Latest News #308 – Thailand
April 06, 2005

The following news concerns Thailand.

Thailand Bible Society ministers to overlooked tsunami survivors

THAILAND — Three months after the beaches of Thailand's Andaman Coast were hit by the tsunami of December 26, 2004, the Thailand Bible Society continues to administer holistic projects among a minority whose losses were largely overlooked by the government and the media.

All six southern provinces along the Andaman Coast boasted luxurious resorts with beautiful beaches considered second to none in Southeast Asia.

Phang Na is one of the six southern provinces along the Andaman Coast which were devastated by the tsunami. Inside the Buddhist temple, Wat Yan Yao, thousands of photographs of dead bodies are on display in order to help relatives identify their loved ones. Phang Na, Thailand. Photo: APASC/André Minnaar (THA05DJ-105.JPG)

The catastrophe there ended the lives of Thais and foreigners, international celebrities and ordinary local people, adults and children – more than 5,000 people altogether. Homes, businesses and livelihoods were all swept away.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the Bible Society prepared 'survival bags' containing daily necessities such as instant noodles, soap, towels, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Also included were booklets entitled Is There Any Hope For My Future? containing comforting Bible verses. The bags were distributed to survivors by local churches.

After information-gathering trips undertaken in Krabi province – one of the six which suffered – with help from local churches, the Society drew up plans for two longer-term holistic projects for the people affected by the disaster.

The first project involved the provision of much needed consumer goods such as rice, clothes, shoes, etc., plus fishing equipment and materials for repairing and rebuilding homes.

Since the tsunami destroyed many of their homes and their husbands' fishing boats, women of the Urak Lawoi minority group, also known as the sea gypsies, gather outside the local school each week to receive bags of rice and other relief material from a local church. A local pastor is seen here in the background playing his guitar. Each week the pastor prays with them, sings and tells them about the Bible. The Thailand Bible Society is working with the church, providing Scriptures and other support for this work among the sea gypsies. Lanta Yai Island, Krabi Province, Thailand. Photo: APASC/André Minnaar (THA05DJ-68.JPG)

This project got under way in February among the villagers of Lanta Yai Island, in Krabi province. The inhabitants are relatively few in number – there are just under a hundred households with a total of 500 members and they live by fishing. Most of them are members of the Urak Lawoi minority group – also known as 'sea gypsies' – who have migrated from Aceh, in Indonesia. The giant waves swept away their homes and fishing boats but because they live well above sea level, the community did not suffer loss of life. Consequently, their losses did not engage the attention of either the government or the media.

Pastor Kasim from a local church hands a bag of rice to a woman from the Urak Lawoi minority group, also known as the sea gypsies. The rice is provided to families each week by the church to help the community recover from the tsunami, which destroyed many homes and fishing boats. The Thailand Bible Society is supporting this work, providing Scriptures and other material. Lanta Yai Island, Krabi Province, Thailand. Photo: APASC/André Minnaar (THA05DJ-72.JPG)

But the local churches and the Thailand Bible Society are concerned for them and since the tsunami, the pastors of city churches have been visiting them regularly. In co-operation with them, the Society has distributed the Urak Lawoi New Testament and an accompanying study guide to the villagers. Thanks to the United Bible Societies consultant in the Urak Lawoi language, the Scriptures are readily available for distribution and the people can understand God's Word in their own language.

According to the pastors working there, there is a chance that a village church may be planted on Lanta Yai island in the next couple of years.

Fishing boats being repaired. The Thailand Bible Society is not only providing Scriptures for the Urak Lawoi or 'sea gypsy' community, which lost homes and livelihoods when the tsunami struck - it is also providing material and equipment to help them repair their fishing boats. The whole community is working together, and even those whose boats are now repaired are not going fishing but staying on land to help their fellow fishermen. Lanta Yai Island, Krabi Province, Thailand. Photo: APASC/André Minnaar (THA05DJ-86.JPG)

Phang Na is another province which suffered grave damage from the tsunami, and church workers there say people have started to pay attention to the Gospel since the disaster, with some becoming Christians.

The Bible Society has donated some money, through the local churches, towards the purchase of construction tools so that local people can build new houses or shelters as well as replacing their lost fishing equipment.

Under the terms of the second project it drew up, the Bible Society will give tsunami survivors biblical literature designed to bring comfort to bereaved and distressed people, such as Scriptures, Children's Bibles, Christian literature, school notebooks with biblical verses and so on. The actual distribution will be done through local churches and Christian organisations.

On the porch of this recently repaired house, a para-church organisation ministers to a group of local people in need of counselling and comfort. Many people are traumatised and in great need of counselling, and this is mostly being provided by churches and Christian organisations. Phang Na, Thailand. Photo: APASC/André Minnaar (THA05DJ-106.JPG)

Also among the products the Society is considering distributing is MegaVoice, a tiny digital audio player, powered by solar energy, offering six hours of recorded hymns, stories and Scriptures. (570 words - THAILAND.6.04.2005)