KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey (BP and local reports) – Send Relief, the compassion ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention, is responding to the deadly series of earthquakes and aftershocks last week along the Turkey/Syria border.
“The most pressing immediate needs for impacted communities are access to food, clean water, trauma care, temporary shelter, medical care, and evacuation,” said Jason Cox, Send Relief vice president of international ministry.
Cox said workers have so far sent 1,000 blankets and 5,000 bottles of water to those in need, as Americans are not yet being allowed to enter the two stricken countries.
Turkey government reports available at deadline for this article list 36,000 fatalities, over 80,000 injuries, and 7,000 structures damaged or destroyed. Those numbers are expected to increase considerably in the coming days and weeks.
Reliable numbers from Syria are not readily available at the present time, but observers are confident the death and injury tolls will be in the many thousands.
“Pray for those needing shelter in the freezing weather conditions, which endanger survivors and complicate rescue and recovery efforts [and] pray for so many grieving over this unimaginable tragedy,” Cox said.
Send Relief is a joint ministry of Southern Baptists’ International Mission Board (IMB), headquartered in Richmond, Va., and North American Mission Board (NAMB) based in Alpharetta, Ga.
IMB President Paul Chitwood wrote in a Feb. 9 twitter post that the situation in Syria is made worse by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the strife-torn country. “The quake hit a region where 4.1 [million], mostly women [and] kids, already depended on humanitarian aid,” Chitwood tweeted.
Send Relief has created a web page where people can make financial gifts for recovery efforts as well as download a video and slide that churches can use in services and on social media to point people to the webpage.
The ministry has also released a prayer guide for Christians to use as they lift up those who are suffering from what geologists are estimating to be the worst earthquake in 80 years in that region of the world.
“As we continue to assess and begin to respond, we’re also praying that every effort will bring both physical help and the hope of Christ in this dark time,” Cox said.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the 82 million citizens of Turkey are over 99% Muslim. Only .2% are estimated to be Christian. The CIA World Factbook lists the 18.6 million Syrian residents as 87% Muslim and 10% Christian.
