Operation Blessing recently received this encouraging report from China...

The people of Suining, China slept in their village homes on a rainy night in June, never imagining the impending disaster building on the mountain looming above them. The mountainside's slopes had become completely saturated with water over the past ten days of unabated rainfall. Finally the tension broke. A crushing flood of mud and debris plunged down the mountain in a descent of destruction!

The landslide hit the unsuspecting village at midnight. Morning dawned on a deadly scene: 5,000 cubic meters of shattered houses and broken lives. Local survivors say over 300 people lost their lives. With an average yearly income of about $35 (300 RMB), the villagers had no resources to recover from the devastation inflicted by the landslide.

Suining was one of the many villages in the Hunan Province hit by flash floods and landslides this past June. With sponsorship from Operation Blessing, CBN China was able to send a team to southern China to provide disaster relief in the stricken areas. In Suining Village, 63 families were given funds to rebuild their homes. In Yanshan Village, where nearly 17,000 people were affected by the flooding, families received a relief package consisting of 2 blankets, 55 pounds of rice, a bottle of cooking oil, and some financial assistance to help meet the expenses of rebuilding their homes. Altogether the disaster relief team provided aid to 103 families in Hunan Province in both material and financial assistance!

The disaster relief team also visited Guangxi Province; an area of porous limestone mountains, the soil does not retain water well. The region frequently suffers from droughts. However during July 5-8 the tides turned in an alarming manner. A typhoon struck the poverty-ridden area, flooding the lands with churning, muddy water, leaving a wake of destruction affecting nearly one million people. Where crops had been growing just days before, the fields sprouting with hopeful green shoots had been transformed into empty plains of water. Over 11,500 acres were destroyed. Even after the waters receded over two weeks later, the mud-caked trees continue to testify to the havoc inflicted by the typhoon.

Jiangxi Village was hit particularly hard. With an average annual income of about $85 (700 RMB), the villagers depended on the crops for their very survival. With their livelihood washed away in one short week, they faced a year of hunger, and for some even starvation. The China relief team provided 335 families with 110 pounds of rice and 11 pounds of cooking oil each. The villagers, dressed in a patchwork of rags, received the gifts joyfully.

In both the Hunan and Guangxi provinces, CBN worked in cooperation with the provincial civil affairs bureau and the local branch of the China Charity Federation, both of whom proved to be very helpful and supportive. Thanks to the funding provided by Operation Blessing, the relief team was able to meet the most immediate needs of a portion of the disaster victims.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

 

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