[UPDATE: 05.13.2008 @ 03.30pm (PST)]: we will be hosting a benefit fundraiser/concert at q cafe this coming saturday, 05.17.2008 @ 7pm.
if you’re available, please come, pray, donate, help…

* great post from pastor leah, click here. our world truly doesn’t seem as big as it once was… what a reminder that we are called to reach out and help/heal one another.

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(c) photo courtesty of Khin Maung Win/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

when reports first broke about a cyclone hitting myanmar, i remember thinking to myself… ‘oh no, not another disaster in that region of the world!‘. then i remember thinking, ‘wait a sec… what is a cyclone‘? (though, wikipedia has an entry on cyclone, i’m not sure i completely understand what it really is. if you’re a good teacher and have loads of patience, hit me up and explain this to me. coffee on me!)
all i do know for sure? the devastation the cyclone has done to region of myanmar.
reports early on gave the death toll and it continued and continues to grow and i fear it will never be accurately tallied… (i was honestly thinking it was going to be like part 2 of the terrible 2004 tsunami, where a quarter of a million people lost their lives.)

100+
364+
1,000+
10,000+
20,000+…
…more?
they’re talking about it potentially topping 100,000+? as i look at that number, it’s beyond disbelief… i am numb. any loss of life is profound… but multiply it by 100,000?!?!? it is too hard for my mind to comprehend. my heart wrestles with such unimagineable sadness when i think about the repercussions this will have for many, many, many years to come… and potentially never-ending for others.

seeing the path and the impact of this cyclone from an article from the new york times helped me to visualize just how catastrophic this cyclone must’ve been. when you try to imagine winds at 120mph… it’s unbelieveable and truly awe-inspiring:

Lord, help us to pray and mourn and grieve w/ those who have been impacted by this, BUT help us as Your followers to be moved and called to action. rather than focusing on the unreal number of casualties (not including those who are missing, injured, and displaced), help us to focus on those who are alive and in desperate and immediate need of our help. may the ruling military allow the rest of this world to do what it is meant to do: care/help/heal…
when i read about indonesia pledging money and any assistance they can provide, i thought how awesome it was! all things considered, they’re just a few years removed from one of their worst disasters. isn’t that what it should be about? we are all called to display God’s grace? helping one another out as we have been commanded? in my mind, i keep coming back to matthew 25:40:

“…truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. “

i’m encouraged by our church, quest’s desire to help w/ the relief effort. you can read more about it by going to PE’s blog entry regarding this matter. pray with us, and if you feel compelled, give with us… or find some other organization. we’ve all been blessed so much, let’s try to be a blessing unto others!