GFA missionaries transferred the relief supplies to cycle rickshaws, the only transport that could reach some of the villages.
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In most parts of India, the annual monsoon rains begin in June and continue through August and sometimes into September. The monsoon climate is humid, so much so that it is hard to get laundry to dry. Without air conditioning, books and papers are perpetually damp.
This year, the rains came in unusually heavy torrents and have kept on day after day. For the villages on the Sunderban Islands, off the coast of West Bengal, the rains ruined houses, washed crops away and destroyed almost every means of making a living.
In response, Gospel for Asia missionaries gathered large quantities of food and went to 19 different islands. They traveled by boat, then road on cycle rickshaws and at times walked, carrying relief supplies on their heads to reach the villages. On either side of the road, rice paddies looked more like lakes.
GFA missionaries gave 366 island families the basics of an Indian diet—rice, lentils and cooking oil—to provide for their immediate needs. The missionaries plan to help rebuild homes when the waters recede.
An elderly woman, through tears of thankfulness, told our missionaries that since everything was washed away, she and her husband had been struggling to survive on the tiny bit of money he makes fishing. But now, with the food the missionaries had brought, she could cook a good meal for her family again.
With joy and gratefulness, villagers received the much-needed food and emergency supplies.
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Chunili and her husband Senenlo’s only source of income is their rice field. When the rains came, their field was ruined, and their house was severely damaged. Senenlo is also sick. It was hard enough to pay for medical bills and make ends meet before the floods, but with their field gone it was even worse—until GFA missionaries came to help.
It is to hundreds of families like these that GFA missionaries are going with food and with the message of hope that is found in Jesus Christ. Missionaries ask that you pray for them as they continue to minister in devastated villages.