Phases of time after a major event

There are few events that change the world in just a few minutes.

Most of the things that have changed the world have done so slowly, over a period of years or perhaps decades. The Internet is one example of this: it has been around since the 1980s or so, pervading society with e-mail and web access. Now it has changed everything, including how field workers communicate with folks back home. Here in Southeast Asia I have a setup including Skype and MSN Messenger; our kids can talk to and see their grandparents for as long as they want any time day or night (that the G’s are available), for free.

On December 26th, a 9.0 earthquake changed the 10/40 Window in a matter of minutes. Islands shifted, whole towns were washed away, military bases were destroyed, and major cities were heavily damaged.

In the nearly 2 weeks since that event, many things have happened. The world has discovered the extent of the damage: an estimated $13 billion and over 150,000 (possibly as much as 200,000 dead) in the first few hours of the evemt. The world has sprung into action to bring relief to the suffering. Many have worried about further deaths due to disease.

What should be our reaction? Some of my readers are with large organizations capable of fielding hundreds or thousands of workers and perhaps millions of dollars in relief aid. Some of us (like me) are with very small organizations that have neither hundreds of workers nor many dollars. We all do what we can. What is the best thing to do? Many of us are asking this question.

I find it helpful in my thinking to categorize response times for events like this into the following categories:

1. immediate aftermath - for this kind of event, if you aren’t near it, there is very little you can do in the first day to the first week except pray and give money to those who ARE close. For us, the first week was spent helping local people in our area who were affected by it.

2. first months - organizations with readily available funds, trained teams, etc. can rapidly get in during this period. You need an organization with staying power to be able to last and accomplish anything during this time period, because logistics are simply a huge obstacle. Roads, phone networks, computers, power, water, medicines, everything has been destroyed. All of that needs to be brought in and provided not just for local people who are hurt but also the workers who are coming in to help them. If you don’t have access to this, its better to stay out of the way or you might end up being a casualty yourself.

3. first years - that’s right, years. This kind of thing takes years to recover from. Whole cities will have to be rebuilt. Who will be there to repair homes, rebuild schools, re-establish governmental systems (police, fire, ambulance, hospital, post offices, telecommunications, power, etc). Its during this period that most everyone can have an impact of some kind. Short-term teams can come to help rebuild. Doctors can come to help treat those with long-term disabilities. Even counselors and psychologists specializing in trauma disorders could have a role to play.

On December 26th, the 10/40 Window changed. Many new ministry options just opened up. I would begin praying now about what kind of role you and your church can have, particularly in the period of the next 6 months to 6 years, when news coverage dies away and many people leave. That is when you will be needed most.

You can start by making a list of all the things that would have to be rebuilt in your own city if, say, half of it were destroyed. Those are much the same kinds of things that will have to be rebuilt in hundreds of cities and thousands of villages all over Asia. What role can you play? How you can focus on making a lasting impact? Who do you know that could help? Who do you know that you can contact? What has God blessed you with? How can you be a blessing? Start building a team and putting a plan together, and you could make a difference in the world.