Prayer for Chile urgently needed
2/27/2010By IMB staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Prayer is urgently needed for thousands of people in Chile whose lives have been upturned by a massive earthquake that struck in the early morning hours of Feb. 27, says an International Mission Board strategist closely tied to the area.
“We want to ask Christians everywhere to lift up people in need after this huge disaster,” said Terry Lassiter, strategist for the American Peoples affinity group. “We thank the Lord that all of our missionaries are well but there has been a very significant loss of life that is going to affect both our church community and the non-Christian community in Chile.”
The 8.8-magnitude earthquake killed at least 82 people, toppled homes, collapsed bridges and plunged vehicles into the great cracks in the ground, according to news reports. A tsunami alert has been issued for every country around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the earth. The death toll is expected to rise quickly.
"It was a terrifying experience,” said Phil Brown, a Southern Baptist missionary who lives in Santiago. “We were awakened by our bed shaking so hard it almost threw us out. We live in a second floor apartment but ran to our outdoor terrace, ready to jump if the building started coming apart, which we feared it would.
“After the longest 90 seconds of my life, the shaking stopped. We got outside as quickly as we could to huddle in the street with the other people in our building,” Brown added. “God was gracious in protecting all of our missionary family here. Hours have passed now but we are still jumpy. Each tremor now gets our full attention."
In the chaos that follows a disaster like this, God’s people need clarity of mind, Lassiter added.
“There will be a lot of things missionaries and local believers can do in a situation like this,” he said. “We're just praying the Lord will lead them to do the best thing for the short term and also keep a focus on the long term. People will be stressed and wanting to respond to needs. Please pray for calm spirits as we respond to this tragedy.”
The ultimate concern is that God will be glorified and hearts will be turned to Christ, Lassiter said.
“Please pray God will be glorified in a way that people will see their need for Him, if they don't know Him,” Lassiter said. “We don't know yet how big of a disaster this is, but we want to see God glorified among the Chilean people in any case.”
Lassiter said that he is thankful Southern Baptists and their extensive network of ministry partners around the world are able to respond quickly to disasters and meet needs immediately.
“It’s great to be part of an organization that cares for people’s spiritual and physical needs and is positioned to respond all over the world,” Lassiter said. “This earthquake is another wake-up call to us in the U.S., just like the recent Haiti tragedy. We are so very thankful Southern Baptists care deeply about people in need and will respond from the heart.”
IMB will be monitoring developments and will issue further announcements about needs and response as more information becomes available. For updates, go to www.imb.org.
Donations may be directed to the Disaster Response Fund at www.gobgr.org.
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