Christian Groups Deliver Desperately Needed Tents, Blankets to Quake Victims

Christian organizations are delivering thousands of desperately needed tents and blankets to the more than 2.5 million homeless victims of the Pakistan earthquake.

By Michelle A. Vu, Christian Post Reporter Sunday, October 23, 2005

Christian organizations are delivering thousands of desperately needed tents and blankets to the more than 2.5 million homeless victims of the Pakistan earthquake.

Two weeks following the massive quake that left tens of thousands of people dead, Christian relief organizations are responding to the emergency by sending thousands of tents and blankets as well as other relief supplies to Pakistan.

Among the many Christian groups providing shelter and blankets is Samaritan’s Purse, who has organized the largest airlift in its history scheduled to depart for Islamabad, Pakistan on Oct. 24. The 747 cargo jet will deliver 120 tons of relief supplies including enough rolls of plastic to shelter 24,000 families, 10,000 blankets, 350 wheelchairs, medical supplies, hospital equipment and other items. The supplies will be distributed in Balakot and Muzzaffarabd, the two cities closest to the epicenter of the earthquake.

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Dr. Geoff Ibotson, a Canadian surgeon and one of the three doctors Samaritan’s Purse sent to Pakistan compares the devastation of the recent earthquake with the tsunami.

“I’m afraid the enormity here is being missed,” said Ibbotson. “This is bigger than the tsunami.”

According to Samaritan’s Purse “shelter is the priority” at this moment and the ministry has already provided hundreds of families with winterized tents and household items prior to airlift on Monday.

In addition, World Vision, one of the largest relief organizations in the world, has airlifted 4,000 tents and over 12,000 tarpaulins from Brindisi, Italy and Toronto Canada this week with the first airlift on Oct. 19 and subsequent lifts scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

The Salvation Army in Pakistan has also contributed to the shelter and blanket effort by setting up a 92 tent camp with blankets and cooking supplies and selecting 92 families with the greatest need to live in the camp. The Salvation Army distributed 100 tents on Oct. 19 and another 100 on Oct. 20 and has ordered an additional 500 tents.

Operation Blessing, meanwhile, distributed 500 blankets to the people in the villages of Uri sector and the latest distribution by Church World Service-Action by Churches Together (CWS-ACT) include 1,297 shelter kits and 993 food packages in Battagram.

“This is an opportunity for us as Christians to share God’s love with people in need,” said Ibbotson.