Baptists in Taiwan and around the world are assisting victims of Typhoon Morakot, which made landfall in the southern part of the island just before midnight on Friday, August 7.
By Tuesday, August 18, 126 people have been confirmed dead, but government officials expect the death toll to rise to more than 500.
Joseph Tseng Ching-En, General Secretary of the Chinese Baptist Convention (CBC) in Taiwan, reported to the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) that "most of [of the victims] were swallowed and buried by landslides." Many of them, he said, were overwhelmed by a river that had flooded and overflowed its banks.
At least six Baptists have died or are feared dead. Five members from one Baptist family are confirmed dead, while another Baptist member, a police officer, went missing after trying to rescue persons affected by the typhoon. His body is yet to be recovered, though the police patrol car he was driving has been located.
Tseng told the BWA that 15 Baptist churches are in the disaster zone, most of which cannot be contacted by the convention due to blocked roads, bridges that were destroyed, and the loss of electricity and telephone services. Churches that could be reached were badly damaged or destroyed.
The CBC has 209 churches and more than 14,000 members.
Baptist World Aid (BWAid), the relief and development arm of the BWA, is coordinating the global Baptist response and is making an initial donation of US$10,000 to CBC as support for the relief work currently being undertaken by the Taiwan convention.
"We have been watching with concern the traumatic impact that this typhoon has wrought on your country," Paul Montacute, director of BWAid, wrote to Tseng. "On behalf of David Coffey, the BWA President, and Neville Callam, the BWA General Secretary, I send to you, your convention and your country, our deepest condolences at this time."
Japan, the Philippines and China were also affected by the typhoon.
Donations may be sent to:
Baptist World Aid - Emergency Relief
405 N. Washington Street
Falls Church, VA 22046
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Taiwan soldiers clean up a damaged road following Typhoon Morakot in Chuchi, Chiayi County, southern Taiwan August 20, 2009. REUTERS/Taiwan Military News Agency/Handout (TAIWAN DISASTER ENVIRONMENT) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT ...
