April 14, 2010 NEWS

International Ministries and Amity Foundation Responding to China Earthquake

Chan_cropped Benjamin Chan , Area Director for East Asia and India , India, China  
The Amity Foundation, a close partner of American Baptist International Ministries in China, issued an alert of a series of strong earthquakes hitting the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Northwest China. "According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, Beijing time April 14, 2010, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit northwest China's Qinghai Province. The quake struck Yushu County at 7:49 a.m. with a depth of about 33 km. The epicenter was only 30 km away from the downtown area of Yushu County of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. There have been many aftershocks. Among which a 6.3-magnitude aftershock happened at 9:25 a.m. China Earthquake Administration has initiated Grade II emergency response and dispatched rescue teams to the affected area.”

Right after the earthquakes, Amity staffs contacted the China Association for Science and Technology of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. They were informed that “‘The Jiegu Town, where the Prefecture government locates, has many collapsed houses. Local government is rushing to save people. Since the earthquake and many aftershocks endangered the local Changu Reservoir, people are evacuating to the mountain. Currently the local temperature is around 2-3 Celsius degrees.”

According to the Yahoo news, at least 400 people were killed and more than 10,000 injured in the earthquake, as houses made of mud and wood collapsed. Many more people are trapped and the toll is expected to rise. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100414/wl_csm/294401_1)

A relief team, headed by Amity's Assistant General Secretary Mr. Wen He, is set to fly to Xining, Capital City of Qinghai arriving this evening. They will travel with staffs of local partner to the affected area to set up tents and to run assessments. The team will provide further news and details of the relief work.

American Baptist World Relief Office has approved an immediate grant of $5,000 to the Amity Foundation to support the relief effort. Please pray for the earthquake victims and the Amity team.

You can support the relief work by sending a check to International Ministries, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851. The check should be made payable to “International Ministries”, and marks “China Earthquake”. Support can also be given by American Baptists through their church by making checks payable to the church with “One Great Hour of Sharing – China Earthquake Relief” written in the memo section.  These gifts will be sent from the church through the American Baptist region and then to International Ministries.