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UPDATE
May 15th, 2008
Dear Saints:
Many of us have somewhat ambivalent feelings about the situation in Myanmar (Burma), on one hand, there is great sympathy for the Burmese people and wanting to do something to help them and, on the other hand, frustration and even anger at the military government that stands in the way of international relief aid to the victims. The news media even reported “A frustrated United Nations chief said yesterday that he was meeting key donors and Myanmar’s neighbors to weigh options for speeding up aid to cyclone victims, including a possible international summit.”
Then there is the thought of how to get aid there, will the money be wasted, will it really be used? Will the army take it and claim it is from them? How do we know that it will be effectively employed? What should be the Christian’s response?
ICM during the Tsunami and Earthquake in North Sumatra in 2004/2005 raised millions of dollars to help the victims. What should ICM do now that another crisis has arisen?
It is important that we anchor our attitudes in Scripture. Several heart attitudes that we need to maintain:
1. Show compassion
Christians need to be the first responders in any crisis. God's heart is for people. Every human being should feel a natural humanitarian impulse to help. But compassion is compounded in us as believers because "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 5:5). The Bible calls us to identify with those who suffer, to "weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15). Christians should lead the world in responding to human need - and we do. It is a dazzling testimony when Christians rush to meet the needs of all who suffer, no matter what their faith. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Mt. 5:16).
2. Be slow to judge
In the circumstances of the Myanmar Cyclone Nargis, it is regretted that some Christians say this was God's judgment on non-Christian nations. That is for God to determine, not us. It is true that many of the hardest-hit nations in this cyclone have been some of the most vicious in their persecution of Christians. Still, we need to remember that many Christians as well lost their lives in this disaster.
We seem to need a place to pin the blame for tragedies we cannot understand. This was the case when the disciples saw a blind man and immediately assumed his condition was because of someone's sin. "Who sinned," they asked Jesus, "this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus replied that the man's blindness was not because of the man's sin or his parents' (John. 9:1-3). It is the devil who comes "to steal, kill and destroy" (John. 10:10).
3. Be quick to repent
Too often we cast aspersions on others without examining our own hearts. It was a common belief in Jesus' day that the men who suffered sudden death when a tower fell on them were worse sinners than others. Jesus rejected such twisted reasoning. "Do you think they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). These are tough words from our Lord. But they call us to examine our own hearts before we judge the spiritual condition of others.
4. Remember that the earth is under the curse of sin
Not only did man fall with Adam's sin but the earth itself was affected. The Bible says that the world "groans and labors in birth pangs" (Rom. 8:22). The result is the actual shifting of the earth that produces natural disasters.
Jesus promised there would be an increase in natural convulsions just prior to His return. These phenomena would include "earthquakes in many parts of the world" (Mt. 24:7 NLT).
Responding with Love
1. Pray for those who suffer
Your prayers can reverberate to the ends of the earth. A. J. Gordon said, "I can close my closet door [in prayer] and as surely spend an hour for God in India as if I were physically there." The Bible says to "open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die" (Prov. 31:8). Your prayers can truly make a world of difference.
2. Give generously
One way to show heart-felt compassion is by giving to help
 alleviate suffering. When disasters strike, we honor the Lord by giving financially to Christian relief organizations that provide humanitarian aid to the victims. Compassion is measured in tangible ways such as giving and volunteering to help meet the needs of the victims of calamities. "As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10).
3. Pray that God will use this tragedy to bring people to Him
Many survivors are groping for answers and their old religious allegiances bring them no comfort. In tragedy's aftermath many hearts are open to Jesus. He is the great "shelter in the time of storm." (See Psa. 61:2-3).
4. Recommit to the urgency of evangelism
Suddenly lives can be snatched into eternity. This should press us to do all we
 can while we can to reach people for Christ. There is always a holy imperative in evangelism and missions. "Night is coming when no one can work" (John. 9:4).
