TSUNAMI RELIEF SUCCESSFUL!
When the terrible tsunami happened in Southeast Asia the day after Christmas, I asked the readers of my Charisma Magazine column to respond. As you probably remember, I also sent out an e-blast to everyone on our email list for all of our magazines sharing my column before it was even printed, and asking them to respond generously. I’m happy to report that so far more than $230,000 has come in for tsunami relief through Christian Life Missions and the total is continuing to increase every day. We have been working through the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka and Dr. Godfrey Yogarajah. Two weeks ago we sent Matt Green, the young editor of Ministries Today to Sri Lanka along with Stanley Scott of Word of Faith International Christian Center, Southfield, Michigan so that they could check on what has happened. |
Dear Friend:Below my letter is Matt’s report showing that the money has been spent well and people are being helped. His letter also shows the need that remains. It is said that the re-building process will take a generation. As Christians, we are working through the church in Sri Lanka to help anyone in need. This is a way that the church can show the love of Christ in this primarily Buddhist nation. In addition to that, the lives of Christians must be restored and churches must be re-built. Your continued help is needed. As you may remember, we are giving 100% of the money to tsunami relief efforts. Because Strang Communications is paying all of the overhead cost to raise this money as well as the cost to administer it, 100% of the money received from you for this effort will go where the need is greatest. I waited to send out another appeal until we had the eyewitness report to not only report on the damage but also so that I could report to you on how your money was spent. I ask that you again respond. Ask your churches to also respond again. If your church would like to have more information about how they can be involved as a specific congregation, please contact us and we can act as an intermediary. Please give generously, even as I have personally along with many of the people on my staff. Thank you for your participation. May God bless you. |
Through the support of generous donors, Christian Life Missions, in partnership with NCEASL, has raised money and distributed the following:
The Asian tsunami decimated entire villages on the coast of Sri Lanka, but for the church in that nation, the disaster has provided an open door of opportunity—just when the situation couldn’t get much worse. “After the tsunami,” pastor’s wife Angela Mudalige says, “God changed everything.” Angela, and her husband Yogesh, pastor an Assemblies of God church in the town of Ambalangoda, on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Before December 26, the couple had endured four years of persecution from the town’s overwhelmingly Buddhist majority, and the Sri Lankan government was contemplating instituting an anti-conversion law that would inhibit the evangelistic efforts of the church. The wave that swept the coast of the island nation of 20 million was indiscriminate in its terror: the families, homes and livelihoods of Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindus alike were destroyed in its wake. But when it came to distributing help, many religious groups saw the tsunami as an opportunity to manipulate the situation to their advantage, giving aid only to those who worshipped in their mosque or temple.
This did not go unnoticed, and the couple reports that some of their most antagonistic neighbors have begun coming to them for counsel and spiritual support in these trying days. Less than two months after the tsunami, five families have been added to their congregation of 75. The needs are still great, however. The building where Calvary Church met (the same building in which Yogesh and Angela lived) was destroyed by the tsunami. Although every member of the church was miraculously spared from death, many lost homes and livelihoods. Know that your gifts are being wisely distributed by people who are intimately aware of the needs and are working diligently to meet them in an effective manner. In the coming days, we have the opportunity to provide more temporary shelters, packs for school children displaced from their schools, provisions for pure water and aid to churches that lost Bibles, hymnbooks and other church supplies. I urge you to give generously to this timely ministry. Please visit Christian Life Mission's website to give online, or mail a special tax-deductible gift to Christian Life Missions, ATTN: Asian Tsunami Relief, P.O. Box 952248, Lake Mary, FL 32795. God bless you, |
MONEY WELL-SPENT 
However, when Yogesh’s and Angela’s congregation, Calvary Church, partnered with the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) to distribute aid, they gave it to whomever was in greatest need—regardless of religious affiliation. Dry ration packs with foodstuffs, pots for cooking and bedding were given to the many families left homeless in the village. 
We must continue to partner with our brothers and sisters in this region as they strive to reach out to the hurting and rebuild their own lives. This is an open door of opportunity in a nation that has long been difficult soil for the Gospel. 
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Our brochure that outlines Christian Life Missions' successful tsunami relief. |
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Visit our website for more information. |
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