Thailand Flood: Christians Offer Aid as Waters Continue to Rise
Christian missionaries and church groups are helping supply food, water and shelter to people displaced by the recent flooding in Thailand.
Missionaries from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and Catholic bishops are working to help the Thai people with both the physical and spiritual healing from the disaster.
The Catholic Church, through PIME, is collecting and distributing materials across the region used to build levees to help keep flood waters from reaching unaffected areas, according to reports.
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Priests are offering counseling to the evacuees staying at church-run facilities and parish churches not yet affected by the rising waters, the group said.
Monetary support from around the world is helping Thai missionaries deliver disaster relief to victims in the country.
Christian Aid Mission of Charlottesville, Va., is sending money to the areas most affected by the flooding, the group said.
It is unclear how much money the group has sent to Thailand, but organizers say the donations they receive will go to supply food and provide small boats to reach people stranded by the rising waters.
"Streets and roads have turned into canals and small boats have replaced cars,” the group said on its website. “Local missionaries have organized whole congregations to reach out to their stranded neighbors."
The relief efforts come as the rising flood waters spell economic trouble for businesses around the globe.
Toyota canceled overtime work at its plants in Indiana, Kentucky and Canada this week as the floods have disrupted the shipments of necessary parts manufactured in Thailand, according to reports.
It is unclear how long the reduction in production will remain in effect for the car maker.
"We will continue to monitor the supply situation in Thailand," the company's North American unit said in a statement.
Electronics companies are also expecting delays in production as some plants sit underwater in Bangkok.
It could be months before the disruption to businesses across the globe ends, according to Reuters.
The flooding in Thailand, which began three months ago, has affected a third of the country and is responsible for 366 deaths.
Flood waters are now rising in more urban areas, including Bangkok, according to reports. Some areas of the capital city are under several feet of water.
Some commercial flights were grounded Tuesday as flood waters broke past barriers protecting the capital city’s second largest airport.
