HCP assists Gospel for Asia in ministering to thousands of tsunami victims Working closely with Sri Lankan authorities, the first two HCP containers were received by GFA, processed through customs and moved to a warehouse from which they were sent for distribution. Through the use of Mobile Medical Teams and the establishment of temporary clinics in tsunami affected regions, GFA was able to minister to thousands of Sri Lankan victims. By the time the third shipment was received, regulations had become
tighter and GFA was not allowed to be involved in the actual distribution
of the materials. However, upon GFA’s recommendation, four
needy hospitals in the Baticaloa and Ampara districts of Sri Lanka
received these supplies. As well, GFA’s medical teams were
able to gain access to some of these materials through the hospitals
to conduct medical camps in their areas. According to John Beers, Chief Development Officer for Gospel for Asia, there are hundreds of similar stories that demonstrate how the Lord has used Hungry Children Projects’ generosity to touch the lives of thousands of Sri Lankans. Beers states: “I praise the Lord for you and for your kindness and generosity toward the people of Sri Lanka. May the Lord bless you as you have been a blessing to so many”.
Stories from the Dominican Republic
Jana began to feed the people in the dump and then found out about their health and housing problems. She and Elio worked on the housing and I picked up the health part. At first we went to the villages and the dump weekly and treated from the back of the truck. We had no meds but we used the medicines from my veterinary clinic. Soon, however help began to appear. People just gave to give with no strings attached. It was and still is a blessing. Our people then were so sick. We had pneumonias and typhoid daily. Children and adults alike were parasite infested. Scabies, shingles, AIDS, TB, Syphilis, malnutrition, fungal infections. You name it and we had it. We have Chris Love who was born with her bladder outside of her body and needed major reconstructive surgery. She was helped. We have a 13 year old girl, Marie, with a fracture of her femur in her leg that had gotten infected and wouldn’t heal. A small church assisted in providing the funds for her to have orthopedic surgery. Thomas Salazar has had a broken leg post motorcycle accident 3 years ago. He sits outside the bank and begs for his daily bread. His leg will be amputated this week.
Karen Overall came to teach at our Christian home school and saw us turning away eyeglasses because we had not time for them. She asked if she could do it. Now 4 years later she is 4 afternoons a week she helps people get reading glasses and screens patients for glaucoma and pterygiums. By the way we always need more reading glasses and eye meds for glaucoma, and chronic irritation The stories go on and so does the work, now we have the Hungry Children’s Project. The containers you have brought in have helped more then you can know. Diabetes is a crippling disease in this country because many cannot pay for the medication. You have changed that and thereby have saved many from the blindness and amputation that go with the disease. The hospitals are in line waiting for the gift of materials and the nuns, bless their hearts, are such excellent managers. Yes the work goes on and now you are part of the story. Thank you and welcome aboard. Bob |
Partnering
with Gospel for Asia, Hungry Children Project generously donated
food and pharmaceuticals for Sri Lanka’s victims of the tsunami.
These supplies enabled GFA workers to minister to the lives of thousands
left devastated by this tragic event. 
HCP’s
concern and donations also enabled GFA and Believers Church of Sri
Lanka to impact lives of thousands with God’s love. One report
shares how two families, having received this loving care for several
weeks, stated: “We have hated Christianity all our lives.
We believed Christians were trying to force us to change our ways
and our religion. But after seeing how deeply you have loved us
and cared for us, for the first time we understand that Jesus is
a loving God who desires to help us. We would like to learn more
about this Jesus.” Both families have since given their lives
to Christ and joined one of the many churches established among
tsunami victims.
It
is really all Jana’s fault. If she hadn’t gone into
the local dump and seen the poverty, misery, and suffering of the
people living there we probably wouldn’t be doing all that
we do today, but that is not how it was. Jana went to dump our house
garbage with our chauffeur and found her brothers and sisters living
in the dump. It broke her heart and she passed her wretchedness
onto us.
The
miracle grew and medical teams and dentists began to come in and
with them more meds. We opened up a clinic at Ascension village
and manned it every Sunday for the villages in the region. We opened
another clinic at my vet clinic 4 days a week and were able to open
and man a free pharmacy in the government clinic where we supplied
meds to 1,200 people a month. This was all made possible from the
donation of medicines and money by lots of small groups who cared.
It has made a tremendous difference. Our people are poor and malnourished
but are much healthier. Many individuals working together can make
a big difference.
A
lady in our village felt bad one Friday so we took her to the hospital
and found out she was having internal hemorrhaging from a ruptured
ovarian artery because of a 3lb tumor. She had emergency surgery
and is doing well. Donation made this possible. We have a man finally
diagnosed after being seen by 6 different mission doctors as having
a rare fungal infection called Chromoblastomycosis and his treatment
if Itraconazole costs $200/month and we have got some help for him.
Jasmine
was found in the public hospital. She is 26 years old and has both
TB and AIDS. When we found her she weighed 60lbs and had been left
to die because her family had disowned her. Her skin was stretched
over her bones and she could not sit up to eat. She urinated and
defected on herself because she was too weak to move. We took her
back to the mission house and with treatment for TB and lots of
TLC she is now 90 pounds 5 weeks later. She cooks and cleans for
herself and has started to take antiretrovirals for her AIDS. She
has decided to give her life to others and is being trained to be
an educator on AIDS and TB. She will give talks to women about her
life. She is a living testimony. When she talks it is standing room
only in her sessions.
The
Coates are an English couple who came to retire to the Caribbean.
They went with us on a medical mission and saw the starving babies.
There was a baby starving to death. They took it to the hospital
where she died 6 hours later. They said something had to been done.
They now feed 40 abandoned women and their children. Whenever they
find a baby doing poorly they take him/her home, get them back in
shape and then take them back to the parent whom they train and
supply with supplement for the baby. On any give week they will
have 2-3 babies at their home in their care.
