Photo via mnnonline.org

Ministry in China reports vast damage to outreach in wake of temblor

China is now saying the death toll from last month's 7.9 magnitude earthquake is expected to exceed 80,000. More than 13,000 aftershocks have been detected since May 12, with five measuring above 6 on the Richter scale, reports MNN.

The quake left more than five million people homeless. In rural areas, getting help to the survivors has proven tricky.

Tom Henry, minister-at-large with WorldServe Ministries, says although their team took a hard blow, "WorldServe works with 20 movements in China. Eight of those movements were heavily involved in those [quake-hit] regions. We've lost 12 workers that we've supported, 10 training centers, and thousands of house churches."

The church is working to help people rebuild their shattered lives. Teams have committed two to three years in remote areas.

The ministry sent 34 people to the worst-hit regions to provide humanitarian relief and to be the hands and feet of Christ.

Many remote villages are relying on government air support for survival supplies such as water and food. Electricity is non-existent. Believers have hand carried supplies into the area.

Local government officials are encouraging the church planters to help in the areas because of the need for help. Some local officials gave approval to the church planters to minister while helping in the relief effort.

The remoteness of many of these areas means vehicles are not able to deliver supplies to those areas. As a result, villagers are short of food, water, and medical supplies.

Government officials in the villages are even encouraging the pastors to come and help take care of the villagers because of the desperate situation. Some forms of evangelism is permitted by the officials.

Henry says their teams "have very limited resources. These movements are very poor, but they've responded in amazing ways, from cleanup to giving a cup of cold water to sharing the Gospel, and they're seeing tremendous results. In one large city, 3,000 people have come to Christ in the last three weeks."

Gary Schneider, WorldServe's Interim CEO says, "Our long-term goal will remain, of course, to help these families and faithful home church leaders to rebuild and continue their work of spreading the Gospel in the remote areas of the Chinese provinces."

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[06/26/2008]

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