ICM has now graduated 80 students, some of whom are in the disaster area. Already from the graduates, we know that within a short time several churches have been planted and kindergartens set
 up – and that some have been destroyed.
The greatest need now is food and drinking water. An inexpensive equipment has been sourced to supply drinking water. It is a portable gravity filter similar to what is being used by the Red Cross or Peace Corps. We will engage our ICM graduates to distribute clean drinking water equipment down to the community level.
Our intended approach is as follows, depending on what we can raise:
Objective 1 – bring in what we can carry directly with a team for the purpose of
 building such filters. Train the local team to produce these filters but purchase the bulky containers locally. Establish a means to disinfect and clean units.
These filters will look like a couple of pails on top of
 each other but will contain UK made ceramic filtration that will remove all bacteria and the majority of virus. Any remaining virus will be handled by mild chlorination.
Target the worst hit remote areas where there is no power and drinking water. Our people will have to carry these in on foot. They will also carry some high calorie food and medicine that will be purchased locally.
Because we are only going to take the critical filtration elements, each team
 member will be able to potentially carry enough to make 20 sets of portable gravity filters. The pails and other small paraphernalia will be purchased in Yangon.
These sets will cost less that US$100 per set, and will supply about 20 litres of water per day, enough for a small group of people. We will need to send them into the disaster areas and will set aside some funds to buy food and medicine for the worst hit areas. We intend to send in 50 sets with the team together with some resources to produce food and medicines and to provide for local transport.
Our desire is to quickly raise US$ 10,000 for objective 1. US$ 5,000 will be for the portable filter and US$ 5,000 to pay for food and medicine which we will source in the country, but regardless of what is raised, the ICM team will leave by end May to Yangon.
Objective 2 – establish resource centers where water can be taken freely by all who come with their empty bottles. We will need small water purification units and some form of power. Battery power will do.
These centers will be staffed by our ICM graduates. They will stay engaged in the community for long term as places of relief where Christians can show the love of God in a tangible way.
There may already be churches which have been destroyed. We will rebuild
 them with whatever we can get. If all we can give is a small bowl of rice with soy sauce, we will do that. We will love because He lives and because we have a hope that the “desire of all nations” shall be lifted up in Burma “and hope does not make us ashamed because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us”
(Rom 5:5)
Any other aid that comes can be channeled to Burma and sent to these centers so that it can be appropriately disbursed on the ground by ICM’s trained workers. Not a cent will be deducted for expenses.
There is so much to do but we do not want to be limited with human
and financial resources. Please pray and allow the Holy Spirit to
lead and direct you to help us with a strong financial gift for our
2008 program. Please send your gift to us at Suite 2040, 17300 North
Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75248, USA or 126A Rangoon Road,
Singapore 218404.
There is so much to do but we do not want to be limited with human and financial resources. Please pray and allow the Holy Spirit to lead and direct you. Please send your gift to us at Suite 2040, 17300 North Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75248, USA or 126A Rangoon Road, Singapore 218404.
If you wish to wire the funds in, our banking details are as follows:
BANK: STANDARD CHARTERED BANK
ADDRESS: SCOTTS MALL BRANCH
1 SCOTTS ROAD
#01-01 SHAW CENTRE
SINGAPORE 228208
TEL: 65-6739-0415
SWIFT ADDRESS: SCBLSGSG
ACCOUNT NAME: INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN MISSION INC
ACCOUNT NO: 03-0-831837-4 (SGD)
God Bless you.
Khoo Hin Hiong
President/Founder
International Christian Mission
E-Mail:
icm@pacific.net.sg
E-Mail:
icmglobal@gmail.com
Web-site:
www.icmission.net
Tel: (65) 6291-2477
Cell: (65) 81818-757
Fax: (65) 6292-0996
Edwin Marsden
Executive Vice President
International Christian Mission
E-Mail: icmklmsia@yahoo.com
E-Mail: edmarsden@gmail.com
Tel: (603) 2070-7790
Cell: (6012) 221-1662
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