Christians hit by devastating floods in Bangladesh and India need urgent aid

“Flood-affected Christians are heavily suffering. They are now temporarily staying at government school and flood shelter. But we need emergency help. Please help our Christian believers at this critical situation.”

Barnabas Fund partner in Bangladesh

Barnabas Fund is providing emergency aid to Christian families in Bangladesh and India who have been hit by devastating flooding that has killed nearly 200 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

Thousands of homes have been destroyed by the flooding

Heavy monsoon rains have submerged several districts in the south-eastern and north-eastern parts of Bangladesh, and also triggered severe flooding across India’s north-east; Assam state has been worst hit, with more than 2,000 villages affected, while the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur have also seen extensive flooding. Some villages have been completely cut off, with water levels reaching to about two metres, leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded.

Landslides, collapsing walls, lightning strikes, surges of floodwater and capsizing boats have so far claimed at least 110 lives in Bangladesh and 79 in India, injuring many more. Thousands of homes have been destroyed and large areas of cropland damaged. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken shelter in relief camps.

Barnabas Fund is providing emergency aid to Christian families affected by this disaster. Our partner in Bangladesh said:

Many believers’ houses have been affected. Many of them evacuated from their houses and taken shelter to the government school and flood shelter. As soon as the flood water will go down, all of them will be back to their destroyed houses.

He said that the immediate need was to provide them with food, and treatment for diarrhoea. His team is distributing rice, dahl, oil, salt, sugar, saline and medicine. It costs around £18 to provide the supplies needed for one Christian family for two weeks.

In India’s Assam state, we are providing rice, dahl, nutritional supplements, medicine, clothing and utensils.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, said:

Many thousands of lives in Bangladesh and India have been devastated by these floods, which have swept away houses and livelihoods in a matter of days. Our brothers and sisters who have been affected by this disaster need urgent help, and are likely to need support for some time as they will have to rebuild their lives from scratch.

Give Today

If you would like to help Christians affected by the flooding in Bangladesh and India, please send a donation to the Disaster Relief Fund (00-634).  Donate Online using our secure server.

If you prefer to telephone, dial: 0800 587 4006 from within the UK or +44 1672 565031 from outside the UK. Please quote project reference Disaster Relief Fund (00-634).

If you prefer to send a cheque by post: Click this link for the address of our regional office. Please quote project reference Disaster Relief Fund (00-634).

For a quick donation of £3.00 by SMS (see terms and conditions here) text Barnabas/634 to 70007 (Please note: This facility is presently only available to UK supporters).

Resources

There is a poster for download to advertise this emergency here and a PowerPoint slide for your church notices is available here.