Rick with Parlament Members

New Home Construction

Happy Families!

Disaster Relief Through the Local Church

When the tsumami struck Sri Lanka in December of 204 Rick and I discovered the amazing power of a local church in action. As contributions poured in from around the world we were able to immediately mobilize a team from our church and begin helping disaster victims. By 2004 our Colombo congregation was fully self-supporting and our staff was able to absorb the adminstrtive duties of distributing and overseeing the rebuilding project with the funds we sent them. With a staff and facility in place we had no need to set up an office or hire an administrative team and with the volunteer manpower of our chuch members we were able to immediately move into action. Since our staff salaries were already met by the church, 100% of the funds donated went directly to the needs of the devistated communities. Within six months we had built or repaired over 130 homes with the $150,000 dollars that was given to us through our donors. Though this is a small amount compared to the millions that were pledged by western nations, the speed at which we were able to move attracted the interest of the speaker of the Sri Lankan House of Parlament. Rick and Pastor Dishan had the privledge of meeting with him and sharing the love of Christ.

We now have strong, self-supporting congregations in Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and through these local churches we have the capability to respond immediately to disaster needs. Our pastors and their staffs are capable, experienced, sacrificial and trustworthy. Though we are small, compared to the large government aid organizations, we are lean, mobile and efficient.

I believe that the local church represents the most effecient, the most compassionate and the most trustworthy vehicle to responsibly care for the needs of those who find themselves on the brink of survival due to natural disasters. I am so proud of our young leaders in Sri Lanka who ministered without prejudice to Buddhist, Hindus and Moslem disaster victims. They truely modeled the love of Christ to hurting communities.

Click here for a full report on the Tsunami Relief Project