Dear Friends,

On January 26, exactly one month after the tsunami hit, I had the opportunity to visit a part of the area in Thailand that was hit by the waves.It is one thing to see the images of devastation on TV.Even a month removed from the event, it is quite another to see it first hand.

In talking with survivors in the village of Nam Khem we heard how fast the water rose.Fishing boats, many as large as good sized houses were swept up in the waves and sent through the town knocking down houses and buildings and crushing people as they went.The heavy wood, 2 inches thick or more used to make the hulls was shredded and splintered.Some boats were broken in half.One boat was deposited on top of a flat concrete structure several hundred yards from the ocean.Another was left on dry land like it had been parallel parked along the side of the road.A large police boat, bigger than many homes, was washed probably a half mile or more from the normal shore.Some of these boats are to be left as memorials.

Even inside homes, the water entered with such swirling force and carrying such a load of debris that people were killed.One couple told us how they had scrambled onto their roof to safety.From there, they could hear the family across the street, only 40 feet away, crying out for help but there was nothing they could do.The three people in that house died.

Standing alone was one new house.It had only recently been finished and was stronger than the neighboring homes which were completely washed away.The family was busy cleaning up.While fortunate in many ways, all their furniture was destroyed but most damaging was that their small factory for making Chinese desserts was completely gone.With grown children still at home, the combined family had also lost three vehicles.Now they are several million Baht in debt with their only way to make a living destroyed.Thousands of fishermen are in similar circumstances.Their boats are gone and with them, their way of making a living.

I traveled with Chatchai Montreevat, the financial manager here at the Thailand Baptist Missionary Fellowship office.Most of our work is in the northern part of Thailand, 400 – 500 miles from the closest ocean and about twice that far to where the tsunamis hit.Despite the geography, several of the Baptist missions connected to TBMF as well as a number of individuals have contributed generously to tsunami relief efforts.You may recall from earlier letters that TBMF has been channeling our contributions to the relief efforts of the Church of Christ in Thailand, our main sponsoring local agency.To date, I am pleased to report that over $40,000, more than one fourth of the total received by the CCT has come from the Baptists in the US and other countries.The purpose of our visit was to meet with the committee that is overseeing the relief efforts, establish some local contacts in the area and to see what the CCT relief efforts looked like.

To date, through the efforts of locally based members, the CCT has been working in some of the hardest hit areas of Thailand.Korean Presbyterians have been rotating volunteer groups helping with the clean up of homes and generally removing debris.A church in Trang has been visiting a fishing village on an island and is helping supply them with tools to rebuild their fishing boats and equipment.Chatchai and I were stranded for a couple hours while the van we were to ride in was engaged in gathering some 400 sets of cooking pots to be distributed and other help is provided as needs become known.

Overall, this is a period of transition where emergency relief is gradually giving way to rebuilding and longer term assistance.In Nam Khem we talked with some soldiers who were starting to rebuild permanent homes.We also spoke with another Christian group who was helping build homes.In other areas though, the clean up continues.In a largely non-Christian area, the presence of Christians helping in the relief efforts is easy to find and making known the love of Christ.

For the most part, survivors were eager to talk as the memories are still very fresh.I suspect they will stay fresh for years to come.Several mentioned how fast the water came and they marveled that in just a few minutes so much could change.A beautiful day one minute, thousands of lives gone and life times of work turned to soggy debris the next.We marvel at the power exhibited when whole sections of the earth move and killer waves travel hundreds of miles in a couple hours.Yet viewing from space, there would have been nothing unusual to see.Seemingly mundane decisions result in life or death.A person I know was not happy as the ride to his hotel was 30 minutes late.But had he arrived at the hotel on schedule, he would have been checking in when the wave hit.Another person I know was in Sri Lanka.Her kids had just come inside their bungalow from playing on the playground.They closed the door and suddenly water started trickling in.They opened the door to see what was happening and the full force of the wave hit.Their bungalow was strong enough to withstand the onslaught and they were all saved, but had the kids played five minutes more, what would have happened?

I saw several news casts where the reporter was asking leaders of various faiths why their god would allow such destruction to occur.It is a natural question.Even Jesus asked why when he was on the cross.But maybe a better question to ask is who.Who is leading our lives?Who is directing the mundane decisions that might mean life or death?Who can we turn to in times of tragedy?Who is in charge?Who will take us when we leave this earth?As a race we humans sometimes forget that we are really just very small.We don't like to admit it, but there are many things that are larger and stronger than we are.We also don't like to admit that there are things that happen that we really can't explain.

The Psalmist asked "who" when he wrote, "I lift up my eyes to the hills.From where shall my help come?My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth".The Psalmist gave the only answer that can really help us.All we can ever do is trust the Lord and turn to Him when we need him.He is always there!

Duane & Marcia Binkley