Just a week before Christmas, Typhoon Washi dumped a month’s worth of rain in 12 hours creating flashflood conditions on parts of Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The Foursquare Church in the Philippines took immediate action following the disaster and began responding to the needs of their communities.(more)
Foursquare leaders are responding with compassion to the needs of people affected by the magnitude-7.2 earthquake in the eastern Turkish province of Van in October and the magnitude-5.7 quake there last week. The two quakes have cost nearly 1,000 people their lives and thousands are now homeless in a region experiencing an unusually cold November. (more)
Two million people have been displaced by recent flooding in Bangkok, Thailand and other parts of South Asia. Foursquare missionaries, pastors and church members have personally been impacted by the floods yet are still in the region ministering relief and compassion to others in Jesus’ Name. (more)
As of this update, more than 100 children have died from dehydration and the food crisis following serious flooding in Bangladesh. Benjamin, Foursquare’s national leader in Bangladesh, and Wayne, our South Asia area missionary (last names withheld due to security), say that people from over 60 Foursquare churches have been impacted. (more)
The most severe drought in decades is threatening the lives of more than 11 million people — especially young children — in East Africa. Famine has been declared in parts of southern Somalia, and threatens to spread further if nothing is done to prevent it. Kenya and Ethiopia are also severely affected by the crisis, with millions in critical need of food and water. (more)
Japan
On a recent Foursquare Missions International (FMI)-sponsored relief and compassion trip to Japan, Tokyo Pastor Chu Kosaka was a natural at drawing crowds. As the driver of one of the vans taking teams into some of the hardest hit areas of the Tohoku disaster, he posed at every stop when locals brought out cameras and serenaded them when asked to play a few songs. Read more from Dr. Jim Scott and Corey about what Foursquare is doing in response to the earthquake in Japan. To give a financial donation to please go to give.foursquare.org.
It has been more than a year and a half since the earthquake hit the nation of Haiti and now Haiti is no longer a disaster area but instead a nation that is rebuilding and being restored! Signs of recovery are all around. (more)