Asia devastation moves students to rush to help.Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard They say they'll find a way - even if organizations such as Save the Children, World Vision and Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity, nonprofit ecumenical Christian organization that enables low-income people to own affordable, livable housing. Headquartered in Americus, Ga., it was founded in 1976 by businessman Millard Fuller and his wife. don't let them join in their efforts to rebuild cities and lives left devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. by the earthquake and tsunami that hit South Asia This article is about the geopolitical region in Asia. For geophysical treatments, see Indian subcontinent. South Asia, also known as Southern Asia on Dec. 26. Because, if those groups don't welcome them, they're just going to go. "We're planning to go, regardless," said Ethan Holub, a University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. student and one of the pastors at Eugene's Calvary Fellowship Church Fellowship Church (FC) is a Christian megachurch and multi-site church with its main campus located in Grapevine, Texas, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. FC is purportedly one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the United States, with an estimated attendance . Holub is part of a group of college students and church members, including UO athletes Matt Short and Jeremy McLaughlin, who plan to help build homes and care for orphans for at least a month, if not longer, this spring in disaster-torn Indonesia and Thailand. "If nothing else, we'll just show up with our tents," Holub said. Holub and McLaughlin, a member of the UO wrestling team, along with Tony Overstake, a UO graduate and wrestling team coach, were praying for tsunami victims earlier this month when they got to talking about doing something more than asking God for help. They decided on the spot to seek the support of their church's head pastor, former UO football quarterback Danny O'Neill, and organize a group to go help. Their ultimate dream is to build a community center near one of the hardest-hit areas, such as Phuket, Thailand, on the west coast, or in the city of Banda Aceh Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra, with an elevation of 21 m. The population was approximately 260,000 in 2006. , on the northern tip of Sumatra, Holub said. But the aforementioned relief and aid organizations, and others contacted by Holub, including the American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. and Samaritan's Purse Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical organization engaged in crisis relief and community development. Founded in 1970 and active around the world, Samaritan's Purse offers aid to the victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine in response to an , say it won't be that easy to help after they arrive. In fact, they say it might be next to impossible. "We've had an extreme outpouring of people who want to help, but that's not what we do," said Dean Owen, spokesman for World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization based in Federal Way, Wash. People call and say things like, "I'm a Christian, I have a chain saw and I live in Maine - when can I go with you?" Owen said. World Vision has about 22,000 full- and part-time staff members worldwide living in about 100 countries who can help rebuild after natural disasters, Owen said. "We rarely, if ever, use volunteers in the field," Owen said. In addition to the problem of not having the support of a well-known international organization, Holub's group, which plans to leave around March 20, will face governmental red tape and the risk of trying to move through an area of the world where insurgent INSURGENT. One who is concerned in an insurrection. He differs from a rebel in this, that rebel is always understood in a bad sense, or one who unjustly opposes the constituted authorities; insurgent may be one who justly opposes the tyranny of constituted authorities. forces are battling local governments and threatening aid workers. Nevertheless, they're determined. "There are many people over there who have been displaced and who are suffering," said Short, a Duck basketball player who plans to postpone his graduation this spring to make the trip. "I just feel it's something that God's calling me to do." Holub, McLaughlin and Overstake have all gone on separate Christian missions overseas before, and they say they feel confident they'll find a way to make this one work. McLaughlin went with members of his church in Medford, his hometown, to Africa in 2003 for three months to help AIDS victims at three different orphanages. He also went to an aboriginal island chain near Australia last year to help build a school. Holub said he's traveled to 36 nations and helped build dental clinics in Central America Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. with Students International. "But I'm sure I've never seen anything like this," he said of the devastation wreaked by the South Asia tsunami. Inexperience with natural disasters is a chief reason relief organizations do not accept volunteers, said Don Norrington, associate director of projects for Samaritan's Purse, the North Carolina-based organization run by evangelist evangelist (ĭvăn`jəlĭst) [Gr.,=Gospel], title given to saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The four evangelists are often symbolized respectively by a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, on the basis of Rev. 4.6–10. Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham William Franklin Graham III (born July 14, 1952), known publicly as Franklin Graham, is an American Christian evangelist and missionary. He is the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), as well as the president of Samaritan's Purse. . "Someone who's never been in a situation like this, it's just a little overwhelming," Norrington said. Besides needing the necessary aid skills, relief workers must be aware of and trained in the ways of a foreign nation's culture, said Jenny Carrick, a spokeswoman with the Red Cross in Eugene. Some American missionary groups reportedly proselytizing are causing problems in areas with predominantly Hindu and Muslim populations, sparking resentment and threatening to undermine other relief efforts, the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times reported last week. But Holub and others in his group - about seven so far, though the number could expand to 15 to 20 - said they feel the need to answer the call. "I just felt God tugging at my heart ever since this happened," said Jeanette Timmerman, a student at Western Baptist College in Salem who plans to join the group overseas for a couple of weeks. "It just seems like it's the right thing to do." HOW TO HELP Donate to the Calvary Fellowship Church's tsunami relief fund by sending a check to the church at 4060 W. Amazon Parkway, Eugene, OR 97405. Call Ethan Holub at 731-8027 for more information. The church will host a "Pie Day" today at Track Town Pizza, 1809 Franklin Blvd. in Eugene. Half of all purchases of food and beverages F&B is a common abbreviation in the United States and Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong. F&B is typically the widely accepted abbreviation for "Food and Beverage," which is the sector/industry that specializes in the conceptualization, the making of, and delivery of foods. will go to help underwrite the church's relief trip to tsunami-ravaged nations. CAPTION(S): Tony Overstake (left), Jeanette Timmerman and UO students Matt Short, Jeremy McLaughlin and Ethan Holub hope to go to South Asia. "I just feel it's something that God's calling me to do." - MATT SHORT, UO BASKETBALL PLAYER |
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