Churches and Christians across Bangladesh have volunteered to help and aid the injured and desolated families in the aftermath of the devastating tropical cyclone that killed more than 2,000 and rendered thousands homeless in the South Asian country.
Officials confirmed Saturday that at least 650,000 were forced from their homes in Bangladesh after a ferocious storm sent 15 feet of water surging inland.
Aid workers, meanwhile, were finding it difficult to deliver relief material to people stranded by the floodwaters, needing to get through on roads that were washed out and in places blocked by debris.
In the nearby Indian state of Orissa, thousands of people, including many Christians, thanked God that the speeding cyclone veered past the east coastline state.
Churches in several Indian states organized prayer meetings after panic gripped the local residents.
"Thousands of people had prayed to Almighty that the severe cyclone do not hit Orissa. Now they are offering prayers in gratitude to God for mitigating the disaster," Father Sudahkar Senapati, the parish priest of the Cuttack Cathedral, told ICNS.
World Vision, one of the largest Christian relief and development organizations in the world, said it was putting together seven-day packages for families that would include rice, oil, sugar, salt, candles and blankets. The group is appealing for $1.5 million in further funds to help some 9,300 families rebuild their homes.
Bangladesh authorities made a massive effort to move 3.2 million people in vulnerable areas to safety. In the end, they were only able to move 600,000 people into cyclone shelters and higher ground.