Did it make a difference?
Clifford McSpadden who was the mastermind behind the Families for Families appeal in response to the tsunami which hit South East Asia with such velocity on Boxing Day 2004 has recently returned from a visit to Thailand. This is his story:
"One year ago a natural disaster, on a biblical scale, began deep below the ocean off the costs of south east Asia. The resulting Tsunami was one of the most devastating natural disasters of modern times. The impact of a thirty foot high wave of water crashing and crushing inland, not only devastated hundreds of miles of coastline, it also took the lives of upwards of half a million people. More lives lost, and even more families affected, than we can ever comprehend.
While many were asking why did this happen our Lord was putting a different question into the hearts of his people, "how are you going to respond to your neighbour's plight?" Our answer was to mobilise a relief effort that sent out 3 aircraft loads and 4 ship loads, of much needed clothing to the people of Thailand. This was in direct response to the request of people in Christ Church, in Bangkok, who had dispatched parishioners to the devastation zone within hours of the impact. In addition we sent £50,000 of aid to help them in the rebuilding effort that quickly followed.
One year later and the question on many peoples minds is "did we make a difference?" That is difficult to answer from over here in Ireland, instead it needs to be answered from first hand experience, on the ground, in Thailand. Having just come back from visiting some of the worst affected areas in Thailand we can now share the answer to that question.
We made a difference. Our response was one of many from around the world which when added together has helped in the rebuilding of the lives and lively hoods of the native people of Thailand. What is more, since the goods we sent were some of the first to get to the villages, the impact was so much greater. As one person told us "you helped us meet the needs of the people who were most in need, when they needed it most". Praise God for moving us to respond so quickly.
What is more, it is so uplifting to now see the power of God at work. The rebuilding effort is well advanced in the structural sense, such as housing, boat building etc. However the rebuilding of the broken hearts will take much longer. One village we were in had lost 20,000 neighbours! Just stop and consider the broken hearts and lives of those left behind? But our Lord is at work. Around this one area alone, which had only 2 small Christian Churches prior to the Tsunami, there are now over 20 growing Church groups. They are reaching out in practical and spiritual ways, in a clear outpouring of Gods love.
The lasting sense we had of what we saw was not of depression and sadness. It was uplifting to see the resolve of the Thai people to get on with the rebuilding of their lives without any outward signs of self pity. Even more encouraging is the real sense of the spirit of our Lord flowing through his people who are acting out his call to love their neighbour."