. |
The Tsunami Disaster; One Christian Response
January 3, 2005
The horrifying images from south Asia pouring into our living room televisions beggar the human imagination. The scale and scope of human devastation is truly apocalyptic. At least 150,000 people have died, while the World Health Organization estimates that 5 million people are without basic necessities. Entire villages have vanished. Almost 10% of Sri Lankans are homeless. It is certain that these numbers will increase, perhaps exponentially.
Followers on the journey with Jesus identify themselves with a movement that encompasses people from "every nation, tribe, people and language" (Revelation 7:9). We believe that every human being is precious to the heart of God. To every Buddhist orphan in Thailand, to every Muslim widow in Indonesia, to every homeless Hindu in India, we Christians offer our love, prayers, and human solidarity. You are not forgotten.
We also pledge our support. Our family made a financial contribution to help with relief. We did this online, using our credit card, and I urge readers to consider doing the same. Click here for a list of ten non-profit organizations where you can give.
As an American Christian, I am saddened by my country's slow and insensitive response. First we pledged $15 million, then $35 million after Jan Egeland, the emergency relief coordinator for the United Nations, characterized the response of rich nations as "stingy." On December 31, five days after the disaster, we increased our pledge to $350 million. That is an admirable increase, but to put it in perspective, consider the following three comparisons. Bush plans to spend $30-40 million for his inauguration celebration (about the same as Clinton in 1997). Congress has appropriated $147 billion to pay for the war in Iraq through the end of January 2005, at which time the president will ask for billions more. So, our $350 million pledge for tsunami relief equals what we spend in less than two days for the Iraq war. Japan, whose economy is less than half the size of the U.S. economy, has pledged $500 million. The wealthiest nation in human history should do much more. I have emailed my two senators to that effect.
We should also keep our promises. In his 2002 Millennium Challenge President Bush made a marvelous commitment of $5 billion a year for aid to Africa; two years later not a penny has been given. I pray that the tsunami disaster will move our country from stinginess to generosity, from belligerence to compassion, and from isolation to cooperation in the global human family.
Catholic Relief Services, www.catholicrelief.org
Episcopal Relief and Development, www.er-d.org
Food for the Hungry, www.fh.org
Habitat for Humanity, www.habitat.org
International Orthodox Christian Charities, www.iocc.org
Lutheran World Relief, www.lwr.org
Medical Assistance Program, www.map.org
Mercy Corps, www.mercycorps.org
World Relief, www.worldrelief.org
World Vision, www.worldvision.org |
