When Villages Burn

The Dong know disaster. It is much more common than most think. The most common destroyer of Dong villages is fire. Floods, mudslides, hail, and the rare tornado sometimes strike, but most villages are full of government propoganda to warn against the main threat to most villages: fire.

How does this happen? In most villages, the houses are made of wood and are built close together as each house receive add-ons over the years. One small accident with the nightly mean, cooked over open fires inside the house, can wipe out a village in one fail swoop: house, livestock, working tools, and food supplies.

The government does what it can, often providing blankets and some rice, but with the number of fires in each county per year, the small office in charge of such distasters simply does not have the budget to care for tens of thousands of dollars worth of loss.

Foreign Christians often step in to help, and we all have a calling of compassion toward the less fortunate. What can Christians do? What are the proper motives? Are we to give money only, or does Christ want us to minister in different ways as well?

This journal entry comes a couple weeks after news of two more Dong villages destroyed by fire. Foreigners have stepped in to help in this case, but many more go unnoticed. Let us pray for wisdom and discerment to apply the Lord's command in these type of circumstances so that we may be more prepared in the future to help in the name of Christ.