Christians Urged to Pray, Donate to Help Victims in Ecuador Earthquake as Death Toll Hits 570
A number of other groups are also sending aid, including Colorado Springs-based Compassion International, which is looking to help the over 13,000 children who live around the 30-mile radius of the earthquake's epicenter. The organization said that church staff are currently checking in door to door on families of Compassion-assisted children.
"In situations like these, our first responders are often victims themselves," said Herb Ehresman, Compassion's director of complementary interventions, in a statement shared with CP.
"While they are trying to grapple with their own shock and recovery, they are also assisting the families of sponsored children in their churches. Early in our assessment, we believe several of our sponsored children either lost their homes or their homes suffered damage due to the quake. Four of our church partners suffered damage and are temporarily closed. Several churches lost their water towers," Ehresman added.
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Evangelist Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse meanwhile sent on Wednesday by way of its DC-8 airplane 40 tons of relief supplies, including an emergency field hospital and 30 emergency response team members.
"How long does it take to reach earthquake victims over 2,500 miles away? Well, today it took five hours and 40 minutes," Graham explained on his Facebook page.
"The plane will make a quick turnaround and go back with more supplies and equipment on Friday and then on Sunday again. We would appreciate your prayers as our teams try to help as many people as they can. Children have lost parents, families have lost homes and everything they own. The people of Ecuador need our help and we are responding in Jesus' Name," he added.
The U.S. Geological Survey noted that the South American nations is still at risk of aftershocks, with another magnitude-6.1 quake striking off the coast of Ecuador on Wednesday. While there were no initial reports of damage from the latest tremor, Saturday's quake was the deadliest to hit the country since 1987, when close to 1,000 people were killed.
"We're facing the most difficult phase right now, which is rescuing victims and recovering bodies," Defense Minister Ricardo Patiño said. "We're removing debris, and we will very likely find more bodies. It's going to take us years to recover from this."
