Disaster recovery: five ways your gifts have helped the world 

With your generous support, BMS World Mission has been able to provide effective and lasting relief to those devastated by natural and political disasters in 2014 and 2015.

Floods, droughts, landslides and conflicts. From Lebanon to South Sudan and Zambia, BMS has been working hard to help those left vulnerable by nature’s wrath and political catastrophes. How have we been able to keep up and help so many? Through your willingness to give.

“For those who are supporting BMS I think it’s important that as a church you commit to giving to relief funding even when there are no obvious disasters happening,” says BMS Manager of Mission Projects Steve Sanderson.

“We want to reduce the human impact of some of these natural disasters by creating better disaster preparedness, more able partners with greater capacity and more organisational ability. By doing this we’re actually reducing the damage of future disasters. The best way to do that is to be committed to disaster response giving between the sudden onset disasters.”

Here are five areas you have done just that.
 

Water: £9,800

Water is essential to life on Earth. Unfortunately, the quantity received through rain and drinkability of what is available can disrupt normal life. In August 2014 families in Nepal were devastated after floods tore through their homes.

That same month, Sri Lanka suffered from a drought. Opposite problems that caused lasting hardship. A different water-related issue was tackled in Zambia during June 2014: finding water that was clean to drink. Your support enabled the construction of a borehole which ensured that over 74 children were able to safely enjoy this life-giving liquid.

 

Conflict: £22,250

In a perfect world there would be no conflict. Families would not flee their homes in fear of violence. Refugee camps would not exist and there would be no internally displaced people longing for the lives they had before. Your concern for those suffering in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Iraq enabled us to provide food, beds, blankets, medical support, education, hygiene packs and comfort to those who have lost everything.

 

Combating sexual violence: £8,000

Gender based violence (GBV) in contexts of both conflict and peace has devastating effects on the lives of the survivors. In a step towards ending GBV in conflict settings, BMS has partnered with Tearfund to identify, map and understand the scale and use of GBV as a weapon of war during the Central African Republic’s recent conflict.

 

Illness: £12,427

Ebola has ravaged western Africa for over a year and thankfully the number of reported cases has now fallen. While that does not mean this deadly virus is completely gone, it is a sign that the education and medical relief work that BMS’ Dr Eric Bafende and the Macenta Medical Centre in Guinea have been effective. Your gifts enabled doctors to protect themselves and to acquire more of the equipment necessary to better treat their patients.

 

Landslides: £12,150

Heavy rains can cause more damage than just flooding. In October 2014 and January 2015 Sri Lanka was devastated by two massive landslides. Houses were washed away and vital farmland was damaged. With your help we were able to provide food and hygiene packs for immediate relief and seedlings to help revive their farms.


“I can say thank you, but it would be far better if I could convey the degree of gratitude that we see when we travel to places like the Philippines or to the refugee camps in places like Zahlé in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon,” says Steve. “I think it genuinely helps people hugely to know that they are not forgotten. That they are standing in solidarity with others around the world. That they are part of the prayers of other people.”

None of this could have been possible without your willingness to help your brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world. None of this will be possible without your continued generosity and support.

So from all of us here at BMS and those abroad, we thank you.