Days Six & Seven – Putting the Pieces Together

Any disaster is a complex thing. When a tornado touched down in small town in Illinois the people there were dramatically impacted. There was fairly minimal loss of life and the help came from regional sources. This sort of disaster is relatively easy in terms of logistics, communication and resource deployment.

Then there are events that are more national in scope. The tornado that took out one third of Joplin, Missouri just four years ago this weekend was a national event. It attracted lots of resources from finances to volunteers to local and federal government and disaster response ministries of all types. The logistics there were more complex. Citywide meetings in the auditorium of the nearby university and the intentional coordination of many moving parts made Joplin a challenge. And the recovery and rebuilding work is still going on there.

Then there’s a global disaster like the one ServLife is involved with here in Nepal. Chinese teams are clearing roads, providing tents and a host of other services. Indian agencies are assisting in a variety of ways. Nearly every day I see at least one large white SUV with UN emblazoned in blue on the hood and the giant antennas waving off the back. French, Korean, German, British and American aid workers are spread out all over the country. Government officials, non-profits and Christian ministries are all doing what they can here in Nepal. Not to mention the people of Nepal themselves, doing what they can for their families, churches and villages. And the logistics are phenomenally complex.

Part of my disaster recovery journey is to locate as many of the players as I can and work to make sense of all that’s going on here. It’s inevitable that some areas and groups will get over-served with aid while others will be under-served. Add to that the incredibly mountainous terrain, roads that were barely passable before the earthquakes, one international airport for the whole country with only a single runway and perhaps you begin to see how easily all the moving parts can stop moving or, worse yet, start crashing into each other.

Yesterday (day six on my journey) I had the chance to catch my breath and start thinking through all the questions that must be answered in order for ServLife’s aid to be as helpful as possible. These are hard questions and, frankly, I had no idea how to find the right people who might have the right answers.

And God keeps showing up in miraculous ways. This morning (day seven) over breakfast I met Christina. She just happens to work for the UN’s World Food Program. It turns out WFP is coordinating all the logistics of disaster response for those who’d like to use their assistance at no cost. They have trucks and helicopters to deliver needed supplies to any region of the country within 48 hours or less. Christina told me all we had to do to get supplies to our hardest hit pastors was fill out a form requesting WFP to pick up our supplies and drop them off to the village we designate. She also gave me the email address of the woman coordinating the ‘Shelter Cluster’ for all of Nepal’s relief efforts. Victoria can tell me who is delivering shelter to which villages. And I can tell her where we’re doing our work so efforts are not duplicated. She’s invited me to their regular Wednesday meeting this week to get the latest updates on providing shelter to those who need it.

Talk about God’s timing! All these pieces of the puzzle were handed to me just less than two hours before meeting with Lazarus and our church planters to assess needs and determine how best to help them. Having the WFP form and the connection to the Shelter Cluster was just what I needed just when I needed it.

On top of that, a connection made through one of ServLife’s board members put me in the loop on a network of Christian organizations working in recovery. Wednesday evening I’ll be spending time with them learning what they know and sharing what I’ve learned. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together!

A note about money is appropriate here…

The word on the financial impact of this disaster is it will cost as much as one half of Nepal’s total annual GDP or $10 billion dollars in losses and recovery expenses. To put that in perspective it would be like a disaster hitting the U.S. and causing over $8 trillion dollars in damage.

It will take a global effort to help Nepal recover from this global disaster. ServLife is committed to doing our small part. And doing our large part. The money we can provide will be a teeny tiny fraction of $10 billion dollars. But the opportunity for our church planters to be the hands and feet of Jesus to their villages is priceless.

The pastors with whom I met today are dedicated to seeing not only their churches restored but their entire villages. They are ready to bring the love of Jesus in amazingly powerful ways to their people. They are counting on you to help them do just that. They are counting on you to lift them up in prayer and provide the resources they need for this opportunity that has been given them. I’m confident in God’s faithful providence that He is bringing through you.