December (Web-only) 2004

ARTICLE TOOLS

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What a sad and unforgettable week this has been! More and more friends and loved ones of friends have died or lost much of their belongings from the December 26 tsunami.

The wife of a Sri Lankan pastor in Chicago was on the Sri Lankan express train that got caught in the wave. She has died, but miraculously her daughter who was with her was saved. In total, 800 died. The pastor and his two sons are presently in the United States. Please pray for so many families who have lost so greatly.

We have prayed and wept for our nation for many years. The most urgent of my prayers has always been that my people would turn to Jesus. I pray that this terrible, terrible tragedy might be used by God to break through into the lives of many of our people.

The death toll for Sri Lanka alone is over 10,000 and keeps rising. The South has been terribly hit. Youth for Christ's Board Vice-Chairman Lokki Abhayaratne is Anglican archdeacon for that area. Pray that he will have wisdom as they seek to respond to the crisis. We really don't know what has happened in the Eastern coastal areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers. But the little news that is coming out is very depressing.

YFC's leadership team will decide on how we will respond long-term to the crisis. Please pray that we will respond properly to the Lord's leading. At the moment, we think we will be involved on two fronts.

First, we will help those with whom we have contact through our ministry who have lost house and property. Most of the people who have lost their homes are very poor and have no insurance. Most of the homes of the children in one of the areas where my daughter works are destroyed. Today I visited our staff worker whose house was destroyed.

Second, we will probably take on ...