Bolivia's Flood Victims Receive Christian Hope, Relief
Christian missionaries and relief groups are reaching out to victims suffering from Bolivia’s worst flood in 25 years.
Bolivia’s President, Evo Morales, on Wednesday officially declared months of flooding a national disaster.
The flooding has killed 35 people, affected some 72,000 families, drowned some 22,500 head of cattle, and destroyed an estimated 494,000 acres of cropland, according to The Associated Press.
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Some victims had lost hope and expressed feelings of abandonment by God. However, missionaries present in isolated areas distributing relief items and aid reassured them of God’s love and concern.
“God has sent us to let you know He loves you and has not abandoned you,” World Gospel Mission (WGM) missionary Donna Brown recalled saying, according to a report released Tuesday by the interdenominational missionary organization.
Brown said the victims appreciated the assurance and the missionaries had the opportunity to share God’s love in a visible way to the people.
WGM emergency relief packs distributed to victims include a large tarp, rope, two blankets, a machete, soap, food staples, toothpaste, toothbrushes, baby blankets for families with babies, a New Testament in Spanish, John 3:16 pamphlets, and a note saying that God loves them.
Likewise, the Center for Research and Training of Peasant Farmers (CIPCA) is on the ground reaching out to the devastated flood survivors. CIPCA, a Christian Aid partner, has worked in the area for 10 years and was working with residents to prepare for floods prior to the disaster.
According to CIPCA, people are cut off from food supplies and are resorting to eating their remaining livestock to survive.
Most of Bolivia’s Beni province, roughly the size of Britain, is under water, CIPCA reported.
The eastern states of Beni and Santa Cruz, are the hardest hit areas and where many congregations of World Gospel Church (Iglesia Evangelica Mundial) are located.
According to meteorologists, the floods are thought to be part of the El Nino effect – the warming of Pacific Ocean surface temperatures. Other recent floods linked to El Nino include ones in Mozambique and the Philippines.
“This is yet again an illustration of how the lives of vulnerable poor people are at the mercy of the weather,” said Andrew Pendleton, Christian Aid’s senior climate change analyst, in a statement on Wednesday.
“This El Nino phase gives us a glimpse of what the world might have to cope with as the climate change invokes greater extremes of weather. It’s not a pretty picture.”
Other challenges facing survivors besides immediate rescue efforts and relief supplies include disease outbreaks such as diarrhea, respiratory and skin infections, and mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue, yellow fever, and malaria.
