Floods Ravage Much of Cambodia and Southeast Asia

The 2 young girls were covered in gray mud from head to toe.  Alger and I had absolutely no idea what they were doing as they grinned sheepishly up at us from the bottom of the 12 foot deep pit.  "Fishing," our friend Pastor Sokun explained.  It was late April, and the water from the previous rainy season was almost entirely gone in the villages around Kampong Thom. Villagers were scrambling each day to find enough water, praying that the rains would soon come.  And come they did.  Flooding began in mid-September, and continues to worsen.

When the rivers flood, fish are washed away.  Villagers dig these big pits to store water and trap fish for the dry season.

Cambodia is flat!  Really flat!  Much of the country is  flood plains for the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers.   Moderate flooding occurs every September and October, part of the normal life cycle, bringing rich soil to the rice paddies. 

But this year is different! 

Exceptional rainfall has caused devastating floods across Southeast Asia.  This year the floods are bringing death and destruction to a very vulnerable region. 

I've read that it is the worst flooding in 10 years…30 years…even 50 years.  The accuracy of the historical comparison is really irrelevant.  Reports from Asian newspapers and first hand updates from our friends across Cambodia agree.  People are dying.  People are hungry.   They need help. 

One pastor friend in Phnom Penh from New Life Church said, "The needs are so great. The government can only do so much.  We don't know what to do!" 

Imagine for a moment what the realities on the ground might look like. Livestock are swept up in the waters, decaying.  Outdoor toilets or sewer systems are now mixed up in the flood-waters. Wells are contaminated. Factories are closed, and workers have no income.  Fishermen are out of work, as the fish from the rivers are washed across the land.  Rice crops are destroyed. The price of rice, a precious global commodity, could skyrocket, making it unaffordable for many poor farmers. Everyone is essentially "living" in the flood-waters.  You can only imagine the disease to come.

I don't know about you, but I have seen absolutely nothing on the news about this pending international disaster.  My information has come thru Facebook, (first hand information from our many friends across the country) and The Phnom Penh Post.

The floods are affecting the entire Southeast Asian region.  Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam are also suffering.  The government of Cambodia does not have the resources to handle such a huge natural disaster alone.  I pray that the world will come to the aid of these poor and powerless people in this…yet another…desperate time of need.

Please Pray for Cambodia.

1.  For the world to open it's heart (and wallets) to provide much needed aid.

2.  For the Cambodian church to be able to display God's grace and love in this time of suffering.

3.  For international aid organizations and workers in country as they face incredible need with limited resources.

4. For God's promise of hope and a future to be fulfilled in the nation.

         "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11