Sri Lanka has an urgent request for assistance.
The Eastern provincial town, Batticaloa and a town in the North Central province, Polonnaruwwa, has been flooded as a result of the recent torrential rains. Over 300,000 people have been rendered homeless and many have lost their lives. One of our new believers lost his life. Over 500 Foursquare families have been affected and are in refugee camps. We are working to get much needed supplies to the people in need, and mobilize to help.
Bangladesh- Our resources and partnership with the National church has been able to mobilize with resources we have given, they want to provide blankets and warm cloths for 2-3,000 people.
Tropical Bangladesh has been experiencing severe and unprecedented cold weather since early January, affecting northern and south-western parts of the country. Temperatures have remained low with biting winds and dense fog. Poor communities in the north are the worst affected, and the bitterly cold weather has brought life and businesses to a standstill, particularly in the region near the Himalayas.
A cold wind from the north-west has increased the situation for urban dwellers already living in poor conditions. Unable to buy warm clothes, many vulnerable people are struggling to keep warm at night.
“For us it is really difficult. I have to go to work or else I won’t be able to feed my child,” says Rahima, a labourer on a daily wage, standing in the feeble sunlight. “But the icy wind is biting me and I have only one piece of warm clothing.”
Colombia-
The national pastor telling me that 39 pastors of the Foursquare church in Colombia are suffering losses of their belongings and had to leave their homes because of the floods that have occurred over the last weeks in several parts of Colombia. Church buildings are basically under water. Church meetings had to be cancelled. The situation is serious and we do not know when the rain is going to stop, and after the rain season is over the people will have to wait for weeks until the water will be gone totally. It will take some time until they will be able to have again a normal live.
Brazil- The worst mud slide in Brazil in 40 years.
Heavy mudslides have blocked roads, so rescuers are forced to use boats to reach people cut off by the floods. The disaster has prompted the governor of Rio de Janeiro to declare a state of emergency in the municipalities of Nova Friburgo, Teresópolis, Petrópolis, Bom Jardim, São José do Vale do Rio Preto, Sumidouro and Areal in the north of Rio de Janeiro.Last Saturday, the national civil defence authority (Secretaria Nacional de Defesa Civil) reported 613 deaths, with 50 people still missing. Rescue teams continue their search for survivors. Overall, some 13,400 people have been affected – 6,050 people have been made homeless and 7,680 people have had to be evacuated. We are mobilizing to respond to this with Foursquare Brazil as well.
Photos from Sri Lanka
Photos from Pakistan and the constant need there.
The worst monsoon rains in 80 years are continuing to sweep from the north-west to south and central Pakistan.
Rivers in Sindh province, home to Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city and business hub, are bursting their banks.
Pakistani authorities have evacuated 500,000 people in 11 districts of Sindh and issued warnings to people in low-lying areas of the Indus river.
Flooding has submerged whole villages in the past week, killing about 1,600 people and affecting another 4.5m.
So far, 263,000 houses have been fully or partially damaged in the two worst affected provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
According to the Federal Flood Commission, 1.4m acres (557,000 hectares) of crop land has been flooded across the country and more than 10,000 cows have perished.
