At our prayer meeting this past Tuesday, Kelly Kang led us in a time of praying for the situations in China (7.9 earthquake) and Myanmar (Burma: cyclone). While it is difficult to find hope in such dark situations, let’s continue to pray for the survivors and the continual rescue effort.
News Update on what’s happening:
Cyclone in Myanmar:
From CNN News on May 14: “Latest assessment figures from Yangon give a more detailed picture of the catastrophic situation on the ground,” the ICRC report said. “Pooling and extrapolating information from assessments from 22 organizations in 58 townships indicates the number of people killed at between 68,833 and 127,990. It estimates the total affected population at between 1.64 million and 2.51 million.”
7.8 Earthquake in China:
“More than 4.3 million homes collapsed or sustained damage, according to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, and the official death toll from the quake had reached 14,866 by Wednesday evening. But casualty figures from various cities indicate a higher number of dead.
The state-run Xinhua news agency has provided death tolls for eight communities in Sichuan province that add up to nearly 20,000, including roughly 7,700 who perished in the town of Yingxiu, near the earthquake’s epicenter.”
I have been trying to keep up with the news this past week, and it is so shocking to hear how every day the number of deaths in China and Myanmar increase. I was looking up statistics and the population of Berkeley is about 100,000. This means that all the people who passed away in Myanmar (based on current estimates) is about the same as the entire city of Berkeley… that is a pretty scary and shocking thought.
I was also reading about the earthquake in China and read that because of the one child policy, almost an entire generation is wiped out because so many children passed away… it’s so tragic..