When cyclone Idai swept through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi earlier this month, it left a trail of devastation and flood waters stretching for miles.
Even as I write, the final death toll is unknown and likely to rise. People’s homes have been totally destroyed and communities have been ripped apart.
As we watch disasters like this unfold it is easy to feel powerless. How can anything that we do help the situation? But we can do something, we can give financially – as the saying goes ‘every little helps’.
As a Christian, I believe that God is compassionate, so as well as considering my personal financial contribution, I pray.
I pray for the survivors, for those who are rescuing people from places of danger and taking them to safety and for the disaster relief organisations as they mobilise and provide food, water and shelter for the survivors.
Most of all, pray that each person affected would know the love, comfort and strength of God as they rebuild their lives.
I cling on to the truth that:
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging…
The Lord Almighty is with us.
(Psalm 46. 1-3, 11)
What is your response when disasters strike?
To whom do you turn? What can you do to help?
Karen Bugg is a minister in training at Wokingham Baptist Church, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
