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A story from The Salvation Army’s winter relief program.
The Salvation Army recently finished a project in Pakistan to assist hundreds of families who—still struggling to recover from the deadly earthquake of October 2005—had their new beginning destroyed by winter flooding (see New Frontier, Vol. 25 No. 4, Feb. 27, 2007).
Here is the story of Walli Ur Rehman:
For Walli Ur Rehman and his family, life in the mountains was uncertain. They had been living in a straw hut, but the winter rains washed it away and Rehman had to take his wife and four children to a friend’s tent house. Certain that his children would not survive the winter, he dug graves in readiness for their burial.
During The Salvation Army’s winter relief distribution in January he was given four quilts and 10 corrugated metal sheets to construct a shelter.
Later, when Army personnel went to see what had been accomplished, Rehman was proud to show them his new shelter. He prayed for the welfare and prosperity of The Salvation Army. The team ended its visit by suggesting that he could fill in the graves he had prepared for his children now that his situation had improved and encouraged him to thank God for the blessings he had received.
Captain Mike McKee, field operations officer for International Emergency Services, added: “Very often, when reporting about an emergency relief program, we use statistics such as the number of families assisted or number of people who were helped. While this gives a useful overview to the size and scope of a particular emergency response, numbers alone cannot give the full story….Numbers tell part of the story but it’s good to remember that each and every one represents a person or a family that has been touched by compassion during a time of great need.”
